Lampung

Infobox Provinces of Indonesia
name=Lampung
country=Indonesia
logo=
motto= "Sang Bumi Ruwa Jurai"
capital=Bandar Lampung
population=6731000
population_as_of = 2000
area_in_km2=35376
Time=WIB (UTC+7)
ethnicity=Javanese (62%), Sundanese (9%), Peminggir (6%), Pepadun (4%), Malay (4%), Bantenese (3%) [cite book
last =
first =
publisher=Institute of Southeast Asian Studies
title =Indonesia's Population: Ethnicity and Religion in a Changing Political Landscape
date =
year =2003
url =
accessdate = ]
religion=Muslim (92%), Protestant (1.8%), Catholic (1.8%), Buddhist (1.7%)
language=Indonesian
governor=Sjachroedin ZP
site= [http://www.lampung.go.id http://www.lampung.go.id]

Lampung is a province of Indonesia, located on the southern tip of the island of Sumatra. It borders the provinces of Bengkulu and South Sumatra. Lampung is the original home of the "Lampung" tribe, who speak a distinct language from other people in Sumatra and have their own alphabet.

The province has a population of 6,654,354 (2000 census). A large portion of the current population of Lampung is descended from migrants from Java, Madura, and Bali. These migrants came both spontaneously, in search of more land than was available on the more densely populated islands, as well as part of the government's transmigration program, for which Lampung was one of the earliest and most important transmigration destinations.

Lampung is commonly known for its geographical instability in terms of earthquakes and volcanoes. On May 10 2005, a strong earthquake measuring 6.4 on the richter scale struck the province. The historical volcano blast of Krakatau occurred in 1883, which resulted in disastrous consequences.

Administration

Lampung is divided into 9 regencies:
* West Lampung
* South Lampung
* Central Lampung
* East Lampung
* North Lampung
* Way Kanan
* Tanggamus
* Tulang Bawang
* Pesawaranand 2 cities: Bandar Lampung and Metro

Some of the major produce in the country includes robusta Coffee beans, Cocoa beans, coconuts and cloves. This has resulted in a thriving agricultural sector with companies like Nestlé procuring coffee beans from the region. This agriculture has included illegal growing in Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park. [ Claire Leow. [http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/01/18/bloomberg/bxnestle.php Nestlé to scrutinize Indonesia coffee amid wildlife-endangerment fears] , "International Herald Tribune".] In addition, Nata de Coco is also manufactured in the region by domestic companies like Wong Coco.

Textile

Up until the 1920s, Lampung had a rich and varied weaving tradition. Lampung weaving used a supplementary weft technique which enabled coloured silk or cotton threads to be superimposed on a plainer cotton background. The most prominent Lampung textile was the "palepai", ownership of which was restricted to the Lampung aristocracy of the Kalianda Bay area. There were two types of smaller cloths, known as "tatibin" and "tampan", which could be owned and used by all levels of Lampungese society. Weaving technologies were spread throughout Lampung. High quality weavings were produced by the Paminggir, Krui, Abung and Pesisir peoples. Production was particularly prolific among the people of the Kalianda Bay area in the south and the Krui aristocracy in the north.

The oldest surviving examples of Lampung textiles date back to the eighteenth century,Fact|date=September 2007 but some scholars believe that weaving may date back to the first millennium AD when Sumatra first came under Indian cultural influence.Who|date=September 2007 The prevalence of Buddhist motifs, such as diamonds, suggests that the weaving traditions were already active in the time when Lampung came under the Buddhist Srivijayan rule. There are similarities between Lampung weaving and weaving traditions in some parts of modern-day Thailand that experienced cultural contact with Sriwijaya.

Lampung textiles were known as 'ship cloths' because ships are a common motif. The ship motif represents the transition from one realm of life to the next, for instances from boyhood to manhood or from being single to married and also represents the final transition to the afterlife.cite web| url=http://www.dallasmuseumofart.org/Dallas_Museum_of_Art/View/Collections/Pacific_Islands/ID_011092 |accessdate=2007-09-26 |title=Ceremonial Hanging (palepai) |work=Pacific Islands art |publisher=Dallas Museum of Art] Traditionally, Lampung textiles were used as part of religious ceremonies such as weddings and circumcisions. For instance, the "palepai" cloths were used as long ceremonial wall-hangings behind the bridal party in aristocratic marriages. The smaller, more humble "tampan" cloths were exchanged between families at the time of weddings.

Production of many fine cloths blossomed in the late nineteenth century as Lampung grew rich on pepper production, but the devastating eruption of Krakatoa in 1883 destroyed many weaving villages in the Kalianda area.Fact|date=September 2007 By the 1920s the increasing importance of Islam and the collapse of the pepper trade brought production to a halt.Fact|date=September 2007 Today Lampung textiles are highly prized by collectors.

References

Further reading

*Elmhirst, R. (2001). Resource Struggles and the Politics of Place in North Lampung, Indonesia. "Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography". 22(3):284-307.
*Pain, Marc (ed). (1989). "Transmigration and spontaneous migrations in Indonesia : Propinsi Lampung". Bondy, France: ORSTOM.