Padang Panjang


Padang Panjang is a city located at in the highlands of West Sumatra, around 70 km inland from the provincial capital Padang. It sits on a plateau beneath the volcanoes Mount Marapi and Mount Singgalang, thus creating cooler temperatures. It was a popular tourist destination during Dutch rule in Indonesia, and it later became one of the centres of Islamic education in Sumatra.
Home to a famous performing arts conservatorium, Institut Seni Indonesia Padang Panjang, the town stretches up the hill from the marketplace and central mosque to the soccer field and bus terminal up to ISI. The main road through Padang Panjang links coastal Padang and the highland capital, Bukittinggi. The city is also home to the Minangkabau Cultural Documentation and Information Center.

Name

There are many versions of the origin of the name Padang Panjang. Some historical accounts confused Padang Panjang with Nagari Padang Panjang in Pariangan, Tanah Datar, as one of the earlier Minangkabau settlements after they came down from the peak of Mount Marapi. From Tambo, folklore, or historical accounts of nearby Minangkabau nagaris in Batipuh, X Koto and XI Koto, the area that is now known as Padang Panjang was a vast land called "Tanah Padang Nan Panjang Sari Menanti". The plain was a savanna filled with tall weeds; thus, it was readily used for human settlements. Soon, Tanah Padang Nan Panjang Sari Menanti shortened into Padang Panjang Sari Menanti. Later, it was only Padang Panjang because Sari Menanti was used to call another settlement that was opened in the hinterland of Malaya, which is known as the royal town of Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia. The town is also known as Kota Hujan, and as Egypt van Andalas or Egypt van Sumatra because of the role it has played as an Islamic education hub with various Islamic schools and pesantren since the Dutch colonial era.

Government

The city was created by Law No. 8 of 1956 on the Formation of the Autonomous Cities in the Regional Central Sumatra Province as an enclave situated geographically within the Tanah Datar Regency. It has an area of 23.0 km2. The current mayor who heads the executive body of the city is Hendra Arnis, and the vice mayor is Allex Saputra. They were elected in 2025 after winning Indonesia's local elections in 2024. The city also has a municipal legislative body called Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat Daerah Padang Panjang, consisting of 20 local elective representatives. The current head of the legislative body is Imbral.

Administrative districts

Padang Panjang city consists of two districts, tabulated below with their areas and population totals from the 2010 Census and the 2020 Census, together with the official estimates as at mid 2023. The table also includes the locations of the district administrative centres and their postal codes.
Name of
District
Area
in
km2		Pop'n
Census
2010		Pop'n
Census
2020		Pop'n
Estimate
mid 2023		Admin
centre		Post
codes
Padang Panjang Barat
9.7527,63732,16033,195Kampung Manggis27111
-27118
Padang Panjang Timur
13.2519,37124,15125,432Ngalau27121
-27128
Totals23.0047,00856,31158,627-

Administrative subdistricts (''kelurahan'')

West Padang Panjang District consists of the 8 subdistricts of Silaing Bawah, Silaing Atas, Pasar Usang, Kampung Manggis, Tanah Hitam, Pasar Baru, Bukit Surungan and Balai-Balai. East Padang Panjang District comprises the 8 villages of Koto Panjang, Koto Katik, Ngalau, Ekor Lubuk, Sigando, Ganting, Guguk Malintang and Tanah Pak Lambik.

Demographics

The city had a population at the 2010 Census of 47,008 and 56,311 at the 2020 Census; the official estimate as at mid 2023 was 58,627 - comprising 29,461 males and 29,166 females.

Ethnicity

The original inhabitants of Padang Panjang are the local Minangkabau, particularly clans of nearby Luhak Tanah Datar and Luhak Agam in the Minangkabau highlands. According to Tambo, these native Minangkabau migrated from the east from Luhak Tanah Datar, then moved to Batipuh and IV Koto. Some of them migrated from the north in Luhak Agam. Then they resettled in the nearby area of VI Koto. As Padang Panjang grew as an important economic, political, and educational hub, it attracted many diasporas of other communities, such as Europeans, Javanese, Bataks, Nias, Chinese Indonesians, Arabs and Indians. These newcomers tended to live within their tight-knit community, resulting in their distinct neighbourhoods being named after their community, such as Kampung Jawa, Kampung Cina, Kampung Nias and Kampung Keling.

Language

As Padang Panjang is a city and second-level local government in Indonesia, Indonesian language is the official language for government affairs and the language of instruction in schools. In contrast, the Minangkabau language is used for daily communication in public spaces and between different ethnic groups living in the city.

Education

Padang Panjang offers a wide range of education services through public and private institutions, from preschool to higher education. It also offered community education. There are also modern Pesantren Islamic boarding schools in the city, such as Pondok Pesantren Kauman Muhammadiyah Padang Panjang, Pondok Pesantren Thawalib Putera and Puteri, Pondok Pesantren Thawalib Gunung, Pesantren Terpadu Serambi Mekah and Perguruan Diniyyah Puteri Padang Panjang.
The city hosts the Indonesia Institute of the Arts Padang Panjang. It is the only public higher education institution in Padang Panjang. It teaches humanities, visual, performing and media arts for undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral programs mainly in Minangkabau and Malay culture.

Tourism

Tourism in Padang Panjang is heavily influenced by its role as a transportation and education hub between larger cities/regions in West Sumatra. During the Dutch colonial era, Padang Panjang served as a transportation hub for people and goods from the cities on the western coast of Sumatera into Minangkabau's hinterland through narrow Anai Valley passes. All exported goods from cities such as Padang and Pariaman entered Minangkabau through this choke point, and they were traded with native goods such as tobacco, coals and other local spices. The opening of the first rail network from Padang to Padang Panjang in 1891 by Staatsspoorwegen ter Sumatra's Westkust, a division of the Dutch colonial-owned railway enterprise in the colony, expedited the progress. It also accelerated the volume of people who wanted to pursue education, mainly Islamic education, in progressive native Islamic educational institutions in the city.
Padang Panjang offers cultural tourism through the government-managed museum and research centre, Minangkabau Culture Documentation and Information Center, where tourists can learn the rich history and culture of Minangkabau people through books, photographs and older archives. Nearby, there is an amusement water park called Minang Fantasy or Mifan, which is blended with the traditional houses of the Minangkabau people. Local tourist villages, such as Desa Wisata Kubu Gadang, are also available to explore, where tourists can experience how local Minangkabau live in their villages.
Padang Panjang attracts Muslim tourists who want to learn how the city played a crucial role in the Islamic educational hub in Sumatra, Indonesia and regional Southeast Asia. Tourists can visit well-established institutions such as Perguruan Diniyyah Puteri Padang Panjang and Sumatera Thawalib.
Due to its cool temperature, the city also presents strong culinary traditions, particularly from the local Minangkabau cuisine. The city hosts famous Nasi Padang dan Sate Padang restaurants. The yellow-coloured sauce of Sate Padang is, in fact, developed here. The famous night street food bazaar opposite the M. Syafei Building is the main tourist attraction at night.

Town without cigarette advertisements

Since 2008, Padang Panjang is the only city in Indonesia without cigarette advertisements. Smoking is prohibited in public areas, public transport, and youth facilities. In other areas, smoking is restricted to smoking rooms. In 2014, some pulmonologists wished to transfer to other towns because of the lack of patients.

In popular culture

Padang Panjang is a background for numerous literary fiction, particularly early Indonesian literature. Haji Abdul Malik Karim Amrullah, or famously known as Hamka, one of Indonesia's celebrated writers, novelists and Islamic scholars, used Padang Panjang as the background of his literary works, particularly Di Bawah Lindungan Ka'bah and the Tenggelamnya Kapal van der Wijck, both later adapted into two different movies in 2011 and later in 2013.

Notable people