Aceh

Aceh is the westernmost province of Indonesia. It is located on the northern end of Sumatra island, with Banda Aceh being its capital and largest city. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the west, Strait of Malacca to the northeast, as well bordering the province of North Sumatra to the east, its sole land border, and shares maritime borders with Malaysia and Thailand to the east, and Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India to the north. Granted special autonomous status, Aceh is a religiously conservative territory, with the majority of its population being Muslim; it is the only Indonesian province to officially integrate Islamic law (Sharia). There are ten indigenous ethnic groups in this region, the largest being the Acehnese people, accounting for approximately 70% of the region's population of about 5.55 million people in mid-2024. Its land area spans 56,839.09 km2. Aceh is a provincial region that constitutes a unified legal community with a special status and is granted special authorities to regulate and manage its own governmental affairs and local interests in accordance with laws and regulations within the system and principles of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia, based on the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia, and is led by a governor. Aceh is where the spread of Islam in Indonesia began and was a key factor of the spread of Islam in Southeast Asia more broadly. Islam reached Aceh (Kingdoms of Fansur and Lamuri) around 1250. In the early 17th century, the Aceh Sultanate was the wealthiest, most powerful, and most cultivated state in the Strait of Malacca. Aceh has a history of political independence and resistance to control by outsiders, including the former Dutch East Indies and later the Indonesian governments. Aceh has substantial natural resources of oil and natural gas. Aceh was the closest point of land to the epicenter of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, which devastated much of the western coast of the province. Approximately 170,000 Indonesians were killed or went missing in the disaster. The disaster helped precipitate the peace agreement between the government of Indonesia and the separatist group of Free Aceh Movement.