This highly urbanised area (largely suburban to Jakarta to its west) has a land area of 1,273.88km2 (491.85sqmi) and contained 2,630,401 people at the 2010 Census[2] and 3,113,017 at the 2020 Census,[3] with an average density of 2,570 inhabitants per square kilometre (6,700/sqmi). The official estimate as at mid 2024 was 3,273,868 (comprising 1,657,207 males and 1,616,661 females).[1] These figures exclude the area and population of the separate City of Bekasi (with 2,644,058 inhabitants in mid 2024), which lies between the Regency and Jakarta, and has been independent of the Regency since 16 December 1996.
The earliest evidence of the existence of Bekasi dates from the 5th century according to the Tugu inscription, which describes the name of two rivers that run through the city, i.e. Candrabhaga and Gomati and one of those rivers, i.e. Candrabhaga is the origin of the name Bekasi where the name Candrabhaga evolved into Bhagasasi due to the Sanskrit word candra which means moon evolved into Old Javanese word ‘sasi’ which also means moon and then the name Bhagasasi was misspelled as Bhagasi and then Dutch colonial government also misspelled the name Bhagasi as Bacassie and finally it became Bekasi.
History
During the colonial era, Bekasi was dominated by particuliere landerijen ('private domains'; tanah partikelir) which came under the rule of Landheeren (landlords).[4] The landlords could impose taxation (cuke), tribute (upeti) and force labor (rodi) on the inhabitants of their private estates.[5]
Among the most powerful gentry families in Bekasi was the Khouw family of Tamboen (keluarga Khouw van Tamboen).[6] They ruled their extensive landholdings from their country house, landhuis Tamboen (now Gedung Juang Tambun).
Administrative districts
Bekasi Regency administration building
Bekasi Regency is divided into 23 districts (kecamatan), tabulated below with their areas and their populations at the 2010 Census[2] and the 2020 Census,[3] together with the official estimates for mid 2024.[1] They are grouped in the table below (in non-official geographical sectors) to indicate the approximate position of the districts. The table also includes the locations of the district administrative centres, the number of administrative villages in each district (totalling 180 rural desa and 7 urban kelurahan), and their post codes.
Notes: (a) includes the kelurahan of Sertajaya. (b) includes the kelurahan of Telaga Asih. (c) includes the kelurahan of Wanasari. (d) includes the kelurahan of Jatimulya. (e) includes the two kelurahan of Bahagia and Kebalen. (f) includes the kelurahan of Setia Asih.
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