Aceh
province of Indonesia
Aceh is the westernmost province of Indonesia. It is located on the northern end of Sumatra island, with Banda Aceh being its capital and largest city. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the west, Strait of Malacca to the northeast, as well bordering the province of North Sumatra to the east, its sole land border, and shares maritime borders with Malaysia and Thailand to the east, and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India to the north. Granted special autonomous status, Aceh is a religiously conservative territory, with the majority of its population being Muslim; it is the only Indonesian province to officially integrate Islamic law (Sharia). There are ten indigenous ethnic groups in this region, the largest being the Acehnese people, accounting for approximately 70% of the region's population of about 5.626 million people in mid 2025; it is projected to be 5,695,900 in mid 2026, increasing annually by about 1.24%. Its land area spans 56,834.75 km2.
Aceh is a provincial region that constitutes a unified legal community with a special status and is granted special authorities to regulate and manage its own governmental affairs and local interests in accordance with laws and regulations within the system and principles of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia, based on the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia, and is led by a governor.
Aceh is where the spread of Islam in Indonesia began. It was a key location for the spread of Islam in Southeast Asia more broadly. Islam reached Aceh (Kingdoms of Fansur and Lamuri) around 1250.
“Aceh” enters the record as province of Indonesia. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Aceh, province and Indonesia can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Aceh” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Aceh, province and Indonesia provides the most credible route into that argument.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 17, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1823. VIAF identifies the subject as 125827289. The Library of Congress control number is n80049521. Authority coordinates are 5.570, 95.341. 4 of 6 selected statements include explicit references; 3 carry qualifiers and 1 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2025, 2026, 1945 and 1250.
A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Aceh”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Aceh primary sources, Aceh archive and Aceh research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Aceh”?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Aceh” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.