Tangerang Regency

Tangerang Regency is a regency of Banten Province, Indonesia. It is located in the northwest of the island of Java. The current regent is Ahmed Zaki Iskandar. Though commonly misunderstood as being a part of Jakarta, Tangerang is actually outside Jakarta City but is part of Greater Jakarta (which is called Jabodetabek, Tangerang being the "ta" of the acronym). Since 1993, the regency has lost territory as first Tangerang city (Kota Tangerang) was split off on 27 February 1993 and subsequently South Tangerang city (Kota Tangerang Selatan) was split off on 29 October 2008. The residual Regency now has an area of 1,034.54 km2 and a population of 2,834,376 at the 2010 census, growing to 3,245,619 at the 2020 census; the latest official estimate (for mid 2022) is 3,309,365 (comprising 1,683,841 males and 1,625,524 females), reflecting a recent slowing down in the rate of population growth since 2020. The town of Tigaraksa is the regency seat.

Tangerang Regency is bounded by the Java Sea to the north, by Jakarta city, Tangerang city and South Tangerang city to the east, by Bogor Regency (in West Java) to the south, by a small section of Lebak Regency to the southwest, and by Serang Regency to the west.

Tangerang city was formed as an autonomous city on 27 February 1993 out of districts in the eastern part of the Tangerang Regency. The city was previously an administrative city within that Regency.

From 1993 until 2008, Tangerang Regency was divided into 36 Districts (kecamatan). On 27 October 2008, seven further districts in the south-eastern part of Tangerang Regency were cut out to form the South Tangerang autonomous city/municipality. They were Ciputat, Ciputat Timur (East Ciputat), Pamulang, Pondok Aren, Serpong, Serpong Utara (North Serpong) and Setu Districts.

Administrative districts
Following the creation of the cities of Tangerang and South Tangerang from parts of the regency, the present Tangerang Regency now comprises the following 29 districts (kecamatan), tabulated below with their areas and their populations at the 2010 census and the 2020 census, together with the official estimates as at mid 2023. The table also includes the locations of the district administrative centres, the number of administrative villages in each district (comprising 246 rural desa and 28 urban kelurahan), and its postal codes.

The first sixteen districts in the following table indicate those sixteen districts in the southwest of Tangerang Regency which would remain in the putative renamed "Tigaraksa Regency" if government proposals to divide the existing Regency were to be carried out. The last thirteen districts are those districts in North Tangerang seeking to secede to form a separate "North Tangerang Regency".

Notes: (a) includes 2 kelurahan (Tigaraksa and Kadu Agung). (b) includes 2 kelurahan (Bunder and Sukamulya). (c) includes the kelurahan of Mekar Bakti. (d) includes 3 kelurahan (Binong, Curug Kulon and Sukabakti). (e) comprises 5 kelurahan (Bencongan, Bencongan Indah, Bojong Nangka, Kelapa Dua and Pakulonan Barat) and one desa. (f) includes the kelurahan of Babakan. (g) includes the kelurahan of Medang. (h) except the village of Karangtengah, which has a post code of 15157. (j) includes the kelurahan of Cisauk. (k) includes the kelurahan of Balaraja. (l) comprises 4 kelurahan (Kuta Baru, Kutabumi, Kuta Jaya and Sindangsari) and 5 desa. (m) includes the kelurahan of Mauk Timur. (n) includes the kelurahan of Sutatani. (p) includes the kelurahan of Sepatan. (q) includes the kelurahan of Pakuhaji. (r) including the offshore island of Pulau Betingan. (s) including 3 kelurahan (Dadap, Kosambi Barat and Salembaran Jaya).

Proposals to Divide the Regency
A proposal to set up a new North Tangerang Regency (Kabupaten Tangerang Utara) emerged in 2002 when a group of residents from the Mauk, Rajeg, Kemiri, Sepatan, Sepatan Timur, Sukadiri, Pakuhaji, Kosambi and Teluknaga districts decided their combined area had the potential to become a regency in its own right. In October 2011, thirteen districts expressed their interest in splitting from the regency and forming a new North Tangerang Regency. They are Sindang Jaya, Pasar Kemis, Kronjo, Mekar Baru, Kosambi, Teluknaga, Pakuhaji, Sepatan Timur (East Sepatan), Sepatan, Sukadiri, Mauk, Rajeg and Kemiri. These thirteen districts had a combined population of 1,473,470 at the 2020 census, rising to 1,483,230 at the official estimates for mid 2023.

After losing seven districts, which have formed into the newly established South Tangerang municipality, the Tangerang Regency administration is planning to divide three of the remaining 29 districts into six in the near future. "We have conducted a study on the regional division, and the results suggest the division of Rajeg, Pakuhaji and Teluknaga districts", Muhamad, administration affairs chief at the regional administration said in April 2010. But these new districts have not materialised by 2024.

Tangerang Council chairman Dadang Kartasasmita has proposed the administration split the present regency into three: two regencies and one municipality. According to the proposal, Tigaraksa Regency would comprise 16 districts in the south and west of the existing regency, Pantura Regency along the northern coast would comprise nine districts and Cipasera Municipality would comprise four districts bordering Jakarta, areas where many commuters to the capital live.

All proposals for the creation of additional regencies and cities have been held in abeyance since 2013 by the Indonesian Government, who declared a moratorium on all such proposals.