West Aceh Regency


West Aceh Regency is a regency in the Aceh special region of Indonesia. It is located on the island of Sumatra. The regency formerly covered a much larger area, but on 4 October 1999 the districts on the island of Simeulue were separated out to form their own regency, and on 10 April 2002 two additional regencies - Aceh Jaya and Nagan Raya - were created from parts of West Aceh; the residual regency currently covers an area of 2,927.95 square kilometres and had a population of 173,558 at the 2010 Census and 198,736 at the 2020 Census; the official estimate as of mid 2024 was 209,220.
The town of Meulaboh remains the seat of the regency government. The regency is a palm oil-producing area. While the majority of the population are Acehnese people, some of the people of the regency are Minangkabau-descended Aneuk Jamee.
The regency was among the hardest-hit areas during the 2004 [Indian Ocean earthquake].
The regency is bordered by the regencies of Aceh Jaya to the west, Pidie to the north, Central Aceh to the northeast, and Nagan Raya to the southeast, and by the Indian Ocean to the southwest.

Administrative districts

The regency was divided administratively into twelve districts, listed below with their areas and populations at the 2010 Census and the 2020 Census, together with the official estimates as of mid 2024. The table also includes the location of the district administrative centres, and 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
11.05.01Johan Pahlawan44.9156,05064,64666,113Meulaboh2123617 &
23618
11.05.05Samatiga140.6913,32215,65616,525Suak Timah3223650
11.05.06Bubon129.586,5456,8177,156Banda Layung1723651
11.05.07Arongan Lambalek130.0610,60911,87112,528Drien Rampak2723652
11.05.04Woyla249.0412,07313,57614,482Kuala Bhee4323654
11.05.10Woyla Barat
123.006,8587,8378,186Pasi Mali2423682
11.05.11Woyla Timur
132.604,1385,1445,510Tangkeh2623683
11.05.02Kaway XVI510.1818,75321,21622,286Keudee Aron4423681
11.05.09Meureubo112.8726,51030,06632,460Meureubo2623615
11.05.08Pantai Ceuremen490.259,63511,13312,214Pante Ceureumen2523680
11.05.12Panton Reu83.045,6716,5867,022Meutulang1923684
11.05.03Sungai Mas781.733,3944,1884,738Kajeung1823685
Totals2,927.95173,558198,736209,220Meulaboh322