No.	Province	Capital	Regencies (Kabupaten)	Cities (Kota)	Total regencies & cities	Population
1	Aceh	Banda Aceh	18	5	23	5,695,929
2	Sumatera Utara	Medan	25	8	33	15,978,639
3	Sumatera Barat	Padang	12	7	19	5,991,591
4	Riau	Pekanbaru	10	2	12	6,892,386
5	Jambi	Jambi	9	2	11	3,811,661
6	Sumatera Selatan	Palembang	13	4	17	9,017,142
7	Bengkulu	Bengkulu	9	1	10	2,163,341
8	Lampung	Bandar Lampung	13	2	15	9,623,792
9	Kepulauan Bangka Belitung	Pangkal Pinang	6	1	7	1,569,749
10	Kepulauan Riau	Tanjung Pinang	5	2	7	2,243,105
11	DKI Jakarta	Jakarta	1	5	6	10,669,702
12	Jawa Barat	Bandung	18	9	27	51,163,888
13	Jawa Tengah	Semarang	29	6	35	38,564,968
14	DI Yogyakarta	Yogyakarta	4	1	5	3,802,716
15	Jawa Timur	Surabaya	29	9	38	42,352,024
16	Banten	Serang	4	4	8	12,641,299
17	Bali	Denpasar	8	1	9	4,488,243
18	Nusa Tenggara Barat	Mataram	8	2	10	5,815,328
19	Nusa Tenggara Timur	Kupang	21	1	22	5,828,569
20	Kalimantan Barat	Pontianak	12	2	14	5,834,955
21	Kalimantan Tengah	Palangka Raya	13	1	14	2,879,544
22	Kalimantan Selatan	Banjarmasin	11	2	13	4,372,109
23	Kalimantan Timur	Samarinda	7	3	10	4,478,356
24	Kalimantan Utara	Tanjung Selor	4	1	5	758,773
25	Sulawesi Utara	Manado	11	4	15	2,740,465
26	Sulawesi Tengah	Palu	12	1	13	3,189,768
27	Sulawesi Selatan	Makassar	21	3	24	9,661,296
28	Sulawesi Tenggara	Kendari	15	2	17	2,879,988
29	Gorontalo	Gorontalo	5	1	6	1,256,448
30	Sulawesi Barat	Mamuju	6	0	6	1,547,354
31	Maluku	Ambon	9	2	11	1,995,208
32	Maluku Utara	Sofifi	8	2	10	1,391,708
33	Papua Barat	Manokwari	7	0	7	596,461
34	Papua Barat Daya	Sorong	5	1	6	645,544
35	Papua	Jayapura	8	1	9	1,086,454
36	Papua Selatan	Merauke	4	0	4	557,203
37	Papua Tengah	Nabire	8	0	8	1,510,813
38	Papua Pegunungan	Wamena	8	0	8	1,501,864
	Total		416	98	514	287,198,383

Indonesia’s Administrative Landscape: Provinces, Capitals, Regencies, and Population Breakdown

Indonesia is a sprawling archipelago nation spanning thousands of islands, characterized by incredible cultural, geographical, and demographic diversity. Managing a nation of this scale requires a robust, structured administrative framework.

This explores how Indonesia is organized—from its national level down to provinces, regencies (kabupaten), and cities (kota)—alongside key population insights.

1. The Provincial Structure: The First Level of Governance

At the highest sub-national level, Indonesia is divided into provinces (provinsi). Each province is headed by a governor and possesses its own regional parliament and local government bodies.

• Total Number: Indonesia comprises 38 provinces (following recent expansions in regions like Papua).
• Population Extremes: Provinces vary dramatically in size and demographic weight. For instance, West Java stands as the most populous province with over 50.7 million residents, whereas newer or more remote provinces like South Papua account for smaller regional populations.
• Special Regions: Certain territories hold special autonomous status to preserve unique cultural, religious, or historical identities—such as the Special Capital Region of Jakarta, the Special Region of Yogyakarta, and Aceh.

2. Second-Level Subdivisions: Regencies (Kabupaten) and Cities (Kota)

Beneath the provincial tier, Indonesia’s regions are categorized into second-level administrative divisions (daerah tingkat II), which total 514 units nationwide:

1. Regencies (Kabupaten): Typically headed by a Regent (Bupati), these make up the vast majority of local government units (416 regencies). Regencies generally cover rural, semi-urban, or wider geographical districts outside core urban centers. Prominent examples include densely populated regencies like Bogor and Bandung in West Java.
2. Municipalities/Cities (Kota): Headed by a Mayor (Walikota), there are 98 cities across the country. These represent urban centers focused primarily on commerce, trade, and dense metropolitan services (such as Surabaya, Medan, and Bandung).

(Note: Jakarta operates under a unique administrative subdivision model consisting of administrative cities (kota administrasi) and one administrative regency (kabupaten administrasi).)

3. Demographics and Distribution Trends

Indonesia’s total population ranks among the largest globally, crossing well over 275 million people. However, distribution is heavily skewed:

• The Java Phenomenon: Islands like Java host a massive share of the country’s population, with high-density provinces like West Java, East Java, and Central Java driving national economic and political activity.
• Urbanization: A growing percentage of Indonesians live within kota municipalities or expanding suburban kabupaten areas adjacent to major metropolitan zones (such as Jabodetabek—the Greater Jakarta urban agglomeration).

Key Administrative Metrics

Administrative Level	Count	Description / Role
Provinces	38	Governed by a Governor; top-tier regional division.
Regencies (Kabupaten)	416	Primarily non-urban or mixed districts headed by a Regent.
Cities (Kota)	98	Urban municipalities headed by a Mayor.
Total 2nd-Level Units	514	Total local administrative subdivisions across Indonesia.

Indonesia Province, Capital, Regencies (Kabupaten), Cities (Kota), Population, 2026

Source: BPS-Statistics Indonesia
bps.go.id/en/statistics- table/2/Mjc5MCMy/ number-of-population- by-region-and -age-group.html