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Concept
Riau
Summary
Riau is a province of Indonesia. It is located on the central eastern coast of Sumatra along the Strait of Malacca. The province shares land borders with North Sumatra to the northwest, West Sumatra to the west, and Jambi to the south, and a maritime border with the Riau Islands and the country of Malaysia to the east. It is the second-largest province in the island of Sumatra after South Sumatra, and is slightly larger than Jordan. According to the 2020 census, Riau had a population of 6,394,087 across a land area of 89,935.90 square kilometres; the official estimate as at mid 2022 was 6,614,384. The province comprises ten regencies and two cities, with Pekanbaru serving as the capital and largest city.
Historically, Riau has been a part of various monarchies before the arrival of European colonial powers. Muara Takus temple in Kampar Regency, believed to be a remnant of the Buddhist empire of Srivijaya 11th-12th century. Following the spread of Islam in the 14th century, the region was then under control of Malay sultanates of Siak Sri Indrapura, Indragiri, and Johor. The sultanates later became protectorate of the Dutch and were reduced to puppet states of the Dutch East Indies. After the establishment of Indonesia in 1945, Riau belonged to the republic's provinces of Sumatra (1945–1948) and Central Sumatra (1948–1957). On 10 August 1957, the province of Riau was inaugurated and it included the Riau Islands until 2004.
Although Riau is predominantly considered the land of Malays, it is a highly diverse province. In addition to Malays constituting one-third of the population, other major ethnic groups include Javanese, Minangkabau, Batak, and Chinese. The local Riau dialect of Malay language is considered as the lingua franca in the province, but Indonesian, the standardized form of Malay is used as the official language and also as the second language of many people. Other than that, different languages such as Minangkabau, Hokkien and varieties of Batak languages are also spoken.
Official source
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