Meranti Islands Regency

Meranti Islands (Kepulauan Meranti) is an archipelago, most of which forms a regency (kabupaten) of Riau Province and lies off the eastern coast of the island of Sumatra, Indonesia. It was created on 19 December 2008 by the separating of these large islands from the mainly mainland regency of Bengkalis. The regency comprises the islands of Tebing Tinggi, Rangsang, Padang, and Merbau, together with minor offshore islands, but does not include Bengkalis Island to the north, which is geographically part of the archipelago but remains within Bengkalis Regency. The principal town is Selat Panjang (also written as Selatpanjang) on Tebing Tinggi Island. The regency covers a land area of 3,144.18 km² and had a population of 176,290 at the 2010 Census and 206,116 at the 2020 Census; the official estimate as of mid-2024 was 212,000 (comprising 109,210 males and 102,790 females).