Tanah Datar Regency (; ) is a landlocked regency () in West Sumatra province, Indonesia. The regency has an area of 1,337.1 km2 and had a population of 338,484 at the 2010 Census,Biro Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2011. which rose to 371,704 at the 2020 Census.Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2021. The official estimate as of mid 2025 was 392,740 (comprising 198,360 males and 194,380 females).Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 27 February 2026, Kabupaten Tanah Datar Dalam Angka 2026 (Katalog-BPS 1102001.1305) The regency seat is the town of Batusangkar. The city of Padang Panjang is also geographically located within the regency but constitutes a municipality (, meaning "autonomous city") of its own.

Tanah Datar has several tourist attractions including the Pagaruyung Palace (Istano Pagaruyuang) with its museum, Sanskrit and Malay language stone inscriptions from the 14th century, several sites with megaliths (batu tagak), and the village Pandai Sikat (Pandai Sikek), where the traditional songket (kain balapak) is woven. The northern part of Lake Singkarak is situated in Tanah Datar. The traditional bull race pacu jawi takes place in the regency, too.

Administrative districts Tanah Datar is divided into fourteen districts (kecamatan), listed below with their areas and their populations at the 2010 Census and 2020 Census, together with the official estimates as of mid 2023.Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 28 February 2024, Kabupaten Tanah Datar Dalam Angka 2024 (Katalog-BPS 1102001.1305) The table also includes the locations of the district administrative centres, the number of administrative villages (nagari) in each district, and its postal code.

Name of District(kecamatan) Area in km2 Pop'n 2010 Census Pop'n 2020 Census Pop'n mid 2023 Estimate Admin centre No. of villagesPostcode Sepuluk Koto (X Koto) 148.68 42,133 46,229 47,700 Pasa Rabaa927151 Batipuh 101.18 29,896 31,883 32,628 Kubu Karambia827265 Batipuh Selatan (South Batipuh) 166.78 10,430 11,217 11,507 Sumpur427266 Pariangan 58.29 19,519 20,744 21,207 Simabur627264 Rambatan 129.38 33,287 37,180 38,563 Rambatan527271 Lima Kaum 30.63 35,784 38,061 38,920 Lima Kaum527211 - 27216 Tanjung Emas 128.75 21,689 25,047 26,231 Saruaso427280 Padang Ganting 68.61 13,641 14,599 14,955 Padang Ganting227282 Lintau Buo 110.65 17,564 19,771 20,553 Buo427292 Lintau Buo Utara (North Lintau Buo) 199.28 34,810 37,652 38,690 Balai Tangah527293 Sungayang 68.36 16,903 18,671 19,303 Sungayang527294 Sungai Tarab 83.86 29,282 32,694 33,906 Sungai Tarab1027261 Salimpaung 56.35 20,768 23,551 24,535 Tabek Patah627262 - 27263 Tanjuang Baru 26.30 12,788 14,405 14,978 Tanjuang Alam227281 Totals 1,337.10 338,494 371,704 383,676 Batusangkar75

Geography Geographically, Tanah Datar Regency is located in the middle of West Sumatra Province, at 00º17" South Latitude - 00º39" South Latitude and 100º19" East Longitude – 100º51" East Longitude.Natsir, M., (2009), Ekstraksi Informasi Penutup Lahan Daerah Kabupaten Tanah Datar, Seminar Nasional Aplikasi Teknologi Informasi 2009 (SNATI 2009), 20 Juni 2009, Yogyakarta, ISSN 1907-5022. Average altitude 400 to 1000 meters above sea level.

Tanah Datar Regency is located between two mountains, namely Mount Marapi and Mount Singgalang. This topography is dominated by hilly areas and has two-thirds of the Singkarak lake.

In general, the climate in Tanah Datar Regency is moderate with temperatures between 12 °C–25 °C with an average rainfall of more than 3,000 mm per year. Most of the rain falls from September to February. This high rainfall causes sufficient water availability, thus enabling extensive agricultural business to be developed.

Economies Tanah Datar Regency is an agricultural area, more than 70% of the population works in the agricultural sector, food crop agriculture, plantations, fisheries, and animal husbandry. Likewise, community businesses in other sectors are also based on agriculture such as tourism and small industry or agro-industry. The people of Tanah Datar are also known to like to save with a total public savings of IDR 223 billion in 2004.

The economic potential of Tanah Datar Regency can be categorized into three categories, namely: Very Potential, Potential, and Not Potential. The agricultural sectors that have the potential to be developed are cassava, cabbage, rubber, sugar cane, beef cattle breeding, horse breeding, beef goat farming, broiler farming, non-breed chicken, duck farming, and freshwater fish farming. Other sectors that have great potential to be developed are the civil building construction industry, retail traders of processed food products, telecommunication stall businesses, souvenir traders, and historical tourism. Tanah Datar Regency has the potential of almost all agricultural sectors except cloves, tobacco, spinach, and pepper. The mining sector that has the potential to be developed is the excavation of limestone and gravel.

Tourism

In Tanah Datar Regency today, there are still many Minangkabau traditional historical relics, both in the form of objects and Minangkabau traditional cultural arrangements. The pledge Adat Basandi Syarak, Syarak Basandi Kitabullah also known as the Satie Oath came from Tanah Datar, namely in Bukit Marapalam, Puncak Pato, North Lintau Buo District.

Historical tourist attractions in Tanah Datar Regency include the Pagaruyung Palace (Istano Basa Pagaruyuang), , Puncak Pato, Adityawarman Inscription (Prasasti Adityawarman), Surau Lubuk Bauk (Lubuk Bauk Surau), (Rumah Gadang Balimbing), Waterwheel, (Batu Basurek), Pariangan Old Village (Nagari Tuo Pariangan), Fort van der Capellen, Batikam Stone (Batu Batikam), and King Palace (Istano Rajo). Meanwhile, for natural and cultural tourism in Tanah Datar Regency, there are Anai Valley, Tabek Pateh Panorama, Pariangan Village, Singkarak Lake, Batu Patah Hill, and Ngalau Pangian.

References

External links

Official website