Tana Toraja Regency 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 local government seat is in Makale, while the center of Toraja culture is in Rantepao. Formerly, the Tana Toraja area covered a larger area, but in 2008 this was divided into two regencies, consisting of Tana Toraja with its capital at Makale and Toraja Utara with its capital at Rantepao.
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.
Christianity is Indonesia's second-largest religion, after Islam. Indonesia also has the second-largest Christian population in Southeast Asia after the Philippines, the largest Protestant population in Southeast Asia, and the fourth-largest Christian population in Asia after the Philippines, China and India. Indonesia's 28.6 million Christians constituted 10.72% of the country's population in 2018, with 7.60% Protestant (20.25 million) and 3.12% Catholic (8.33 million). Some provinces in Indonesia are majority Christian.
Protestantism is one of the six approved religions in Indonesia, the others being Islam, Roman Catholicism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Confucianism. It constitutes the bulk of Christianity in Indonesia, which is the second largest religion in the country after Islam. According to CIA statistic, in 2000 5.7% of the population of Indonesia were Protestant. A nationwide census of 2018 noted that 7.6% (20,250,000) of the population considering themselves Protestant, largest in Southeast Asia.
Rantepao is a town and capital of North Toraja Regency, which is known for the cultural center of 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.
The Indonesian Christian Church is an Indonesian church of Presbyterian denomination. It adheres to Calvinist theology.
The Gereja Batak Karo Protestan or Karo Batak Protestant Church is the largest church among the largely Christian Karo people of North Sumatra, Indonesia. It was established formally in 1941.
The Protestant Church in Indonesia is a Reformed church; it is a member of World Communion of Reformed Churches.
The Christian Evangelical Church in Minahasa is a Protestant, Calvinist and Reformed church in Indonesia. It was founded in North Sulawesi on 30 September 1934.
The Protestant Church in Western Indonesia is a Reformed Church, and its theology is based on the teaching of John Calvin. It was established on 31 October 1948. It was called the "De Protestantse Kerk in Westelijk Indonesie", founded in 1605 in Ambon, Moluccas. In its formative years it consisted of seven classes: Jabar, Java, Jatim, Sumatra, Bangka, Borneo, Sulawesi. It is a member of the World Communion of Reformed Churches the World Council of Churches and the Christian Conference in Asia.
The Toraja Mamasa Church was established on 7 June 1947, and based in West Sulawesi. It is a Protestant church, and a member of the World Communion of Reformed Churches. It was a fruit of the Christian Reformed Churches in the Netherlands, a conservative Reformed denomination. Evangelism was started in 1931. These churches were grouped together in 1948 to form an independent denomination. This is the largest church in the Mamasa Valley.
The Protestant Christian Church in Bali is a Reformed denomination established on 11 November 1931 in Bali, Indonesia. It was a fruit of the efforts of the Christian and Missionary Alliance, but the Dutch Reformed Church and the Church in East Java participated in the work. Significant development took place after 1950. The denomination adopted its current name on 21 April 1949. The church is located in Bali, Java, West Nusa Tenggara. There are also churches located in Hamburg, Germany and two churches are in Bern and Amsterdam.
Evangelical Christian Church of the Land of Papua is a Protestant denomination in Indonesia, particularly in western Papua region.
Antonie Aris van de Loosdrecht was a Dutch missionary. He was sent by Gereformeerde Zendingsbond, a Christian missionary agency which was established in the Netherlands.
Nicolaus Adriani was a Christian missionary from the Netherlands who did work in Indonesia. He studied linguistics of the East Indies at Leiden University, obtaining his PhD in 1893. He was sent by the Nederlandsch Bijbelgenootschap. He worked as a linguist in Poso, Central Sulawesi.
Johannes "Hans" Belksma was a Dutch missionary. He was sent by Gereformeerde Zendingsbond, a missionary agency in Utrecht, Netherlands, to work in the Dutch East Indies.
Hendrik van der Veen (1888–1977) was a Dutch missionary worker and linguist who worked in Tana Toraja, Dutch East Indies.
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.
