Kepahiang Regency
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Kepahiang Regency (Kabupaten Kepahiang) |
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| Regency | ||
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| Motto: Asri Laksana Emas dan Intan (Alami) | ||
 Location in Bengkulu province |
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| Country |
 Indonesia
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| Province | Bengkulu | |
| Capital | Kepahiang | |
| Government | ||
| • Regent | Hidayatullah Sjahid | |
| Area | ||
| • Total | 704.57 km2 (272.04 sq mi) | |
| Highest elevation | 1,600 m (5,200 ft) | |
| Lowest elevation | 250 m (820 ft) | |
| Population | ||
| • Total | 133,073 | |
| • Density | 187/km2 (480/sq mi) | |
| Time zone | WIB (UTC+7) | |
| Website | www |
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Kepahiang is a regency in Bengkulu. The capital of the regency is Kepahiang town. Census on 2010, Kepahiang had 125,011 inhabitants, then the latest official estimation (for January 2014) is 133,073. The regency has a total area of 704.47 km2, of which a high percentage (27%) is still forest. The local society consists of various ethnicities such as Rejang, Serawai, Javanese, Lembak and Sundanese. Rejang is the majority in Kepahiang.
The Regency of Kepahiang is rich in natural resources including gold, coal, geothermal energy resources, gemstones as well as a range of agricultural, aquacultural and forest products. These include rice, oil- and coconut palms, coffee, tea, corn, wood, natural rubber and pepper, as well as various types of fruits and locally bred fish specimens and products.
The local government of Kepahiang operates several development projects to achieve improvements in the sector of agriculture, energy supply and education. Some of these initiatives gained nationwide attention and were implemented by the central government in Jakarta on a national scale.
Besides the formerly mentioned potentials, Kepahiang has significant tourism potential, which remains largely untapped. It is one of the official development goals to foster tourism in Kepahiang.
During the colonial rule of the Dutch in Indonesia, the city of Kepahiang was the capital of the regency of Rejang Lebong, which is a neighboring regency of Kepahiang today. Kepahiang remained the capital during the 3.5 years of Japanese rule in Indonesia. In the cause of the independence war and Indonesia's declaration of independence on 17 August 1945 Kepahiang became the regional center for Indonesian organisations, the independence movement in the region and its military forces. Due to this fact, the Dutch targeted and destroyed the entire administrative infrastructure in Kepahiang during an attempt to regain power over the region in 1948. The mayors office, administrative buildings, post offices, telecommunication centres and police stations were annihilated completely.
In 1949, the local administration was coerced to relocate itself into the forest and was not able to return to Kepahiang as the infrastructure was not existing any more. Because of this, the administration had to move to the city of Curup, which provided sufficient infrastructure at that time. In 1956, Curup was declared the new capital of the regency of Rejang Lebong and Kepahiang finally lost its prior position as the administrative center.
In the context of political and administrative reforms in Indonesia that started in 1998, Kepahiang had a realistic chance to become an independent regency. In 1999 a firm proposal was made to transform Kepahiang into such an independent regency, that does not longer belong to Rejang Lebong. The people of Kepahiang supported this by forming an organisation, namely the Panitia Persiapan Kabupaten Kepahiang (PPKK), which fostered the realisation of this project. In 2002 the PPKK handed over their elaboration to respective regional and national authorities. It was accepted and finally ratified by General Hari Sabarno, who served as Minister of Interior at that time, and came into effect at 7 January 2004.
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