Rantepao is a town and the capital of North Toraja Regency, which is known for being the cultural center of the Toraja ethnic group. National and regional tourism offices have developed the city as the starting point for visiting Tana Toraja, since the area was opened for tourism in the 1970s. [1]
In Rantepao, there is also a significant Torajan Muslims population. [2]
In 1961, the government administration in the Tana Toraja underwent a change. This change occurred due to the issuance of the Letter of the Governor of the Level I Region of South Sulawesi No. 2067 A. In this letter, Tana Toraja Regency which originally consisted of 15 districts with a total of 410 villages changed to consist of 9 sub-districts with 135 villages. One of the districts formed was Rantepao District. Then the formation of a new style village was held through the Governor's Decree of the Head of the Level I Region of South Sulawesi No. 450/XII/1965. This decree was issued on December 20, 1965. [3]
Based on the decree, the Decree of the Head of the Second Level Region of Tana Toraja was stipulated again No. 152/SP/1967. Issuance of this letter on September 7, 1967 and its contents regarding the formation of the new style village. A total of 65 new style villages were designated in the Tana Toraja Regency Level II Region. These villages are then divided into 186 villages. In this decree, Rantepao District is divided into 4 sub-district and 18 villages. [3]
Rantepao District has been part of North Toraja Regency since the formation of this district in 2008. Its formation was stipulated by Law of the Republic of Indonesia No. 28 of 2008. [4] Rantepao District before becoming part of North Toraja Regency, including the Tana Toraja Regency. [5] This is because part of the Tana Toraja Regency area was divided into North Toraja Regency. [6] Rantepao District is one of the districts in North Toraja Regency which is located in the central part to the south. The dominant altitude in Rantepao District is between 500–1000 meters above sea level. [7]
Rantepao has 43,123 inhabitants (census 2010). [8] The town is on river Sadang, about 300 km north-east from Makassar.
Rantepao has an elevation moderated tropical rainforest climate (Af) with heavy to very heavy rainfall year-round.
| Climate data for Rantepao | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 26.3 (79.3) | 26.6 (79.9) | 26.8 (80.2) | 26.8 (80.2) | 26.6 (79.9) | 25.9 (78.6) | 25.4 (77.7) | 26.4 (79.5) | 27.0 (80.6) | 28.1 (82.6) | 27.4 (81.3) | 26.6 (79.9) | 26.7 (80.0) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 22.5 (72.5) | 22.8 (73.0) | 22.9 (73.2) | 22.9 (73.2) | 22.9 (73.2) | 22.3 (72.1) | 21.6 (70.9) | 22.1 (71.8) | 22.4 (72.3) | 23.4 (74.1) | 23.2 (73.8) | 22.7 (72.9) | 22.6 (72.7) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 18.8 (65.8) | 19.0 (66.2) | 19.0 (66.2) | 19.0 (66.2) | 19.3 (66.7) | 18.7 (65.7) | 17.8 (64.0) | 17.9 (64.2) | 17.9 (64.2) | 18.7 (65.7) | 19.0 (66.2) | 18.9 (66.0) | 18.7 (65.6) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 320 (12.6) | 337 (13.3) | 366 (14.4) | 469 (18.5) | 289 (11.4) | 202 (8.0) | 171 (6.7) | 160 (6.3) | 141 (5.6) | 169 (6.7) | 308 (12.1) | 381 (15.0) | 3,313 (130.6) |
| Source: Climate-Data.org [9] | |||||||||||||
Rantepao is serviced by Toraja Airport ( IATA : TRT, ICAO : WAFB) with two weekly return flights on Mondays and Fridays to Balikpapan's Sultan Aji Muhammad Sulaiman Sepinggan International Airport (IATA: BPN, ICAO: WALL) by Citilink (as of 2024). The airport is located about 35km or one hour by car to the South of Rantepao.
Alternatively, daily flights are available between Palopo Lagaligo Bua Airport (IATA: LLO, ICAO: WAFD) and Makassar's Sultan Hasanuddin International Airport (IATA: UPG, ICAO: WAAA) by Wings Air (as of 2024) which can be reached in two to three hours by car.
Rantepao is the cultural centre of the Toraja who are mainly Christians. Several administration buildings in town were built in the typical style of the Toraja. A sightworthy monument dedicated to the introduction of the Bible in Tana Toraja in 1913 was erected in front of the largest Protestant church. The interior of Santa Theresia Catholic Church, another noteworthy building in town, was designed using traditional elements of the Toraja culture. The Cultural Centre and various administration buildings in the town centre were built in the traditional Toraja style of a tongkonan (a traditional house) with a typical roof.
A monument with a height of 10 metres dedicated to Pong Tiku was erected close to the market in the centre of Rantepao. Pong Tiku was a rebel fighting against the Dutch at the beginning of the 20th century. He was condemned to death in Rantepao in 1907. [10]
Mount Gunung Singki is a mountain in the west of the town centre with a height of 930 metres offering a panoramic view of Rantepao and its surroundings. [11] A tall Christian cross was erected on the top of the mountain.
Rantepao is surrounded by many traditional villages where the Toraja culture is well-preserved.
Ke'te Kesu is a famous village in the south of Rantepoao where a cave with several graves, five large tongkonans and a dozen of store houses (alang) can be seen. [12]
The village Kambira is known for an old tree in which small children were buried about 100 years ago. [13]
South Sulawesi is a province in the southern peninsula of Sulawesi, Indonesia. The Selayar Islands archipelago to the south of Sulawesi is also part of the province. The capital and largest city is Makassar. The province is bordered by Central Sulawesi and West Sulawesi to the north, the Gulf of Bone and Southeast Sulawesi to the east, Makassar Strait to the west, and Flores Sea to the south.
Tana Toraja is a landlocked regency (kabupaten) of South Sulawesi Province of Indonesia, and home to the Toraja ethnic group. It covers an area of 2,054.30 km2 (793.17 sq mi) and had a population of 221,081 at the 2010 census and 280,794 at the 2020 census; the official estimate as at mid 2022 was 291,046, but the official figure for mid 2023 was a much reduced total of 257,901.
The Torajans are an ethnic group indigenous to a mountainous region of South Sulawesi, Indonesia. Their population is approximately 1,100,000, of whom 450,000 live in the regency of Tana Toraja. Most of the population is Christian, and others are Muslim or have local animist beliefs known as aluk. The Indonesian government has recognised this animistic belief as Aluk To Dolo as well as Hindu Alukta, namely, a form of Hinduism in Indonesia.
Indonesia is divided into provinces. Provinces are made up of regencies and cities (kota). Provinces, regencies, and cities have their own local governments and parliamentary bodies.
In Indonesia, village or subdistrict is the fourth-level subdivision and the smallest administrative division of Indonesia below a district, regency/city, and province. Similar administrative divisions outside of Indonesia include barangays in the Philippines, Muban in Thailand, civil townships and incorporated municipalities in the United States and Canada, communes in France and Vietnam, dehestan in Iran, hromada in Ukraine, Gemeinden in Germany, comuni in Italy, or municipios in Spain. The UK equivalent are civil parishes in England and communities in Wales. There are a number of names and types for villages in Indonesia, with desa being the most frequently used for regencies, and kelurahan for cities or for those communities within regencies which have town characteristics. According to the 2019 report by the Ministry of Home Affairs, there are 8,488 urban villages and 74,953 rural villages in Indonesia. North Aceh Regency contained the highest number of rural villages (852) amongst all of the regencies of Indonesia, followed by Pidie Regency with 730 rural villages and Bireuen Regency with 609 rural villages. Prabumulih, with only 12 rural villages, contained the fewest. Counted together, the sixteen regencies of Indonesia containing the most rural villages—namely, North Aceh (852), Pidie (730), Bireuen (609), Aceh Besar (604), Tolikara (541), East Aceh (513), Yahukimo (510), Purworejo (469), Lamongan (462), South Nias (459), Kebumen (449), Garut (421), Bojonegoro (419), Bogor (416), Cirebon (412), and Pati (401)—contain one-third of all the rural villages in Indonesia. Five of these are located in Aceh, two in Highland Papua, three in Central Java, two in East Java, three in West Java, and one in North Sumatra. An average number of rural villages in the regencies and 15 cities of Indonesia is 172 villages. A village is the lowest administrative division in Indonesia, and it is the lowest of the four levels. The average land area of villages in Indonesia is about 25.41 km2 (9.81 sq mi), while its average population is about 3,723 people.
Polewali Mandar is one of the five regencies in West Sulawesi province of Indonesia. It borders on the regencies of Mamasa in the North, Majene in the West and Pinrang regency of South Sulawesi in the East. It covers an area of 2,074.76 km2 and had a population of 396,120 at the 2010 Census and 478,534 at the 2020 Census; the official estimate as at mid 2023 was 495,371. The regency is inhabited by various ethnic groups such as the Mandar, Buginese, Javanese and Toraja.
Ambelau or Ambalau is a volcanic island in the Banda Sea within Maluku Islands of Indonesia. The island forms an administrative district which is part of the South Buru Regency of Maluku province, Indonesia. It has a land area of 306 km2, and had a population of 6,846 at the 2010 Census; the official estimate as at mid 2023 was 9,225. The administrative center is Wailua, a settlement located at the south of the island. About half of the island's population is composed of indigenous Ambelau people who speak the Ambelau language; the other half are mostly immigrants from the nearby Maluku Islands and Java.
The Mandarese are an ethnic group in the Indonesian province of West Sulawesi in Sulawesi. The Mandar language belongs to the Northern subgroup of the South Sulawesi languages group of the Malayo-Polynesian branch of the Austronesian language family. The closest language to Mandar is the Toraja-Sa'dan language.
Mamasa Regency is one of the six regencies that make up the West Sulawesi Province, Indonesia, on the island of Sulawesi. It covers a land area of 3,005.88 km2. The population was 140,082 at the 2010 Census and 163,383 at the 2020 Census; the official estimate as at mid 2023 was 170,354. Its capital is the town of Mamasa. The Mamasa people - which is a sub-group of the Toraja people - form the most common ethnic group.
South Minahasa Regency is a regency in North Sulawesi, Indonesia. Its capital is the town of Amurang. It was originally part of the Minahasa Regency until it was established as a separate regency on 25 February 2003. In turn, nearly four years later, a new Southeast Minahasa Regency was established as a separate regency from part of the South Minahasa Regency on 2 January 2007. The residual Regency now covers an area of 1,456.74 km2, and had a population of 195,553 at the 2010 Census; this had risen to 236,463 at the 2020 Census; the official estimate as at mid 2023 was 244,590.
North Toraja is a landlocked regency (kabupaten) of South Sulawesi Province of Indonesia, and the home of the Toraja ethnic group. The local government seat is in Rantepao which is also the center of Toraja culture. Formerly this regency was the northern part of Tana Toraja Regency, but on 24 June 2008 the northeastern 36% of the latter's area was split off to form this separate North Toraja Regency. It covers an area of 1,289.13 km2 and had a population of 216,762 at the 2010 census and 261,086 at the 2020 census; the official estimate as at mid 2023 was 261,652, comprising 133,529 males and 128,123 females.
Pong Tiku, known among his Buginese allies as Ne' Baso, was a Torajan leader and guerrilla fighter who operated in southern Sulawesi, part of modern-day Indonesia.
West Muna Regency is a regency of Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia. It comprises the northwest portion of Muna Island and islands in the Straits of Tiworo. It was established under Act No.14 of 2014, dated 23 July 2014 by separation from the Muna Regency. It covers an area of 906.28 km2, and reported a population of 71,632 at the 2010 Census; the 2020 Census recorded a population of 84,590, and the official estimate as of mid-2022 was 85,706, comprising 42,242 males and 43,464 females. Its administrative centre is Laworo in the Tiworo Islands District.
Central Buton Regency is a new regency of Southeast Sulawesi established by separation from Buton Regency under Act No.15 of 2014, dated 23 July 2014. It covers an area of 837.16 km2 comprising the southern parts of Muna Island and Kabaena Island, together with several small offshore islands adjacent to these two main islands, but with no territory located on Buton Island. It had a population of 86,112 at the 2010 Census and 114,773 at the 2020 Census; the official estimate as at mid 2023 was 121,369. The administrative centre lies at Labungkari in Lakudo District.
South Buton Regency is a regency located on Buton Island in Southeast Sulawesi Province of Indonesia. This regency was formed from the southern part of Buton Regency, from which it was separated by Act No.16 of 2014, dated 23 July 2014. It covers an area of 546.58 km2, and the population of the districts now comprising the new regency was 74,974 at the 2010 Census and 95,261 at the 2020 Census; the official estimate as at mid 2023 was 101,635. The regency capital is located in Batauga.
In Indonesian law, the term "city" is generally defined as the second-level administrative subdivision of the Republic of Indonesia, an equivalent to regency. The difference between a city and a regency is that a city has non-agricultural economic activities and a dense urban population, while a regency comprises predominantly rural areas and is larger in area than a city. However, Indonesia historically had several classifications of cities.
Rev. Ishak Pamumbu Lambe was an Indonesian Torajan Christian pastor and politician. He served as a Senator in the national Regional Representative Council from 2004 to 2009. Lambe was also the former Chairman of the Toraja Church Synod Worker's Agency, a Protestant denomination headquartered in the Tana Toraja Regency of South Sulawesi, from 1992 to 2001.
Kalatiku Paembonan was an Indonesian politician, bureaucrat, and lecturer who served as the Regent of North Toraja from 2016 to 2021. Before entering politics, Kalatiku worked in the Department of Home Affairs and held several high-ranking positions in the Department. He then became a lecturer at the Institute of Public Governance before resigning to stand in the North Toraja regency election.
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