Bengkalis Regency

Bengkalis Regency is a regency of Indonesia in Riau Province. The regency was originally established in 1956 and then included most of the northern part of the province, but on 4 October 1999 it was divided up, with most of the territory being split off to form the new Rokan Hilir Regency, Siak Regency and the city of Dumai. On 19 December 2008 a further five districts were removed to create the new Meranti Islands Regency, leaving eight districts in the Bengkalis Regency. These eight districts has increased since 2010 to eleven by the splitting of existing districts on the Sumatran mainland.

Bengkalis Regency produces natural resources, particularly petroleum, rubber, and coconut. The southern part of this regency contains a large part of the Bukit Batu Biosphere Reserve.

Geography

Bengkalis Regency comprises the whole of Bengkalis Island and Rupat Island, which are located in the Straits of Malacca, together with a wide swathe of the eastern coastal area of Sumatra Island and stretching inland along the drainage area of the Siak River, as well as including other islands within the archipelago to its north-east. The land area covers 8,612.56 km² and it borders on the Malacca Straits to the north, on Siak Regency to the south, on the Meranti Islands Regency to the southeast, and on Dumai City, Rokan Hilir Regency and Rokan Hulu Regency to the west. The administrative centre is the town of Bengkalis on the south coast of the island of the same name.
The Bengkalis Strait separates Bengkalis Island from Sumatra as well as from Padang Island and Tebing Tinggi Island.

Population

Following the splitting in 2008 of the regency to create a new Meranti Islands Regency, the residual area of Bengkalis Regency had a population of 498,336 at the 2010 census and 565,569 at the 2020 census; the official estimate as of mid 2024 was 591,800.

Administrative districts

The eleven districts currently forming the regency are listed below with their areas and their populations at the 2010 and 2020 censuses, together with the official estimates as of mid 2024. The table also includes the locations of the district administrative centres, the number of administrative villages in each district, and its post code.

Kode Wilayah	Name of District	Area in km²	Pop'n census 2010	Pop'n census 2020	Pop'n estimate mid 2024	Admin centre	No. of villages	Post code
14.03.09	Mandau	517.06	219,264	152,258	154,619	Air Jamban	11	28783
14.03.13	Pinggir	774.42	78,404	62,098	63,690	Pinggir	10	28784
14.03.16	Bathin Solapan	673.71		91,586	98,609	Sebangar	13	28785
14.03.15	Talang Muandau	1,378.74		24,000	25,174	Beringin	9	28786
Sub-total	Southern group	3,343.93	297,668	329,942	342,092		43
14.03.03	Bukit Batu	597.44	30,129	21,771	23,301	Sungai Pakning	10	28761
14.03.12	Siak Kecil	947.50	18,709	24,186	26,586	Lubuk Muda	17	28771
14.03.14	Bandar Laksamana	1,301.45		15,842	17,507	Tenggayun	7	28762
Sub-total	Northern group	2,846.39	48,838	61,799	67,394		34
14.03.10	Rupat	1,143.72	30,550	34,719	36,307	Batu Panjang	16	28781
14.03.11	Rupat Utara	377.14	13,020	14,117	14,496	Tanjung Medang	8	28782
14.03.01	Bengkalis	440.10	72,221	83,085	87,297	Bengkalis Kota	31	28711 - 28741
14.03.02	Bantan	461.28	36,039	41,907	44,214	Selat Baru	23	28763
Sub-total	Offshore islands group	2,422.24	151,830	173,828	182,314		89
	Total Regency	8,612.56	498,336	565,569	591,800	Bengkalis	155	-

Notes: comprising 9 kelurahan and 2 desa.
comprising 2 kelurahan and 8 desa.
the 2010 population of the new Bathin Solapan District is included in the figure for Mandau District, from which it was cut out.
the 2010 population of the new Talang Muandau District is included in the figure for Pinggir District, from which it was cut out.
including one kelurahan.
the 2010 population of the new Bandar Laksamana District is included in the figure for Bukit Batu District, from which it was cut out.
comprising 4 kelurahan and 12 desa.
comprising 3 kelurahan and 28 desa.
the northern part of Rupat Island. the northern part of Bengkalis Island.
Bengkalis Island comprises Bengkalis District and Bantan District, while Rupat Island comprises Rupat District and Rupat Utara District. The remaining seven districts lie on Sumatra Island - Bukit Batu, Siak Kecil and Bandar Laksamana being on the Sumatran coast, while Mandau, Pinggir, Bathin Solapan and Talang Muandau are inland districts further south.