List of regencies and cities in Indonesia


Regencies and cities are the second-level administrative subdivision in Indonesia, immediately below the provinces, and above the districts. Regencies are roughly equivalent to American counties, although most cities in the United States are below the counties. Following the implementation of decentralization beginning on 1 January 2001, regencies and city municipalities became the key administrative units responsible for providing most governmental services. Each of regencies and cities has their own local government and legislative body.
The difference between a regency and a city lies in demography, size, and economy. Generally, a regency comprises a rural area larger than a city, but also often includes various towns. A city usually has non-agricultural economic activities. A regency is headed by a regent, while a city is headed by a mayor. All regents, mayors, and members of legislatures are directly elected via elections to serve for a five-year term which can be renewed once. Each regency or city is divided further into districts more commonly known as kecamatan.
An administrative city or an administrative regency is a subdivision of province without its own local legislatures. The leader of administrative city or administrative regency is directly appointed by the governor. This type of city and regency in Indonesia is only found in Jakarta which consisted of five administrative cities and one administrative regency.
, there were 514-second-level administrative divisions in Indonesia. The list below groups regencies and cities in Indonesia by provinces. Each regency has an administrative centre, the regency seat.

List of regencies and cities by province

Sumatra

Lampung


Superlatives

Superlatives of cities can be found at Indonesian Wikipedia articles Daftar kota di Indonesia menurut jumlah penduduk and Daftar kota di Indonesia menurut luas wilayah. Although the least populated regency in Indonesia according to various sources is said to be Tana Tidung Regency in North Kalimantan, Supiori Regency in Papua is included here instead because it has a smaller population of about 23 thousand people compared to 28 thousand people of Tana Tidung Regency.
RegenciesProvinceCitiesProvince
Largest by areaMerauke RegencySouth PapuaPalangka RayaCentral Kalimantan
Smallest by areaAdministrative Regency of Thousand IslandsJakartaSibolgaNorth Sumatra
Largest by populationBogor RegencyWest JavaEast JakartaJakarta
Smallest by populationSupiori RegencyPapuaSabangAceh

Subdivision splits

Following the Regional Autonomy Act of 1999, many regencies were split to create additional regencies and cities, the number of such divisions was thus increased to 514 by 2014. However, these territorial splits can sometimes lead into corruption cases. As at early 2024, all further proposals for territorial splits are still under a moratorium.
The latest new regencies split from existing regencies were South Buton Regency, Central Buton Regency and West Muna Regency in July 2014, while the latest cities were South Tangerang and Gunungsitoli in October 2008. There are no cities which have been split into other subdivisions, although the administrative regency of Thousand Islands was split from North Jakarta administrative city in 2001. Despite the name of South Tangerang being similar to that of Tangerang city, South Tangerang was actually split from Tangerang Regency.
In two special cases, all subdivisions of North Maluku and Riau Islands were made from parts of the defunct North Maluku Regency and Riau Islands Regency, respectively. All subdivisions of North Kalimantan are also made from lands of Bulungan Regency, but its area was split to several regencies before the province was established. Central Java and the Special Region of Yogyakarta are the only province-level areas which have not had any subdivision splits. Listed below are the subdivision splits from 1999 to the most recent ones in 2014; for pre-1999 splits see also main article in Indonesian Wikipedia.

2014

Southeast Sulawesi

2013

South Sumatra

Central Sulawesi

Southeast Sulawesi

2012

South Sumatra

East Nusa Tenggara

East Kalimantan

Central Sulawesi

West Sulawesi

Southeast Sulawesi

North Maluku

Lampung

West Java

West Papua

2008

North Sumatra

Jambi

Riau

Bengkulu

Lampung

Riau Islands

Banten

West Nusa Tenggara

East Nusa Tenggara

North Sulawesi

Central Sulawesi

South Sulawesi

Maluku

North Maluku

West Papua

Papua

2007

Aceh

North Sumatra

South Sumatra

Lampung

Banten

West Java

East Nusa Tenggara

West Kalimantan

North Kalimantan

North Sulawesi

Gorontalo

Southeast Sulawesi

Maluku

Papua

2003

Aceh

North Sumatra

West Sumatra

Riau Islands

Bengkulu

South Sumatra

Bangka Belitung Islands

West Nusa Tenggara

East Nusa Tenggara

West Kalimantan

South Kalimantan

North Sulawesi

Gorontalo

Central Sulawesi

West Sulawesi

South Sulawesi

Southeast Sulawesi

Maluku

North Maluku

Papua

2002

Aceh

West Sumatra

South Sumatra

West Java

West Nusa Tenggara

Central Kalimantan

East Kalimantan

North Sulawesi

Central Sulawesi

West Sulawesi

South Sulawesi

West Papua

Papua

2001

Aceh

North Sumatra

Riau Islands

South Sumatra

DKI Jakarta

West Java

East Java

West Kalimantan

Southeast Sulawesi

1999

Aceh

West Sumatra

Riau

Jambi

Lampung

West Java

East Nusa Tenggara

West Kalimantan

South Kalimantan

East Kalimantan

Gorontalo

Central Sulawesi

South Sulawesi

Maluku

North Maluku

West Papua

Papua

Former regencies

These regencies became defunct either by splitting their territory together, or by being renamed. This list does not include colonial-era regencies, or former regencies of the former province of East Timor.
Former regency's nameFate
Toba Samosir Regency Renamed to Toba Regency
Western Southeast Maluku Regency Renamed to Tanimbar Islands Regency
North Mamuju Regency Renamed to Pasangkayu Regency
Pontianak Regency Renamed to Mempawah Regency
Surabaya Regency Renamed to Gresik Regency
Riau Islands Regency Split into 3 in 1999 and one each in 2001 and 2003, later changed name to Bintan Regency
North Maluku Regency Split into 4 regencies and cities
Kutai Regency Split into 4 regencies and cities in 1999, later renamed to Kutai Kartanegara Regency
Sarolangun Bangko Regency Split into Sarolangun Regency and Merangin Regency
Bungo Tebo Regency Split into Bungo Regency and Tebo Regency
Tanjung Jabung Regency Split into West Tanjung Jabung Regency and East Tanjung Jabung Regency
Buol Toli-Toli Regency Split into Buol Regency and Toli-Toli Regency
Adikarto Regency Merged into Kulon Progo Regency
Hulu Sungai Regency Split into South Hulu Sungai Regency, Central Hulu Sungai Regency and North Hulu Sungai Regency
Barito Regency Split into North Barito Regency and South Barito Regency
Kotawaringin Regency Split into West Kotawaringin Regency and East Kotawaringin Regency