Sumenep (town)


Kota Sumenep, officially the Kota Sumenep District, was previously known as Town of Samanap in English, is a town and district which serves as the regency seat of Sumenep Regency, in the East Java province of Indonesia. It is the second smallest and populated district in Sumenep Regency, with an area of 27.84 square kilometres and the population of 75,367 as of 2023. The administrative capital is Pamolokan. On 29 June 2004, part of the Kota Sumenep District was expanded into a separate district, namely Batuan District.
This district is located 175 km east of Surabaya and 965 km east of Jakarta. Geographically, Kota Sumenep is in the eastern coast of Madura island. Infrastructure and settlements from Sumenep Regency are also concentrated in this district, which is the center of government and economy for regency at the far eastern end of the island of Madura. Hugely prosperous in the eighteenth century, it is now a quiet, peaceful backwater, with its past glory still in evidence.

Etymology

Kota Sumenep gained it is name from the combination of two words. The word Kota comes from Indonesian word kota which in turn comes from the Sanskrit word कोट्ट which means fort, fortress, castle, fortified house, fortification, works, city, town, or place encircled by walls. It is also used formally in a few other Indonesian towns and cities, for example; Kota Jantho, Kota Tambolaka, and Kota Waisai. It can also be used informally to refer to any towns or cities. Hence, a direct translation of the name Kota Sumenep into English would be "Town of Sumenep" or "Sumenep Town".
While, the name Sumenep originated from the language of Old Javanese people from the words of Sungeneb which means "the quiet valley", referring to most of the Kota Sumenep area which used to be land used by swamp deposits. Hence, Western writers often refer to Sumenep as Soemanap, Soemenap or Soemenep. In Bijdragen tot de kennis van de residentie Madoera published in Tijdschrift voor Nederlandsch Indië, J. Hageman stated that since the ruler of Sumenep, Tirtanegara replaced Cakranegara II in 1751, the word Sumenep was used officially as meaning "settled water" – bezonken water.

Geography

Most of the Kota Sumenep District area is located in the lowlands, which around 46 percent is paddy fields, rivers and plantations, the remainder is in the form of residential land, offices or agencies, shops, industry and other urban infrastructure. It is bordered by the Manding District to the north, Gapura District with Kalianget District to the east, and the Batuan District to the south and west.

Climate

Kota Sumenep has a tropical savanna climate with May to November and heavy rainfall from December to April.

Government

Kota Sumenep is led by a head of district who is then assisted by a district secretary or secretariat in carrying out his duties. The current head of the Kota Sumenep District is Yudi Nursukmadyanto, who has served since 2024 and is assisted by a district secretary named Parman.

Administrative divisions

Administratively, the Kota Sumenep District area has 12 villages and 4 urban villages/wards which are divided into 57 hamlets or neighborhoods.
The following is a list of names of the villages located in Kota Sumenep District:
Name Village or WardArea
in km2		Pop'n
estimate
2021		Number
of
hamlets		Postal codeMinistry of Affairs code
Kolor3.2412,84556941735.29.01.2005
Pabian4.956,46846941735.29.01.2006
Marengan Daya0.952,25146941735.29.01.2007
Kacongan2.242,17346941735.29.01.2008
Paberasan4.094,28346941735.29.01.2009
Parsanga3.185,04736941735.29.01.2010
Bangkal0.412,34836941735.29.01.2011
Pangarangan0.535,29736941235.29.01.2014
Kepanjin*0.333,20046941535.29.01.2015
Pajagalan*0.653,92626941635.29.01.2016
Bangselok*0.434,97246941635.29.01.2017
Karangduak*0.303,72446941735.29.01.2018
Pandian0.734,41836941435.29.01.2019
Pamolokan**1.747,93446941235.29.01.2013
Kebunan1.543,13036941735.29.01.2012
Kebunagung2.522,77336941335.29.01.2020

Note: urban village/ward.
administrative capital.