Bintan Regency

Bintan Regency (originally the Riau Islands Regency; Kabupaten Kepulauan Riau) is an administrative area in the Riau Islands Province of Indonesia. Bintan Regency includes all of Bintan Island (except for the city of Tanjung Pinang which is separately administered as an autonomous area of the island) and also includes many outlying islands including the Tambelan Archipelago and Badas Islands situated between Bintan and West Kalimantan; altogether there are 273 islands comprising the regency.

The Bintan Regency originally included all of the areas now comprising the Riau Islands Province, but on 4 October 1999 parts of the regency were split off to create separate Regencies of Karimun and Natuna (the latter originally including what in 2008 became the Anambas Islands Regency), together with the independent city of Batam. On 21 June 2001 the town of Tanjung Pinang on Bintan Island was also split off to become an independent city. In 2002 all these areas which had comprised the original Bintan Regency were brought together in a new Riau Islands Province when that was created from the archipelagic part of Riau Province. On 18 December 2003 a further regency – for the Lingga Islands – was created from part of the residual Bintan Regency.

Bintan Regency now covers an area of 1,318.21 km2. It had a population of 142,300 at the 2010 census and 159,518 at the 2020 census; the official estimate as at mid 2023 was 165,893 (comprising 85,390 males and 80,510 females).

Location
The island is located 40 kilometres from Singapore, with an area of 1,462.77 km2, and it has a population of around 330,000 at the 2010 census (including Tanjung Pinang), which by the 2020 census had risen to 387,181, while the official estimate as at mid 2023 was 400,700. These population figures include the entire Bintan Island as well as outlying islands and archipelagoes that are included within Bintan Regency and Tanjung Pinang City. Famous places in Bintan Regency include Trikora Beach, on the east coast, and the international Bintan Resorts.

Administration
The regency is divided into ten districts (kecamatan) – tabulated below with their areas and their populations at the 2010 and 2020 censuses, together with the official estimates as at mid-2023. The table also includes the locations of the district administrative centres, the numbers of administrative villages in each district (a total of 36 rural desa and 15 urban kelurahan), and its postal code.

Notes: (a) includes one kelurahan - Tembeling Tanjung. (b) comprises 4 kelurahan (Tanjung Uban Kota, Tanjung Uban Selatan, Tanjung Uban Timur and Tanjung Uban Utara) and 1 desa. (c) includes one kelurahan - Kota Baru. (d) includes 2 kelurahan (Teluk Lobam and Tanjung Permai). (e) comprises 4 kelurahan (Gunung Lengkuas, Kijang Kota, Sungai Enam and Sungai Lekop). (f) includes one kelurahan - Kawal. (g) Bintan Pesisir and Mantang Districts comprise numerous islands lying to the east and south respectively of Bintan Island, but do not include any part of that island itself. (h) includes one kelurahan - Toapaya Asri. (i) Tambelan District comprises the Tambelan Archipelago and Badas Islands situated between Bintan and West Kalimantan. (j) includes one kelurahan - Teluk Sekuni.

Religion
Islam is the dominant religion in the city, with 86.88% of the total population identify themselves as Muslim. Other religions are Christianity, which forms 7.52% of the total population, Buddhism, which forms 5.37% of the total population, Hinduism, which forms 0.09% of the total population and Confucianism, which forms 0.38% of the total population.

Airports
Besides Raja Haji Fisabilillah Airport is near Tanjung Pinang in the south of the island, since 2012 a private company has been building an airport at Lagoi in the north of the island to facilitates tourism with investment $80 to $100 million; it is now predicted to be operational by the end of 2021.