Lampung

1.1.11 Lampung

Lampung


Motto: "Sang Bumi Ruwa Jurai"



Capital
Bandar Lampung

Governor
Sjachroedin ZP
Area
35,376 km2 (13,659 sq mi)
Population
6,731,000 (2000)
Density
190.3 /km2 (493 /sq mi)
Ethnic groups
Javanese (62%), Sundanese (9%), Peminggir (6%), Pepadun (4%), Malay (4%), Bantenese (3%) [1]

Religion
Muslim (92%), Protestant (1.8%), Catholic (1.8%), Buddhist (1.7%)

Languages
Indonesian

Time zone
WIB (UTC+7)

Web site http://www.lampungprov.go.id/

Lampung is a province of Indonesia, located on the southern tip of the island of Sumatra. It borders the provinces of Bengkulu and South Sumatra. Lampung is the original home of the "Lampung" tribe, who speaks a distinct language from other people in Sumatra and has their own alphabet.
The province has a population of 6,731,000 (As of 2000 census). A large portion of the current population of Lampung is descended from migrants from Java, Madura, and Bali. These migrants came both spontaneously, in search of more land than was available on the more densely populated islands, as well as part of the government's transmigration program, for which Lampung was one of the earliest and most important transmigration destinations.
Lampung is commonly known for its geographical instability in terms of earthquakes and volcanoes. On May 10 2005, a strong earthquake measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale struck the province. The historical volcano blast of Krakatau occurred in 1883, which resulted in disastrous consequences.
Contents
1 Administration
2 Textile
3 References
4 Further reading

Administration
Lampung is divided into 12 regencies:
West Lampung
South Lampung
Central Lampung
East Lampung
North Lampung
Way Kanan
Tanggamus
Tulang Bawang
Pesawaran
Pringsewu
West Tulangbawang
Mesuji
and 2 cities: Bandar Lampung and Metro
Some of the major produce in the country includes robusta Coffee beans, Cocoa beans, coconuts and cloves. This has resulted in a thriving agricultural sector with companies like Nestlé procuring coffee beans from the region. This agriculture has included illegal growing in Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park.[2] In addition, Nata de Coco is also manufactured in the region by domestic companies like Wong Coco.
Textile
Up until the 1920s, Lampung had a rich and varied weaving tradition. Lampung weaving used a supplementary weft technique which enabled coloured silk or cotton threads to be superimposed on a plainer cotton background. The most prominent Lampung textile was the palepai, ownership of which was restricted to the Lampung aristocracy of the Kalianda Bay area.[3] There were two types of smaller cloths, known as tatibin and tampan, which could be owned and used by all levels of Lampungese society. Weaving technologies were spread throughout Lampung. High quality weavings were produced by the Paminggir, Krui, Abung and Pesisir peoples. Production was particularly prolific among the people of the Kalianda Bay area in the south and the Krui aristocracy in the north.
The oldest surviving examples of Lampung textiles date back to the eighteenth century,[citation needed] but some scholars believe that weaving may date back to the first millennium AD when Sumatra first came under Indian cultural influence.[who?] The prevalence of Buddhist motifs, such as diamonds, suggests that the weaving traditions were already active in the time when Lampung came under the Buddhist Srivijayan rule. There are similarities between Lampung weaving and weaving traditions in some parts of modern-day Thailand that experienced cultural contact with Sriwijaya.
Lampung textiles were known as 'ship cloths' because ships are a common motif. The ship motif represents the transition from one realm of life to the next, for instances from boyhood to manhood or from being single to married and also represents the final transition to the afterlife.[3] Traditionally, Lampung textiles were used as part of religious ceremonies such as weddings and circumcisions. For instance, the palepai cloths were used as long ceremonial wall-hangings behind the bridal party in aristocratic marriages. The smaller, more humble tampan cloths were exchanged between families at the time of weddings.
Production of many fine cloths blossomed in the late nineteenth century as Lampung grew rich on pepper production, but the devastating eruption of Krakatoa in 1883 destroyed many weaving villages in the Kalianda area.[citation needed] By the 1920s the increasing importance of Islam and the collapse of the pepper trade brought production to a halt.[citation needed] Today Lampung textiles are highly prized by collectors.