Tanjungpinang

關於Tanjungpinang

Tanjungpinang, also colloquially written as Tanjung Pinang, is the capital city of the Indonesian province of Riau Islands. It covers a land area of 149.64 km2, mainly in the southwestern part of Bintan Island, as well as including other smaller islands such as Dompak Island and Penyengat Island. With a population of 227,663 at the 2020 Census, it is the second largest city of the province, after Batam; the official estimate as at mid 2025 was 241,266 (comprising 121,415 males and 119,851 females). Tanjungpinang is a historic city of the Malay culture, having served as the capital of both Johor Sultanate and Riau-Lingga Sultanate.

Tanjungpinang – whose name is taken from the position of a beach tree that juts into the sea – occupies a strategic location on the south of Bintan Island, guarding the mouth of the Bintan River. Tanjungpinang has ferry and speedboat connections to Batam, Singapore (40 km away), and Johor Bahru. The city is also served by Raja Haji Fisabilillah International Airport, located about 7 km east of the city center.

Over the centuries, Tanjungpinang came under the control of Sumatra, Malacca, the Netherlands, Britain, and Japan. These contacts each influenced its culture, also being a centre of Malay culture and trade traffic. In the 18th century, it was a capital of the Johor–Riau–Lingga Empire.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA. Photography via Wikimedia Commons.