Tana Tidung Regency is a regency within the Indonesian province of North Kalimantan. It is Indonesia's least populous regency, with 25,584 inhabitants recorded in the 2020 census; the official estimate as at mid 2024 was 30,036 (comprising 15,762 males and 14,274 females). Its regency seat is the town of Tideng Pale, in Sesayap District, where 12,364 of the regency's population lived in mid 2024.
Created on 17 July 2007 by splitting off the most northern three districts of Bulungan Regency, it is a relatively new regency and the smallest in terms of land area in North Kalimantan province (3,858.31 km2). The regency has the lowest poverty rate in the province, and is the second least-densely populated area after the Malinau Regency. Historically, the region is the cultural center of the Tidung people and was home to the Kingdom of Tidung.
Not yet available in English; shown in Indonesian.
ki|Pakaian adat nikah Tidung. Baloi adat Dayak Balusu.
Kabupaten Tana Tidung dihuni oleh dua suku utama, yakni suku Tidung dan suku Dayak. Nama kabupaten ini sendiri diambil dari suku asli yakni Tidung. Pengaruh suku dan budaya Tidung dan Dayak, bercampur dalam kehidupan masyarakat Tana Tidung. Polemik uang rupiah pecahan 75.000 yang mencuat pada 17 Agustus 2020, menjadi sebuah informasi bagi masyarakat Indonesia tentang suku Tidung.
Salah budaya orang Tidung yang masih dilestarikan hingga sekarang ialah budaya tolak bala pada bulan safar. Meskipun tradisi ini juga dilakukan di kabupaten lain, tradisi ini tetap menjadi agenda rutin oleh umat Islam di Tana Tidung. Kegiatan tolak bala ini diisi dengan bacaan selawat Nabi dan doa meminta perlindungan dan pertolongan kepada Tuhan Yang Maha Esa. Sementara untuk adat Dayak, salah satu tradisi yang masih dilestarikan ialah Nutu Luntungan. Tradisi Nutu Luntungan ini adalah tradisi menumbuk padi pasca panen, padi ditumbuk di lesung yang panjang. Tradisi ini wajib dilakukan oleh laki-laki dan perempuan orang Dayak Belusu, dengan cara menumbuk padi diiringi nyayian saling sahut menyahut.
The name Tidung comes from the word tiding or tideng, which means "hills" or "mountains". Tana Tidung roughly means "Land of Tidung", referring to the region as the homeland of the Tidung people. The name of Tideng Pale town originates from two words, tideng and pale, meaning "bland", leading to the rough translation—"bland hill".
The region was home to a native kingdom known as the, which dated back to the 11th century. The spread of Islam in Indonesia later influenced the region. The Tidung Kingdom's existence before the spread of Islam is disputed and some argue that rather than being a kingdom, it was a tribal confederacy. Another kingdom, Berayu, also existed in the region. Berayu's first king is thought to have been related to the people of Kutai Kingdom. It was centered in what is now Malinau Kota but had influence as far as southern Nunukan. The period of tribal kingdoms, also referred to as "ancient Tidung", ended with the marriage of Queen Ikenawai and Radja Laoet from the Sultanate of Sulu in 1557. A new Islamic kingdom centered on Tarakan Island was born and referred to as the Kalkan Kingdom or the Tenggara dynasty. In 1900, the Tidung Kingdom moved its capital from Tarakan to Malinau. Between the 18th and 19th centuries, the Tidung Kingdom was one of the area's major regional powers, together with the Sultanate of Bulungan. The newly arrived Dutch disrupted the resulting rivalry. A most notable event was a royal marriage between the Sultan of Bulungan and two princesses, one from Berau and one from Tidung. The last king of Tidung, Datoe Adil, adopted anti-Dutch policies and opposed monopolies over goods in the region imposed by the Dutch. This caused disputes in internal matters, resulting in Bulungan invading Tidung with the help of the Dutch in 1916. Tana Tidung became part of the Afdeeling Tidoengschelanden (Land of Tidung Administrative District) under the Dutch East Indies and later the newly formed Indonesian republic after the Indonesian National Revolution.
The conversion of people living in the region to Islam in the 15th and 16th centuries is generally believed by archeologists to be the start of the separate identity of the Tidung people from the nearby Dayak people. It is still disputed whether to classify the Tidung people as part of the larger Dayak group or as a separate native ethnic group like the Banjar people. Meanwhile, the Tidung people were classified by Tjilik Riwut as part of the Murut people. The Tidung people often referred to themselves as Islam Dayak or Dayak Muslims.
The desire of the Tidung people to have their own regency dated back to early 2000 after the fall of Suharto and the rapid decentralization that followed. On 28 November 2002, several of the region's cultural figures and politicians gathered in a hotel in Tarakan to discuss the creation of a new autonomous regency to represent their culture in areas where the majority of the Tidung people lived. The creation of a Tidung-dominated regency was realized based on Law Number 34 of 2007. The regency was inaugurated on 10 July 2007, and its first regent was sworn in on 18 December 2007. The regency was formed from three districts (kecamatan) which were formerly part of Bulungan Regency.
It had been part of the East Kalimantan province, but in 2012 became part of the newly created North Kalimantan province.
The Tana Tidung Regency has a land area of. It borders the Nunukan Regency in the north, the Celebes Sea and the city of Tarakan in the east, the Malinau Regency in the west, and the Bulungan Regency in the south. The region's topography varies between 0–40% grade. However, most of it is considered a high-altitude region with steep slopes; most of its flat land with a slope of less than 8% is along the coast. The regency's soil composition is dominated by ultisol and inceptisol and is generally unsuitable for large-scale agriculture.
It has a tropical climate with high humidity, high annual rainfall, and relatively little changes in temperature, which sits between, with an average of. Rainfall is between and varies between wet and dry seasons. The humidity level sits between 83 and 87%.