Buleleng Regency

Buleleng Regency

Location; Coordinates: 8°07′S 115°05′E. Country Indonesia, Province Bali. Population (2005) Total 80,500. Buleleng is a regency (kabupaten) of Bali, Indonesia. It has an area of 1,365.88 km2 and population of 577,644 (1999). Its regency seat is Singaraja.

Singaraja is a town in northern Bali, Indonesia, which serves as the seat of Buleleng Regency. The name is Indonesian for “Lion King” (from Sanskrit simha and raja). It is on the north coast just east of Lovina. It has an area of 27.98 km² and population of 80,500.

Dutch colonial

Singaraja was the Dutch colonial administrative centre for Bali and the Lesser Sunda Islands from 1849 until 1953, and the port of arrival for most visitors until development of the Bukit Peninsula area in the south. Singaraja was also an administrative center for the Japanese during their World War II occupation.

Museum

Gedong Kirtya, just south of the town centre, is the only library of lontar manuscripts (ancient and sacred texts on leaves of the rontal palm) in the world.

Story

Buleleng was founded as a kingdom by Gusti Panji Sakti, who ruled c. 1660-c. 1700. He is commemorated as a heroic ancestor-figure who expanded the power of Buleleng to Blambangan on East Java.The kingdom was weakened during his successors, and fell under the suzerainty of the neighbouring Karangasem kingdom in the second half of the 18th century. 

It was headed by an autonomous branch of the Karangasem Dynasty in 1806-1849. The Dutch colonial power attacked Buleleng in 1846, 1848 and 1849, and defeated it on the last occasion.Buleleng was incorporated in the Dutch colonial system and lost its autonomy in 1882. 

In 1929 a descendant of Gusti Panji Sakti, the renowned scholar Gusti Putu Jelantik, was appointed regent by the Dutch. He died in 1944, during the Japanese occupation of Indonesia. His son, a well-known novelist, Anak Agung Nyoman Panji Tisna. In 1947, Anak Agung Pandji Tisna surrendered the throne to his younger brother, Anak Agung Ngurah Ketut Djelantik, known as Meester Djelantik, until 1950. In 1949-50 Buleleng, like the rest of Bali, was incorporated in the unitary republic of Indonesia.

Administration

The Regency is divided into nine kecamatan (districts), listed below with their 2010 Census populations.

• Gerokgak 78,825
• Seririt 69,572
• Busung Biu 39,719
• Banjar 68,960
• Sukasada 72,050
• Buleleng 128,899
• Sawan 58,578
• Kubutambahan 53,765
• Tejakula 53,757

It is further subdivided into kelurahan /desa or subdistricts / villages.

Airports

Lt.Col. Wisnu Airfield, located in the Sumberkima village. By 2014 it will be used for commercial flights after the extended runway is completed. A research of new airport had been completed in line of congestion of Ngurah Rai International Airport in 2017. 

The new two runways airport will be built in the east part of Buleleng Regency and will be connected by railway to the existing airport. Kubutambahan, 15 kilometers east of Singaraja, was decided to be the new airport site which won over two other candidates Sangsit and Gerokgak after taking into account geographical conditions, wind speed, wind direction and other factors.

Pearl producers

Many big pearl producers have developed a 130.9 hectares in Gerokgak village as an area for pearl breeding and world-class pearl productions. It will enlarge to 250 hectares swath of water stretching from Gerokgak to Kubutambahan