RIAU

Etymologically the word comes from the Portuguese Riau, Rio means river. In 1514 there was a Portuguese military expedition tracing the Siak River, with the aim to find the location of an empire which they believed to exist in the region, and at the same time pursuing followers of Sultan Mahmud Shah who fled after the fall of Malacca. At the beginning of the 16th century, Tome Pires in his Suma Oriental noted that the cities on the east coast of Sumatra between Arcat (Aru and Rokan) to Jambi is a port of the kings of Minangkabau. inipula many days of Minangkabau businessmen who founded the village- village traders along the Siak River, Kampar, Rokan, and Inderagiri. One of the most famous village is Senapelan which later evolved into Pekanbaru. In the heyday of the Sultanate of Siak Sri Inderapura which was founded by King Small, this region is part of the sovereign territory of Siak. Meanwhile, the Riau referred only to the Yang Dipertuan Muda (the king's subordinates Johor) Penyengat Island, later became the Residentie Riouw Dutch East Indies government, located in Tanjung Pinang, and Riouw, spelled by the local community to Riau. At the beginning of the independence of Indonesia, the Sultanate of Siak Sri Inderapura and Residentie Riouw melted and incorporated in the province of Sumatra, based in London. Sumatra then expanded into three provinces, namely North Sumatra, Central Sumatra and South Sumatra. Minangkabau ethnic dominance in the government of the Central Sumatra, Riau public demand to form a separate province.

Furthermore, in 1957, under the Emergency Law No. 19 of 1957, the Province of Central Sumatra, bloomed into three provinces, namely Riau, Jambi and West Sumatra. Then that became the newly formed province of Riau is the former territory of the Sultanate of Siak Sri Inderapura and Residentie Riouw and Bangkinang previously added during the Japanese occupation entered into the realm of Shu Rhio. Then based on the December number 52/I/44-25 Kepmendagri, on January 20, 1959, officially became the capital of Pekanbaru Riau province to replace Tanjung Pinang. But in 2002, based on Law No. 25 of 2002, Riau Province bloomed again into two provinces, namely Riau and Riau Islands. It is also not free from a sense of community discontent over political and economic injustice in particular those on archipelago area. Riau province is an area of ​​87023.66 km ², which stretches from the slopes of the Bukit Barisan to the Straits of Malacca. Riau has a wet tropical climate with average rainfall ranges between 2000-3000 mm per year, and the average rainfall per year is about 160 days.Riau province's population consists of various tribes. They consist of Java (25.05%), Minangkabau (11.26%), Batak (7.31%), Banjar (3.78%), Chinese (3.72%), and Bugis (2.27% ). Malay is the largest community with a composition of 37.74% of the entire population of Riau. They generally come from coastal areas in Rokan Hilir, Dumai, Bengkalis, Meranti Islands, to the Pelalawan, Siak, Inderagiri Upstream and Downstream Inderagiri. However, there are also clumps Minangkabau indigenous tribes, especially those from the Rokan Hulu, Kampar, Kuantan Singingi, and some Inderagiri Hulu. Community also Mandailing in Rokan Hulu, which claims to be more Malay than the Minangkabau or Batak. The 19th century, the Banjar of South Kalimantan and Bugis from South Sulawesi, also started coming to the Riau. They settled in many districts, especially Tembilahan Indragiri Hilir. In the oil company Caltex opened it in the 1940s in Rumbai, Pekanbaru, encouraging people from all over the archipelago to try his fortune in Riau. Javanese and Sundanese in general, many migrants are in the region. While generally the Minangkabau ethnic merchants and many live in urban areas such as Pekanbaru, Bangkinang, spines, and Dumai. So did the Chinese in general the same as the Minangkabau ethnic groups as a trader and lived in urban areas, and many are also found in the eastern coastal regions such as the Bagansiapiapi, Selatpanjang, Rupat and Bengkalis Island. Also in this province there are a bunch of native people living in the countryside and the river, such as People Sakai, Tribe Akit, Talang Mamak tribe, and tribe of the Sea.Language of the province of Riau on the general use of Bahasa Melayu and Bahasa Indonesian. Malay language commonly used in coastal areas such as Rokan Hilir, Bengkalis, Dumai, Pelalawan, Siak, Indragiri Hulu, Indragiri Hilir and around the islands. Minang language is also widely used by residents in the province, especially by the natives in the area of ​​Kampar, Kuantan Singingi, and cognate cultured Rokan Hulu Minang and migrants from West Sumatra. In addition Hokkien language is still widely used among the descendants of Chinese, especially those living in areas such as Selatpanjang, Bengkalis, and Bagansiapiapi. In a large enough scale Java language speakers are also found to be used by the descendants of Javanese immigrants who have settled in Riau since the colonial period in advance, as well as by the transmigrants from Java in the aftermath of independence. Besides, many speakers of languages ​​among immigrants from the Batak of North Sumatra province.