Medan is the capital and largest city of the Indonesian province of North Sumatra. The nearby Strait of Malacca, Port of Belawan, and Kualanamu International Airport make Medan a regional hub and multicultural metropolis, acting as a financial centre for Sumatra and a gateway to the western part of Indonesia. About 60% of the economy in North Sumatra is backed by trading, agriculture, and processing industries, including exports from its 4 million acres of palm oil plantations. The National Development Planning Agency listed Medan as one of the four main central cities in Indonesia, alongside Jakarta, Surabaya, and Makassar.
Minangkabau is an Austronesian language spoken by the Minangkabau of West Sumatra, the western part of Riau, South Aceh Regency, the northern part of Bengkulu and Jambi, also in several cities throughout Indonesia by migrated Minangkabau. The language is also a lingua franca along the western coastal region of the province of North Sumatra, and is even used in parts of Aceh, where the language is called Aneuk Jamee.
North Sumatra is a province of Indonesia located in the northern part of the island of Sumatra. Its capital and largest city is Medan. It is bordered by Aceh on the northwest and Riau and West Sumatra on the southeast, with two different coastlines located on the Indian Ocean and the Strait of Malacca, and a maritime border with Malaysia to the east. North Sumatra is Indonesia's fourth most populous province after West Java, East Java, and Central Java, and is also the most populous province outside of Java Island. North Sumatra is also the third-largest province in area on the island of Sumatra after South Sumatra and Riau provinces. It covers an area of 72,460.74 km2, which is approximately the same size as Sierra Leone or Scotland or Maine.
Batak is a collective term used to identify a number of closely related Austronesian ethnic groups predominantly found in North Sumatra, Indonesia, who speak Batak languages. The term is used to include the Karo, Pakpak, Simalungun, Toba, Angkola, and Mandailing, related ethnic groups with distinct languages and traditional customs (adat).
Pematangsiantar, and also known as the City of Pematangsiantar, is an independent city in North Sumatra Province of Indonesia, surrounded by, but not part of, the Simalungun Regency, making Pematangsiantar an enclave within Simalungun Regency. Pematangsiantar formerly had the status of a second-level district and was the administrative centre of the surrounding Regency, but in 1986 it was elevated to Kota (City) and separated from the Regency.
Padangsidimpuan is a city in North Sumatra, Indonesia, and the former capital of South Tapanuli Regency, which surrounds the city. It has an area of 159.28 km2 and a population of 178,818 people at the 2000 census, which rose to 191,554 in the 2010 census and 225,105 at the 2020 Census; the official estimate as at mid 2023 was 236,217 - comprising 119,228 males and 116,989 females.
The Batak languages are a subgroup of the Austronesian languages spoken by the Batak people in the Indonesian province of North Sumatra and surrounding areas.
The Mandailing are an ethnic group in Sumatra, Indonesia that is commonly associated with the Batak people. They are found mainly in the northern section of the island of Sumatra in Indonesia. They came under the influence of the Kaum Padri who ruled the Minangkabau of Tanah Datar. As a result, the Mandailing were influenced by Muslim culture and converted to Islam. There are also a group of Mandailing in Malaysia, especially in the states of Selangor and Perak. They are closely related to the Angkola and Toba.
Toba Batak is an Austronesian language spoken in North Sumatra province in Indonesia. It is part of a group of languages called Batak. There are approximately 1,610,000 Toba Batak speakers, living to the east, west and south of Lake Toba. Historically it was written using the Batak script, but the Latin script is now used for most writing.
Karo, referred to in Indonesia as Bahasa Karo, is an Austronesian language that is spoken by the Karo people of Indonesia. It is used by around 600,000 people in North Sumatra. It is mainly spoken in Karo Regency, southern parts of Deli Serdang Regency and northern parts of Dairi Regency, North Sumatra, Indonesia. It was historically written using the Batak alphabet which is descended from the Brahmi script of ancient India by way of the Pallava and Old Kawi scripts, but nowadays only a tiny number of Karo can write or understand the script, and instead the Latin script is used.
North Padang Lawas is a landlocked regency in the North Sumatra province of Indonesia. It has an area of 3,918.05 km2, and had a population of 223,049 at the 2010 census and 260,720 at the 2020 census; the official estimate as of mid-2023 was 275,448. North Padang Lawas Regency was created on 17 July 2007 from the eastern parts of the South Tapanuli Regency. Its administrative seat is the town of Gunung Tua.
South Tapanuli is a regency in North Sumatra, Indonesia. Its seat is the town of Sipirok. This regency was originally very large and contained thousands of towns and villages, including the city of Padang Sidempuan. The areas that have separated from South Tapanuli Regency are the new regencies of Mandailing Natal, Padang Lawas Utara, and Padang Lawas, all lying to the south-east of the residual South Tapanuli Regency, plus the city (kota) of Padang Sidempuan. After the division, the regency seat moved from Padang Sidempuan to Sipirok.
Toba Batak people are the largest ethnic group of the Batak peoples of North Sumatra, Indonesia. The common phrase of ‘Batak’ usually refers to the Batak Toba people. This mistake is caused by the Toba people being the largest sub-group of the Batak ethnic and their differing social habit has been to self-identify as merely Batak instead of ‘Toba’ or ‘Batak Toba’, contrary to the habit of the Karo, Mandailing, Simalungun, Pakpak communities who commonly self-identify with their respective sub-groups.
Azab dan Sengsara is a 1920 novel written by Merari Siregar and published by Balai Pustaka, Indonesia's major publisher at that time. It tells the story of two lovers, Amiruddin and Mariamin, who are unable to marry and eventually become miserable. It is generally considered the first modern Indonesian novel.
Simalungun, or Batak Simalungun, is an Austronesian language of Sumatra. It is spoken mainly in Simalungun Regency and Pematang Siantar, North Sumatra, Indonesia.
Angkola people are part of the Batak ethnic group from North Sumatra who live in the South Tapanuli regency. The Angkola language is similar to Mandailing language also with Toba language, but it is sociolinguistically distinct.
Willem Iskander (1840–1876) was an Indonesian writer, nationalist, teacher and educator. He advocated for native Indonesian education in Dutch colonial times from North Sumatra. He founded Teacher Education School in 1862 in Tano Bato, Mandailing Natal Regency.
