Tapanoeli Residency

Tapanoeli Residency (Dutch: Residentie Tapanoeli) was an administrative subdivision of the Dutch East Indies with its capital in Sibolga. It was located in northern Sumatra and existed in various forms from 1844 until the end of Dutch rule in 1942. The area it encompassed at various times corresponds to most of the western coast of the current day Indonesian province of North Sumatra and parts of Aceh, including much of the traditional heartland of Batak people (called in their language Tano Batak). Lake Toba, a historically important crater lake, was also within the borders of the Residency.