page_title: West Sumatra
section_title: Ethnicity
hierarchical_section_title: West Sumatra / Demographics / Ethnicity
caption_attribution_description: Bahasa Indonesia: SUKU SIKEREI&#160;: Pemilik Seni Tatto Tertua di Dunia.
context_page_description: West Sumatra is a province of Indonesia. On the west coast of the island of Sumatra, the province had a 2019 estimated population of 5,479,491 across an area of 42,012.89 km². The province includes the Mentawai Islands off the coast and borders the provinces of North Sumatra to the north, Riau and Jambi to the east, and Bengkulu to the southeast. West Sumatra is sub-divided into twelve regencies and seven cities. It has relatively more cities than other provinces outside of Java. Padang is the province's capital and largest city.
  West Sumatra is home to the Minangkabau people, although the traditional Minangkabau region is actually wider than the province's boundaries, covering up to the southern region of North Sumatra, the western region of Riau, the western region of Jambi, the northern region of Bengkulu, and Negeri Sembilan in Malaysia. Another native ethnic group is Mentawai people, who inhabit the western islands of the same name. Islam is a predominant religion in the province with about 97.4% of the total population.
  West Sumatra was the centre of Pagaruyung Kingdom, founded by Adityawarman in 1347.
context_section_description: West Sumatra is the native homeland of Minangkabau people. They speak Minangkabau language and predominantly Muslim. West Sumatran have historically played the important role within the Muslim community in Indonesia. Up until today the region is considered as one of the strongholds of Islam in Indonesia. They have a reputation as traders, intellectuals as well as politically savvy people who have successfully exported their culture, language, cuisine and beliefs throughout Indonesia.
  Mentawaians live on the Mentawai Islands, off the western coast of Sumatra, that are also part of the native people of province. They speak Mentawai languages, which are not intelligible with either Indonesian nor Minangkabau. Small minority of the Mentawais are Christians nowadays.  In the Mentawai Islands, where the majority of the population is Mentawai, it is rare to find Minangkabau people. Chinese Indonesian are only found in big cities, such as Padang, Bukittinggi, and Payakumbuh. In Padang and Pariaman, there are also small numbers of Nias and Tamil people.
caption: Mentawai people performing their traditional dance
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