Karanganyar Regency is located in the south east of Central Java, Indonesia. It is near Magetan Regency in the east, Sragen Regency in the north, Wonogiri Regency and Sukoharjo Regency in the south, and Surakarta and Boyolali Regency in the west. The exclave of Colomadu is bound by Surakarta to the east, Boyolali Regency to the north and west, and Sukoharjo Regency to the south. Karanganyar is located between 110°40′E and 110°70′E and between 7°28′S and 7°46′S; the average height is 511 meters above sea level. Karanganyar Regency covers 77,378 hectares, which consists of: rice fields and dry ground. The rice field consists of irrigated area, divided into technical irrigation system area, and simple irrigation area, and rain fall rice field. Meanwhile, areas provided for buildings are 20,732 hectares. Areas for gardening is 17,937 hectares, plantation is 3,251 hectares.
History
Demography
Population
The Regency had a population on 813,159 at the 2010 Census, an increase of 51,171 since the previous census in 2000.
Education
Based on data from the Culture and Education Department of the Karanganyar Regency, in 2005 there were: 489 primary schools; 7 private primary schools; 49 general secondary schools; 27 private secondary schools; 12 senior high schools; 5 private senior high schools; 2 SMKN units and 22 private vocation schools. The number of students of primary schools were 81,057 students with 4,483 teachers, which made the student-teacher ratio 1 : 18.08. The numbers of junior high-schools were 37,558 students with 2,818 teachers, with a student-teacher ratio of 1 : 13.33. There were 20,507 high-school students, with 1,639 teachers, which made the student-teacher ratio 1 : 12.51.
Health
Based on data from the Karanganyar Regency Health Bureau in 2005, the number of health facilities consisted of: 3 hospitals, 21 Public Health Centres, 60 Secondary Public Health Centres, 28 nursing-midwiferies, and 30 Clinics. Figures for health-workers: there were 80 physicians, 24 dentists, 275 midwives, and 241 nurses.
Religion
There are 1821 Mosques, 679 small mosques, 127 Churches, 12 Temples and 1 Vihara.
Heritage & Tourism
Karanganyar is also home of the Mangadeg hill Mangkunegaran royal burial complex built upon a small mountain. In the immediate vicinity are the Pablengan ruins of ritual bathing pools, fed by seven natural springs. Several hundred metres away is the mausoleum complex of former President SuhartoAstana Giribangun as well as the alleged final resting place of legendary Javanese leader Raden MasSamboernowo at the peak of this same hill, titled Argosari. There are a substantial number of especially Javanese tourists who visit the Mangadeg and Argosari cemeteries to pray to Samboernowo for assistance in life, particularly business or political affairs, in line with the Kejawen or Kebatinan ancestor-worship/shamanic belief system. Karanganyar also have one of great waterfall call "Grojogan Sewu" Grojogan Sewu waterfall, that mean thousand water fall.
Bio-pharmaceutical Center
April 2011: The research and technology ministry is sponsoring the formation of a bio-pharmaceutical center in Karanganyar Regency to improve the cultivation and post-harvest products of local farmer such as ginger, turmeric, black wild ginger, kencur.
