Capital|| Bengkulu City
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|valign="top"|Governor||Agusrin Maryono Najamuddin, ST
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|valign="top"|Area||19,788.70 km²
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|valign="top"|Population||1,564,000 (2000)
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|valign="top"|Densities||
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|valign="top"|Ethnic groups||Javanese (22%), Rejang (21%), Serawai (18%)
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|valign="top"|Religion||Islam
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|valign="top"|Languages||Bengkulu language, Bahasa Indonesia
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|valign="top"|Time zone||WIB (UTC+7)
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|valign="top"|Web site||http://www.bengkulu.go.id/
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Bengkulu is a province of Indonesia. It is on the southwest coast of the island of Sumatra, and borders the provinces of West Sumatra, Jambi, South Sumatra and Lampung. The capital and largest city of the province is also called Bengkulu, located at [3°48′S 102°15′E]. It was formerly the site of a British garrison, which they called Bencoolen.
The province has a population of 1,405,060 (2000 census). The province also includes Enggano Island.
History
The British East India Company established a long-running pepper-trading center and garrison at Bengkulu (Bencoolen) in 1685. In 1714 the British built Fort Marlborough in the city; the fort still stands. The trading post was never financially profitable for the British, hampered by a location Europeans found unpleasant, and, more importantly, an inability to find sufficient pepper to buy.
Despite these difficulties, the British persisted, maintaining the presence there for 150 years before ceding it to the Dutch as part of the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824 to focus attention on Malacca. Like the rest of present-day Indonesia, Bengkulu remained a Dutch colony until after World War II.
During Sukarno's imprisonment by the Dutch in the early 1930s, the future first president of Indonesia lived briefly in Bengkulu. Here he met his wife, Fatmawati, who gave him several children. Most famously first female President of Indonesia, Megawati Soekarnoputri.
Fishing, especially of tuna and mackerel, is an important activity. Agricultural products exported by the province include ginger, bamboo shoots, and rubber.
Bengkulu's people are depending in working at government. That's why, civil servant recruitment become hottest issue in this one of the poorest province in Indonesia, even Southeast Asia.
References
Reid, Anthony (ed.). 1995. Witnesses to Sumatra: A traveller's anthology. Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Press. pp. 125-133.
