One Indonesian province still has a hereditary sultan as its governor
Indonesian governors are normally elected for five years and limited to two terms. Yogyakarta is different: its governor is the reigning sultan, Hamengkubuwono, and his deputy is the hereditary prince Paku Alam, an arrangement dating back to the earliest years of the republic.
Indonesia is divided into 38 provinces covering about 1.89 million square kilometres, averaging roughly 7.5 million residents each in mid-2025. Each has a governor, a vice-governor and an elected regional legislature, and provinces split further into regencies and cities, then districts. The 1945 constitution describes a unitary state rather than a federation, but amendments in October 1999, after Suharto fell, expanded the powers handed down to regions. Provinces handle matters that cross regency lines, such as public order, infrastructure, labour services and civil registration.
Nine provinces hold special status, and each deal is tailored. Yogyakarta, autonomous under Dutch rule, became the first province granted special autonomy through a 1950 law. Aceh gained special-region status on 23 May 1959, and a 2006 law gives it a privileged role for Islamic law in religious life, custom and education, plus a development fund for 20 years. Papua received special autonomy in 2001, when it was also renamed from Irian Jaya. Jakarta has its own status as capital and largest city.
The map keeps changing. At independence there were eight provinces; Sumatra, Kalimantan, Sulawesi and Lesser Sunda were later dissolved into smaller units, while Java's three and Maluku survive. East Timor was a province from 1976 until 1999 and became independent in 2002. A moratorium froze new provinces from 2013, yet in 2022 four were carved out in the Papua region, becoming the country's youngest.
Another is on the way. A 2022 law created Nusantara, a planned capital city of provincial rank that will become the 39th province once a presidential decree formally moves the capital from Jakarta. Since 2015 regional executive elections have been synchronised, culminating in nationwide local polls in November 2024.
Source: Provinces of Indonesia
