Benkulen

Bengkulu
Province
From top, left to right : Lake Dendam Tak Sudah, Bengkulu Traditional Dance, Grand Mosque of Curup, Rafflesia arnoldi, Soekarno's house while in exile in Bengkulu, Lake Dusun Besar, Thomas Parr Monument
Flag Seal
Nickname(s): Bumi Rafflesia Land of Rafflesia
Motto(s): Sekundang setungguan seio sekato (Malay) (Many hands make light work.)
Location of Bengkulu (marked in light green) in Indonesia
Country	Indonesia
Established	18 November 1968
Capital and Largest City	Bengkulu
Government
• Body	Bengkulu Regional Government
• Governor	Dr. H. Rohidin Mersyah, M.M
Area
• Total	19,919.33 km2 (7,690.90 sq mi)
Area rank	24th
Population (2014 Estimate)
• Total	1,828,291
• Rank	26th
• Density	92/km2 (240/sq mi)
Demonym(s)	Bengkulunese Warga Bengkulu (id)
Demographics
• Ethnic groups	Rejang (60,4%), Javanese (22,3%), Serawai (17,9%), Lembak (4,9%), Pasemah (4,4%), Minangkabau (4,3%), Malay (3,6%), Sundanese (3%), Batak (2%)
• Religion	Islam 95,27%, Christianity 3,59%, Hindu 0,73%, Buddhism 0,41%
• Languages	Indonesian (official language), Rejangese, Javanese language, Serawai, Lembak language, etc.
Time zone	Indonesia Western Time (UTC+7)
Area code(s)	0732 (Kepahiang, Curup or Rejang Lebong), 0736 (Bengkulu, Central Bengkulu, Seluma), 0737 (Muko-Muko, North Bengkulu), 0738 (Lebong), 0739 (Kaur, South Bengkulu)
Vehicle registration	BD
HDI	0.693 (medium)
HDI rank	11th (2013)
Largest city by area	Bengkulu - 144.52 square kilometres (55.80 sq mi)
Largest city by population	Bengkulu - (308,756 - 2010)
Largest regency by area	North Bengkulu Regency - 5,548.54 square kilometres (2,142.30 sq mi)
Largest regency by population	North Bengkulu Regency - (256,358 - 2010)
Website	Government official site

Bengkulu, historically known as Bencoolen or British Bencoolen, is one of the Provinces of Indonesia and is located in the southwest coast of Sumatra. It was formed on 18 November 1968 by separating out the former Bengkulu Residency area from South Sumatra (Sumatra Selatan) province under Law No. 9 of 1967 and was realized by Government Regulation No. 20 of 1968. Spread over 19,813 km², it is bordered by the provinces of West Sumatra (Sumatra Barat) to the north, Jambi to the northeast, Lampung to the southeast, South Sumatra (Sumatra Selatan) to the east, and the India Ocean to the northwest, south, southwest, and west.

Bengkulu is the 25th largest province by area; it is divided into nine regencies and the separate city of Bengkulu, the capital and largest city. Bengkulu is also the 26th largest province by population in Indonesia. According to a release by Badan Pusat Statistik, it has the eleventh highest Human Development Index among the provinces, with a score about 0.744 in 2013. By 2014, the province positions 28th highest in gross domestic product and 20th highest in life expectancy, 70.35 years.

Bengkulu Province comprises not only land on southwest Sumatra, but also includes Mega Island and Enggano Island in the Indian Ocean. Bengkulu has 525 kilometres of coastline along the Indian Ocean on its western side, from Dusun Baru Pelokan in Muko-Muko Regency to Tebing Nasal in Kaur Regency. Bengkulu is home to many natural resources such as coal and gold, and has big and potential geothermal resources. In addition, it is less developed than other provinces in Sumatra.

Traditional sources suggest that the name Bengkulu or Bangkahulu derived from the word bangkai and hulu which means 'carcasses located in an stream'. According to the story, there was once a war between small kingdoms in Bengkulu, resulting in many casualties from both sides in the streams of Bengkulu. These casualties soon rotted as they were not buried, lying in river streams. This etymology is similar to the story of a war between the Majapahit Empire and the Pagaruyung Kingdom in Padang Sibusuk, an area once ruled by the Dharmasraya empire, which also derives the name Padang Sibusuk from casualties rotting on the battlefield.