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Nias Barat Regency

Overview

01Overview

West Nias Regency is a regency in North Sumatra province of Indonesia. The regency seat is located in the Lahomi district. It covers the western portion of Nias Island. The regency covers an area of 520.34 km2, and had a population of 81,807 at the 2010 census and 89,994 at the 2020 census; the official estimate as of mid 2025 was 97,740 (comprising 48.7% males and 51.3% females). This regency was created on 29 October 2008 (together with neighbouring North Nias Regency) by Law Number 46 of 2008 from districts which had previously been part of Nias Regency.

Culture

01Agriculture

In 2017 the regency had 4,586 hectares of rice field and 20,363 hectares of maize field. In 2022, the amount of rice produced by the regency was 14,127 tonnes. The rice-producing districts of the regency are Moro'o and West Mandrehe with production of 4,426 and 2,839 tonnes respectively. On the other hand, Mandrehe District produces the most maize with cultivated area of 32 hectares and output of 67.2 tonnes of maize in 2017. Other produce in the regency includes cassava with 645.6 tonnes output in 2017 and 7.5 hectares for chili pepper and 1.25 hectares for water spinach cultivation in 2022. The regency produces many horticulture crops. There was a significant increase in horticulture crops production between 2015 and 2016, from total of 219 tonnes to 373 tonnes.

West Nias also has plantations with output in 2017 are rubber with 2,264 tonnes, followed by coconut plantations with 2,748 tonnes, cocoa bean with 413 tonnes, and areca nut with 14.4 tonnes. Moro'o District has the largest rubber output of 979 tonnes between 2016 and 2017, while Lahomi District produces the most coconut with 1,419 tonnes.

Livestock population in the regency is dominated by chicken and pig. Meat production of the regency amounts 40.03 tonnes for bigger livestocks and 37.12 tonnes for poultry meat in 2022. In addition to that, there were 5,246 kilograms of chicken egg production and 495.30 kilograms of duck egg production within the same year.

History

01History

The regency was created from western districts of then-larger Nias Regency in 2008 based on Law Number 46 of 2008. The region itself contained several megalithic sites, concentrated in Mandrehe district. Within the region, there are many megalithic sites, which some have been declared a cultural heritage. The megalithic sites are dated between 500 and 2,500 years old.

Geography

01Geography

West Nias Regency borders North Nias Regency in the north, South Nias Regency in the south, Nias Regency in the east, and the Indian Ocean in the west. The regency is located at elevation of between 0 and 800 metres above sea level. The largest district in the regency is Sirombu District with its area consisting of 23% of the regency's total area, followed by Lahomi District with 17%, and Mandrehe District with 14.91%. The smallest district by area is Ulu Moro'o with only 28.58 square kilometres or 5.49% of total regency area. The regency includes 10 small islands outside of the island of Nias, five of which are inhabited.