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Group of warriors in South Nias. Photo by Christiaan Benjamin Nieuwenhuis Girls at an offering house at the entrance of a kampong in South Nias Female dancers Nias Selatan (South Nias) Regency is a regency in North Sumatra province, Indonesia, created on 25 February 2003 by the division of the existing Nias Regency. The regency covers a land area of 2,487.99 square kilometres and according to the 2010 census had a population of 289,708; the 2020 Census showed a population of 360,531, while the official estimate for mid 2024 was 389,957 and the total projected for mid 2025 was 397,224. Its administrative centre is the port of Teluk Dalam. Apart from the southern portion of Nias Island, the regency also includes the smaller Batu Islands (Pulau Pulau Batu) to the south, lying between Nias and Siberut; these islands occupy nearly half of the land area of the Regency, but have just 9% of its population.