Provinces of Indonesia

Provinces of Indonesia Provinsi di Indonesia
Category	First-level administrative division of a decentralized unitary state
Location	Republic of Indonesia
Created	18 August 1945
Number	38
Populations	South Papua (534,400) – West Java (49,860,300)
Areas	Jakarta 661 km2 (255 sq mi) – Central Kalimantan 153,444 km2 (59,245 sq mi)
Government	Governor
Subdivisions	Regencies and cities

Provinces are the first-level administrative divisions of Indonesia. It is formerly called the first-level provincial region (provinsi daerah tingkat I) before the Reform era. Provinces have a local government, consisting of a governor (Gubernur) and a regional legislative body (Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat Provinsi). The governor and members of local representative bodies are elected by popular vote for five-year terms, but governors can only serve for two terms. Provincial governments have the authority to regulate and manage their own government affairs, subject to the limits of the central government. The average land area of all 38 provinces in Indonesia is about 49,800 km² (19,200 sq mi), and they had an average population in mid 2023 of 7,334,111 people.

Currently, Indonesia is divided into 38 provinces, nine of which have special autonomous status. The terminology for special status are "Istimewa" and "Khusus", which translates to 'special' or 'designated' in English. Provinces are further divided into regencies and cities (formerly called second-level region regencies/cities or kabupaten/kotamadya daerah tingkat II), which are in turn subdivided into districts (kecamatan). Proposals for the creation of additional provinces (by the splitting of existing provinces) have been considered by the Indonesian government, but further action has been suspended since 2013 under a moratorium declared on any creations of further provinces, regencies or cities. However, in 2022, 9 years later, Central Papua, Highland Papua, South Papua, and Southwest Papua became the youngest provinces in the country.