Provinces of Indonesia
The provinces of Indonesia are the 34 largest subdivisions of the country and the highest tier of the local government. Provinces are further divided into regencies and cities, which are in turn subdivided into districts.
Background
Each province has a local government headed by a governor, and a legislative body. The governor and members of local representative bodies are elected by popular vote for five-year terms.Current provinces
Indonesia has 34 provinces. Five provinces have special status:- , for the use of the sharia law as the regional law of the province.
- as the capital city.
- , has Sultan Hamengkubuwono as hereditary governor and Paku Alam as hereditary vice-governor.
- , for granting implementation of sustainable development.
- , for granting implementation of sustainable development.
Table of provinces
Former provinces
Upon the independence of Indonesia, eight provinces were established: West Java, Central Java, East Java, and Maluku still exist as of today despite later divisions, while Sumatra, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, and Lesser Sunda were fully liquidated. The province of Central Sumatra existed from 1948 to 1957, while East Timor was annexed as a province from 1976 until its power transfer to UNTAET in 1999 prior to its independence as a country in 2002.| Province | Capital | Period | Successor |
| Sumatra | Bukittinggi / Medan | 1945–1948 | Central Sumatra North Sumatra South Sumatra |
| Kalimantan | Banjarmasin | 1945–1956 | East Kalimantan South Kalimantan West Kalimantan |
| Nusa Tenggara | Singaraja | 1945–1958 | Bali East Nusa Tenggara West Nusa Tenggara |
| Sulawesi | Makassar / Manado | 1945–1960 | North-Central Sulawesi South-Southeast Sulawesi |
| Central Sumatra | Bukittinggi | 1948–1957 | Jambi Riau West Sumatra |
| North-Central Sulawesi | Manado | 1960–1964 | North Sulawesi Central Sulawesi |
| South-Southeast Sulawesi | Makassar | 1960–1964 | South Sulawesi Southeast Sulawesi |
| East Timor | Dili | 1976–1999 | Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste |
New provinces made from currently-existing provinces
| New province | Year | New province | Province of origin |
| Aceh | 1956 | Aceh | North Sumatra |
| Central Kalimantan | 1958 | Central Kalimantan | South Kalimantan |
| Lampung | 1964 | Lampung | South Sumatra |
| Central Sulawesi | 1964 | Central Sulawesi | North Sulawesi |
| Southeast Sulawesi | 1964 | Southeast Sulawesi | South Sulawesi |
| Bengkulu | 1967 | Bengkulu | South Sumatra |
| West Papua | 1999 | West Irian Jaya | Irian Jaya |
| North Maluku | 1999 | North Maluku | Maluku |
| Banten | 2000 | Banten | West Java |
| Bangka Belitung Islands | 2000 | Bangka Belitung Islands | South Sumatra |
| Gorontalo | 2000 | Gorontalo | North Sulawesi |
| Riau Islands | 2002 | Riau Islands | Riau |
| West Sulawesi | 2004 | West Sulawesi | South Sulawesi |
| North Kalimantan | 2012 | North Kalimantan | East Kalimantan |