Sumatra

Sumatra, Indonesian island, the second largest (after Borneo) of the Greater Sunda Islands, in the Malay Archipelago. It is separated in the northeast from the Malay Peninsula by the Strait of Malacca and in the south from Java by the Sunda Strait.

In the 11th century the influence of the Srivijaya empire, based in the southern city of Palembang, reached most of Sumatra as well as other islands and mainland regions. Srivijaya’s capital fell to the Javanese Majapahit empire in 1377, and the kingdom never recovered in Sumatra.

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The European powers—first the Portuguese, then the Dutch and English—traded with, warred against, and established forts among the coastal Sumatran principalities beginning in the 16th century. Anglo-Dutch treaties in 1824 and 1871 revoked English claims in Sumatra, and, through economic exploitation and administrative skills, the Dutch slowly opened the interior to their authority throughout the 19th century. The northern region of Aceh was brought only grudgingly under Dutch control in the early 20th century after 30 years of fighting.

During World War II Sumatra was occupied by Japan (1942–45), and in 1950 the island became part of the Republic of Indonesia. Since then Sumatrans have at times expressed dissatisfaction with the central government over financial and political issues, often in the form of insurrections and other regional movements. Notable has been the situation in Aceh, where armed conflict has broken out periodically since 1990 between Acehnese separatists and Indonesian forces.

The island experienced a major natural disaster in late 2004 when the great Indian Ocean tsunami (spawned by a severe earthquake off the coast of Aceh) inundated low-lying areas along the northwest coast and adjacent islands and caused widespread death and destruction.

The high Barisan Mountains run northwest-southeast for some 1,000 miles (1,600 km), reaching an elevation of 12,467 feet (3,800 metres) at Mount Kerinci. Eastward, flat alluvial lands are drained by many rivers; the Hari River, navigable for 300 miles (480 km), is the longest. Lake Toba, with an area of about 440 square miles (1,140 square km), is the largest of many mountain lakes.

Sumatra’s climate is hot, except in the highlands, and extremely moist. Vegetation includes monster flowers (Rafflesia arnoldii), myrtles, bamboo, rhododendrons, orchids, and such trees as the Sumatran pine (Pinus merkusii), palm, oak, chestnut, ebony, ironwood, camphorwood, sandalwood, and rubber-producing types. The island’s animal life includes orangutans, various apes, elephants, tapirs, tigers, the two-horned Sumatran rhinoceros, gibbons, tree shrews, flying lemurs, wild boars, and civets. Three national parks on the island—Mount Leuser, Kerinci Seblat, and Bukit Barisan Selatan—collectively were designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2004.

Sumatrans speak languages of the Austronesian (Malayo-Polynesian) language family. The Acehnese inhabit northwestern Sumatra; the Gayo and Alas peoples, the mountainous north-central area; the Batak, around and south of Lake Toba; and the Minangkabau (the largest ethnic group), the Padang Highlands. South of Padang along the western coast live the Rejang mountain people and the Lampung coastal dwellers. The Malays, a coastal and riverine people dominating the eastern coast and the wide southern plains, speak Malay, the long-standing lingua franca of the archipelago. Most Sumatrans are Muslims, though some are Christians and animists.

The island is subdivided into seven propinsi (or provinsi; provinces)—North Sumatra (Sumatera Utara), Jambi, Riau, West Sumatra (Sumatera Barat), South Sumatra (Sumatera Selatan), Bengkulu, and Lampung—and the autonomous province of Aceh. The principal cities are Medan, Palembang, and Padang. Much of the population is rural; the highest population density is around Medan in northeastern Sumatra. The southern regions, particularly the province of Lampung, have a significant Javanese population, largely the result of 20th-century transmigration programs that were intended to relieve Java’s overcrowding. After the 1990s, however, the rate of transmigration slowed considerably.

Agricultural products grown for export include rubber, tobacco, tea, coffee, palm oil, ramie fiber, sisal, copra, betel nuts, kapok, peanuts (groundnuts), and pepper. The highland areas of North Sumatra grow vegetables for export. Subsistence crops include corn (maize), root crops, vegetables, and rice. A major portion of Indonesia’s timber comes from Sumatran forests, which also yield various oils and fibers.

Sumatra and adjacent islands have reserves of petroleum, natural gas, tin, bauxite, coal, gold, silver, and other minerals. Major coalfields include the Ombilin coalfield, in the western region, and Bukit Asam, in the south. The Dumai area of Riau province has some of the most productive oil wells in Indonesia; other areas have been developed at Pangkalan Brandan, in the north, and at Palembang.

Road networks are fairly good in northeastern Sumatra, the Padang highlands, and southern Sumatra, but mountain trails and rivers are used elsewhere. The northwest-southeast Sumatra Highway was completed in the 1980s. Railway systems operate in some parts of the island, but they are unconnected. Domestic air service is available in the major cities, and the airport in Medan handles limited international traffic. Area including adjoining islands, 185,635 square miles (480,793 square km). Pop. (2010 prelim.) including adjoining islands, 50,630,931.