Banten (, ) is the westernmost province on the island of Java, Indonesia. Its capital city is Serang and its largest city is Tangerang. The province borders West Java and the Special Capital Region of Jakarta on the east, the Java Sea on the north, the Indian Ocean on the south, and the Sunda Strait (which separates Java from the neighbouring island of Sumatra) on the west and shares a maritime border with Lampung to the west. The province covers an area of . It had a population of over 11.9 million in the 2020 census, up from about 10.6 million in 2010. The estimated mid-2025 population was 12,537,440 (comprising 6,369,700 males and 6,167,740 females), still increasing by over 100,000 people per year. Formerly part of the province of West Java, Banten was split off to become a separate province on 17 October 2000.
The northern half (particularly the eastern areas near Jakarta and the Java Sea coast) has recently experienced rapid rises in population and urbanization, and the southern half (especially the region facing the Indian Ocean) has a more traditional character but an equally fast-rising population.
Present-day Banten was part of the Sundanese Tarumanagara kingdom from the fourth to the seventh centuries AD. After the fall of Tarumanegara, it was controlled by Hindu-Buddhist kingdoms such as the Srivijaya Empire and the Sunda Kingdom. The spread of Islam in the region began in the 15th century; by the late 16th century, Islam had replaced Hinduism and Buddhism as the dominant religion in the province, with the establishment of the Banten Sultanate. European traders began arriving in the regionfirst the Portuguese, followed by the British and the Dutch. The Dutch East India Company, VOC (Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie), finally controlled the regional economy, gradually weakening the Banten Sultanate. On 22 November 1808, Dutch Governor-General Herman Willem Daendels declared that the Sultanate of Banten had been absorbed into the Dutch East Indies. This began the Bantam Residency, 150 years of direct Dutch rule. In March 1942, the Japanese invaded the Indies and occupied the region for three years before their August 1945 surrender. The region was returned to Dutch control for the next five years before the Dutch left and it was ruled by the Indonesian government. Banten became part of the province of West Java, but separatist efforts led to the creation of the separate province of Banten in October 17, 2000.
Etymology
The name "Banten" has several possible origins. The first is from the Sundanese phrase katiban inten, which means "struck down by diamonds". The phrase comes from the history of the Bantenese people, who were animists before adopting Buddhism and Hinduism. After Islam began to spread in Banten, the community began to recognize and embrace Islam. The spread of Islam in Banten is described as being "struck down by diamonds".
Another origin story is that the Indonesian Hindu god Batara Guru traveled from east to west, arriving at Surasowan (present-day Serang). When he arrived, Batara Guru sat on a stone which became known as watu gilang. The stone glowed, and was presented to the king of Surasowan. Surasowan was reportedly surrounded by a clear, star-like river, and was described as a ring covered with diamonds (Sundanese: ban inten). This evolved into "banten". During the 16th century, the region developed rapidly towards Serang and the northern coast. The coastal area later became the Sultanate of Banten, founded by Sunan Gunung Jati, which controlled almost all of the former Sunda Kingdom in West Java. Sunda Kelapa (Batavia) was captured by the Dutch, and Cirebon and the Parahiyangan region were captured by the Mataram Sultanate. The Banten Sultanate was later converted into a residency by the Dutch. which describes life in the kingdom under the reign of Purnawarman. The kingdom collapsed after an attack by Srivijaya, and western Java became part of the Sunda Kingdom. In the Chinese Chu-fan-chi, written around 1225, Chou Ju-kua wrote that Srivijaya ruled Sumatra, the Malay peninsula, and western Java during the early 13th century. Chu-fan-chi identified the port of Sunda as strategic and thriving, with pepper from Sunda among the highest quality. The population were made up of farmers, and their houses were built on wooden poles (rumah panggung). Robbery, however, was common.
According to Portuguese explorer Tome Pires, Bantam (Banten) was an important early-16th-century port in the Kingdom of Sunda along with the ports of Pontang, Cheguide (Cigede), Tangaram (Tangerang), Calapa (Sunda Kelapa) and Chimanuk (on the Cimanuk river estuary). In 1527, as the Portuguese fleet arrived off the coast, newly-converted Javanese Muslims under Sunan Gunungjati captured the port of Banten and the surrounding area from the Sundanese and established the Sultanate of Banten. According to Portuguese historian João de Barros, Banten was the center of the sultanate and a major Southeast Asian port (rivaling Malacca and Makassar). The town of Banten was in the middle of the bay, about across. It was 850 fathoms in length. A river, navigable by junks, flowed through the center of the town; a small tributary extended to the town's edge. The present-day river is smaller, and only navigable by small boats. A fortress near the town had brick walls seven palms thick. Armed, wooden defence buildings were two stories high. The town square was used for military activities and folk art, with a market in the morning. The palace was on the south side of the square. Next to the palace is a tall, flat-roofed building known as Srimanganti, which was used by the king to meet his subjects. West of the square is the Great Mosque of Banten.
Colonial era
thumb|alt=Late-16th-century print of five warriors with weapons|Warriors of Banten in 1596
thumb|upright|alt=Formal painting of Herman Willem Daendels|In 1808, Dutch [[Governor-general of the Dutch East Indies|Governor-general Herman Willem Daendels ordered the annexation of the Banten Sultanate. This marked the end of the four-century-old sultanate and the beginning of 150 years of Dutch rule in the region.]]
When the Dutch arrived in Indonesia, the Portuguese had long been in Banten. The English established a factory in Banten, followed by the Dutch. The French and the Danish also came to trade in Banten. In the competition among European traders, the Dutch emerged victorious. The Portuguese left Banten in 1601 after their fleet was destroyed by the Dutch off the coast during the Dutch–Portuguese War.
In 16th century, Chinese junk ships regularly traded with Jambi, Patani, Siam and Cambodia. Local Muslim women who dealt in the cloth trade willingly married Han Chinese men in Palembang and Jambi and also local Muslim women in Banten married Han Chinese men. The Han Chinese men usually converted to Islam to please their Muslim wives.
Although the Dutch won the war, they preserved the Banten Sultanate. The maritime sultanate relied on trade, and the pepper monopoly in Lampung made the Banten authorities intermediaries. The sultanate grew rapidly, becoming a commercial center. As sea trade increased throughout the archipelago, Banten became a multi-ethnic region. Assisted by the British, Danish and Chinese, Banten traded with Persia, India, Siam, Vietnam, the Philippines, China and Japan. The reign of Sultan Ageng Tirtayasa was the sultanate's height. Under his reign, Banten had one of the strongest navies in the region, built to European standards with help from European shipbuilders and attracted Europeans to the sultanate. To secure its shipping lanes, Banten sent its fleet to Sukadana (the present-day Ketapang Regency in West Kalimantan) and conquered it in 1661. Banten also tried to escape the pressure of the Dutch East India Company (VOC), which had blockaded incoming merchant ships. In the ensuing war, Ageng withdrew from his palace to Tirtayasa (present-day Tangerang); on 28 December 1682, the region was seized by Haji with Dutch assistance. Ageng and his other sons, Pangeran Purbaya and Syekh Yusuf from Makassar, retreated to the southern Sunda interior. On 14 March 1683, Sultan Ageng was captured and imprisoned in Batavia.
The VOC continued to pursue and suppress Sultan Ageng's followers, led by Prince Purbaya and Sheikh Yusuf. On 5 May 1683, the VOC sent Lieutenant Untung Surapati and his Balinese troops, joining forces led by VOC Lieutenant Johannes Maurits van Happel to subdue the and Dayeuhluhur regions; on 14 December 1683, they captured Sheikh Yusuf. Heavily outnumbered, Prince Purbaya surrendered. Surapati was ordered by Captain Johan Ruisj to pick up Purbaya and bring him to Batavia. They met with VOC forces led by Willem Kuffeler, but a dispute between them destroyed Kuffeler's forces; Surapati and his followers became fugitives from the VOC.
thumb|alt=Aerial view of the town of Banten|[[François Valentijn's painting of Banten in 1694]]
Lampung was given to the VOC on 12 March 1682 by Sultan Haji as compensation for the company's support, and a 22 August 1682 letter gave the VOC the province's pepper monopoly. The sultanate also had to reimburse the VOC for losses caused by the war. After Sultan Haji's death in 1687, the VOC's influence in the sultanate began to increase; the appointment of a new sultan required the approval of the governor-general in Batavia. Sultan Abu Fadhl Muhammad Yahya ruled for about three years before he was replaced by his brother, Pangeran Adipati (Sultan Abul Mahasin Muhammad Zainul Abidin). The civil war in Banten left instability for the next government, due to dissatisfaction with the VOC's interference in local affairs.
In 1808, at the peak of the Napoleonic Wars, Governor-general Herman Willem Daendels ordered the construction of the Great Post Road to defend Java from British attack. Daendels ordered the sultan of Banten to move his capital to Anyer and provide labor to build a port in Ujung Kulon. The sultan defied Daendels' order, and Daendels ordered an attack on Banten and the destruction of Surosowan Palace. The sultan and his family were held in the palace before their imprisonment in Fort Speelwijk. Sultan Abul Nashar Muhammad Ishaq Zainulmutaqin was then exiled to Batavia. On 22 November 1808, Daendels announced from his Serang headquarters that the sultanate had been absorbed into the Dutch East Indies. The sultanate was abolished in 1813 by the British after the invasion of Java. That year, Sultan Muhammad bin Muhammad Muhyiddin Zainussalihin was disarmed and forced to abdicate by Thomas Stamford Raffles; this ended the sultanate. After the British returned Java to the Dutch in 1814 as part of the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814, Banten became a residentie (residency) of the Dutch East Indies. The rōmusha working in the mines were taken from Central and East Java, the railway rōmusha were primarily from Banten. The construction took 12 million human days over 14 months. Working conditions were harsh due to food shortages, lack of medical care, and the tropical climate. Casualties are estimated at 20,000 to 60,000, not including mine workers.
After Indonesian independence, Banten became part of the province of West Java. Separatist sentiment led to the creation of the province of Banten in October 17, 2000.
Geography
thumb|right|upright=1.1|alt=Map of Banten showing tree-cover loss years, with forest remaining since 2000 in green and loss years shaded yellow through purple.|Tree-cover loss year in Banten, 2001-2024, from the [[Global Forest Change dataset.]]
thumb|alt=Seashore under an orange-and-blue sky|[[Tanjung Lesung beach, Pandegelang Regency]]
thumb|alt=Trees submerged in water|Mangrove forest in [[Ujung Kulon National Park]]
Banten lies between 5°7'50" and 7°1'11" south latitude and 105°1'11" and 106°7'12" east longitude. The province has a land area of .
It is near the Sunda Strait's sea lanes, which link Australia and New Zealand with Southeast Asia. Banten also links Java and Sumatra. The region has a number of industries; its seaports handle overflow cargo from the seaport in Jakarta, and are intended to be an alternative to the Port of Singapore.
Its location on the western tip of Java makes Banten the gateway to Java, Sumatra and the adjacent areas of Jakarta, Indonesia's capital. Bordering the Java Sea on the north, the Sunda Strait on the west and the Indian Ocean on the south, the province has abundant marine resources.
The land area includes some 81 offshore islands (large enough to have names) of which 50 are in Pandeglang Regency, 4 in Lebak Regency, 9 in Serang Regency, 5 in Cilegon City and 11 in Tangerang Regency.
Topography
thumb|alt=Rugged green landscape by the sea|Sawarna Banten Green View, Lebak Regency
thumb|alt=Lowlands, with mountains in the background under a cloudy sky|Rawa Danau, Serang Regency
The province ranges in altitude from sea level to . Banten is primarily lowland (below 50 metres above sea level) in Cilegon, Tangerang, Pandeglang Regency, and most of Serang Regency. The central Lebak and Pandeglang Regencies range from , and the eastern Lebak Regency ranges in altitude from at the summit of Mount Halimun.
Banten's geomorphology generally consists of lowlands and sloping and steep hills. The lowlands are generally in the north and south.
The sloping hills have a minimum height of above sea level. Mount Gede, north of Cilegon, has an altitude of above sea level; there are also hills in the southern Serang Regency, in the Mancak and Waringin Kurung Districts. The southern Pandeglang Regency is also hilly. In eastern Lebak Regency, bordering Bogor Regency and Sukabumi Regency in West Java, most of the region consists of steep hills of old sedimentary rock interspersed with igneous rocks such as granite, granodiorite, diorite and andesite. It also contains valuable tin and copper deposits.
Climate
thumb|alt=See caption|Administrative map of Banten
Banten's climate is influenced by the South and East Asian Monsoons and the alternating La Niña or El Niño. During the rainy season, the weather is dominated by a west wind (from Sumatra and the Indian Ocean south of the Indian subcontinent) joined by winds from Northern Asia crossing the South China Sea. The dry season is dominated by an east wind which gives Banten severe droughts, especially on the northern coast during El Niño. Temperatures on the coast and in the hills range from , and temperatures in the mountains from above sea level range from .
The heaviest rainfall ranges from during the rainy season from September to May, covering half of the western Pandeglang Regency. Rainfall from covers half of Tangerang Regency, the northern Serang Regency, and the cities of Cilegon and Tangerang. In the dry season (from April to December), the peak rainfall of covers half of the northern Serang and Tangerang Regencies and the cities of Cilegon and Tangerang. The lowest dry-season rainfall, from June to September, covers half of the southern Tangerang Regency and 15 percent of southeastern Serang Regency.
Government and administrative divisions
The province is governed by Governor (Andra Soni of the Gerindra Party) and Vice Governor (Achmad Dimyati Natakusumah) and a Regional House of Representatives (DPRD) comprising 100 elected members (86 males and 14 females). In the east, Tangerang Regency is represented by 26 members, Tangerang City by 16 members and South Tangerang City by 11 members; in the west, Serang Regency is represented by 14 members, Lebak Regency by 12 members, Pandeglang Regency by 11 members, Serang City by 6 members and Cilegon City by 4 members. Elections were held on 14 February 2024 (concurrent with presidential and parliamentary elections), following which the three political parties with the most representatives were Golkar, PDI Perjuangan, and Gerindra with each represented by 14 members; other parties were PKS with 13 members, Demokrat with 11 members, NasDem and PKB with 10 members each, PAN with 7 members, PPP with 4 members and PSI with 3 members.
Banten consists of four regencies (kabupaten) and four autonomous cities (kota), listed below with their populations in the 2010 The cities and regencies are subdivided into 155 districts (kecamatan) as at 2024, in turn sub-divided into 314 urban villages (kelurahan) and 1,238 rural villages (desa).
Over half (54.2% in mid 2025) of the population lives in the northeast corner of the province on just 14.6% of its land area. This corner, which comprises Tangerang Regency, Tangerang City and South Tangerang City, is part of the Jakarta metropolitan area (Jabodetabek). While the provincial estimates for this region total 6,853,279 for mid 2025 as shown below, the individual regency and city estimates for mid 2025 published on the same date show a total of 6,967,005 (1,474,311 for South Tangerang city, 1,976,599 for Tangerang city, and 3,516,095 for Tangerang Regency).
{| class="sortable wikitable"
!Kode<br>Wilayah
!Name of<br>City or<br>regency
!Capital
!Area <br>(km<sup>2</sup>)
!Pop'n<br>2010<br>census
!Pop'n<br>2020<br>census
!Pop'n<br>estimate<br>mid-2025
!Pop'n<br>projected<br>mid 2026
!HDI 2014 <br>estimate
|-
| 36.72
| colspan="2" |Cilegon
| align="right" |162.58
| align="right" |374,559
| align="right" |434,896
| align="right" |460,400
| align="right" |465,000
|0.715 ()
|-
| 36.73
| colspan="2" |Serang
| align="right" |266.31
| align="right" |577,785
| align="right" |692,101
| align="right" |745,560
| align="right" |756,150
|0.702 ()
|-
| 36.02
|Lebak Regency
|Rangkasbitung
| align="right" |3,312.30
| align="right" |1,204,095
| align="right" |1,386,793
| align="right" |1,463,820
| align="right" |1,478,090
|0.616 ()
|-
| 36.01
|Pandeglang Regency
|Pandeglang
| align="right" |2,771.49
| align="right" |1,149,610
| align="right" |1,272,687
| align="right" |1,338,370
| align="right" |1,350,500
|0.620 ()
|-
| 36.04
|Serang Regency
|Ciruas
| align="right" |1,471.54
| align="right" |1,402,818
| align="right" |1,622,630
| align="right" |1,720,320
| align="right" |1,738,300
|0.639 ()
|-
|
| colspan="2" |Western Banten totals<br />
| align="right" |7,984.22
| align="right" |4,708,867
| align="right" |5,409,107
| align="right" |5,728,470
| align="right" |5,788,040
|
|-
| 36.74
| colspan="2" |South Tangerang
| align="right" |164.86
| align="right" |1,290,322
| align="right" |1,354,350
| align="right" |1,402,160
| align="right" |1,405,040
|0.791 ()
|-
| 36.71
| colspan="2" |Tangerang
| align="right" |178.35
| align="right" |1,798,601
| align="right" |1,895,486
| align="right" |1,971,650
| align="right" |1,979,290
|0.758 ()
|-
| 36.03
|Tangerang Regency
|Tigaraksa
| align="right" |1,028.34
| align="right" |2,834,376
| align="right" |3,245,619
| align="right" |3,435,160
| align="right" |3,468,940
|0.695 ()
|-
|
| colspan="2" |Eastern Banten totals<br />(Greater Tangerang)
| align="right" |1,371.55
| align="right" |5,923,299
| align="right" |6,495,455
| align="right" |6,808,970
| align="right" |6,853,270
|
|-
|
| colspan="2" |Banten totals
| align="right" |9,355.76
| align="right" |10,632,166
| align="right" |11,904,562
| align="right" |12,537,440
| align="right" |12,641,300
|0.698 ()
|}
The province comprises three of Indonesia's 84 national electoral districts to elect members to the People's Representative Council. The Banten I Electoral District consists of the regencies of Pandeglang and Lebak, and elects 6 members to the People's Representative Council. The Banten II Electoral District consists of the regency of Serang, together with the cities of Ciligon and Serang, and elects 6 members to the People's Representative Council. The Banten III Electoral District consists of the regency of Tangerang, together with the cities of Tangerang and South Tangerang, and elects 10 members to the People's Representative Council.
Regency capitals
Under the Law No. 2 of 1993, Tangerang was incorporated as a city on 27 February 1993 from the Tangerang Regency, of which it had been the administrative capital. It was replaced by Cipasera.
Under the Law No. 15 of 1999, Cilegon was incorporated as a city on 20 April 1999 from the Serang Regency, of which it had been the administrative capital. It was replaced by Serang.
Under the Law No. 32 of 2007, Serang was incorporated as a city on 14 August 2007 from the Serang Regency, of which it had been the administrative capital. It was replaced by Ciruas.
Under the Law No. 51 of 2008, South Tangerang (formerly Cipasera) was incorporated as a city on 26 November 2008 from the Tangerang Regency, of which it had been the administrative capital. It was replaced by Tigaraksa.
Demographics
thumb|alt=Young men in blue headgear walking down a city street|[[Baduy people in Serang during the Seba Baduy event]]
The 2006 population of Banten was 9,351,470, with 3,370,182 children (36.04 percent), 240,742 elderly people (2.57 percent), and the remaining 5,740,546 people aged between 15 and 64. It was Indonesia's fifth-most-populous province, after West Java, East Java, Central Java and North Sumatra. By mid-2022, the estimated total had risen to 12,251,985.