Lake Toba is a large natural lake in North Sumatra, Indonesia, occupying the caldera of a supervolcano. The lake is located in the middle of the northern part of the island of Sumatra, with a surface elevation of about 900 metres (2,953 ft), the lake stretches from 2.88°N 98.52°E to 2.35°N 99.1°E. The lake is about 100 kilometres long, 30 kilometres (19 mi) wide, and up to 505 metres (1,657 ft) deep. It is the largest lake in Indonesia and the largest volcanic lake in the world. Toba Caldera is one of twenty geoparks in Indonesia, and was recognised in July 2020 as one of the UNESCO Global Geoparks.
North Sumatra is a province of Indonesia located on the northern part of the island of Sumatra. Its capital and largest city is Medan. North Sumatra is Indonesia's fourth most populous province after West Java, East Java and Central Java. It covers an area of 72,981 km2. According to the 2020 census, the province's population in that year was 14,799,361. The mid-2022 official estimate is 15,115,206.
Samosir, or Samosir Island, is a large volcanic island in Lake Toba, located in the north of the island of Sumatra in Indonesia. Administratively, Samosir Island is governed as six of the nine districts within Samosir Regency. The lake and island were formed after the eruption of a supervolcano some 75,000 years ago. The island was originally a peninsula connected to the surrounding caldera wall by a small isthmus, which was cut through by the Tano Ponggol Canal in 1907 to aid navigation.
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 which are related groups with distinct languages and traditional customs (adat).
The Huria Kristen Batak Protestan is a Lutheran church among the Batak people, generally the Toba Batak in Indonesia. It uses the Dutch Reformed style of worship due to the Dutch colonial heritage at the time it was founded. With a baptized membership of 4,500,000, it is one of the largest Protestant churches in Indonesia and Southeast Asia. Its present leader is Ephorus (Bishop) Robinson Butarbutar.
Karo Regency is a landlocked regency of North Sumatra, Indonesia, situated in the Barisan Mountains. The regency covers an area of 2,127.25 square kilometres (821.34 sq mi) and according to the 2010 census it had a population of 350,479, increasing to 404,998 at the 2020 Census; the official estimate as at mid 2022 was 414,429. 60.99% of the regency is forested. Its regency seat is Kabanjahe. The Batak Karo language is spoken in the regency, as well as the Indonesian language. It borders Southeast Aceh Regency in Aceh to the west, Deli Serdang Regency and Langkat Regency to the north, Dairi Regency and Toba Samosir Regency to the south, and Deli Serdang Regency and Simalungun Regency to the east.
The term Parmalim or malim describes the followers of the Malim religion, the modern form of the traditional Batak religion. People who are not familiar with the Batak language may erroneously assume Parmalim is the name of the religion rather than its practitioners.
Toba Batak is an Austronesian language spoken in North Sumatra province in Indonesia. It is part of a group of languages called Batak.
Boho is a Batak village on the island of Samosir on Lake Toba, in the Indonesian province of North Sumatra.
Arsik is an Indonesian spicy fish dish of the Batak Toba and Mandailing people of North Sumatra, usually using the common carp.
Patuan Bosar SinambelaginoarOmpu Pulo Batu, better known as Si Singamangaraja XII, was the last priest-king of the Batak peoples of north Sumatra. In the course of fighting a lengthy guerrilla war against the Dutch colonisation of Sumatra from 1878 onwards, he was killed in a skirmish with Dutch troops in 1907. He was declared a National Hero of Indonesia in 1961 for his resistance to Dutch colonialism.
Toba people also referred to as Batak Toba people are the largest sub-group of the Batak people 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.
Si Gale Gale or Si Galegale is a wooden puppet used in a funeral dance performance of the Batak people in Samosir Island, Northern Sumatra. Sigale Gale is a well known feature to visiting tourists. During the dance, the puppet is operated from behind like a marionette using strings that run through the ornate wooden platform on which it stands. The set up enables its arms and body to be moved and its head to turn.
Tipatipa is a typical of Batak snack from Porsea, Toba Samosir, North Sumatra.
Colonel Mangaradja Sinta Mardame Sinaga was a politician and military person who served as the Regent of North Tapanuli from 1968 until 1979. He was the first military person to hold the office.
A solu is a traditional boat of the Toba Batak people of North Sumatra, Indonesia. The solu is a dugout canoe, with boards added on the side bound with iron tacks. They are of various size, the largest, for 50 rowers, are about 18 meters in length; there is a slight keel carved fore and aft. They are propelled by sitting rowers, who sit in pairs on cross seats. The paddles used have an oval blade and cross handle. The boat can be distinguished by its ornaments: The stern ornament is called giarogia di pudi, which consists of three sticks with tufts of horsehair and a row of shorter sticks called rame rame with a bigger one in the middle distinctly phalloid, strung across; no tradition appears to explain this singular ornament. The ornament on the prow is a carved and painted figure symbolising a buffalo head, with another rame rame strung in front with its singular central phallus. A sort of bowsprit with tufts of horsehair at the sides and one of human hair at the end, over it rises an upright carved post, called the torgiok.
Tapanoeli Residency was an administrative subdivision of the Dutch East Indies with its capital in Sibolga. It was located in northern Sumatra and existed in various forms from 1844 until the end of Dutch rule in 1942. The area it encompassed at various times corresponds to most of the western coast of the current day Indonesian province of North Sumatra and parts of Aceh, including much of the traditional heartland of Batak people. Lake Toba, a historically important crater lake, was also within the borders of the Residency.
Tortor is a traditional Batak dance originating from North Sumatra, Indonesia. This dance was originally a ritual and sacred dance performed at funerals, healing ceremonies, and other traditional Batak ceremonies. For the Batak people, tortor dance has both cultural and spiritual values. Through this dance, people express their hopes and prayers. Demonstrations of attitudes and feelings through this dance describe the situation and conditions that are being experienced.
