25 Facts About Aceh

Aceh is where the spread of Islam in Indonesia began, and was a key factor of the spread of Islam in Southeast Asia.

Aceh has a history of political independence and resistance to control by outsiders, including the former Dutch colonists and later the Indonesian government.

Aceh has substantial natural resources of oil and natural gas.

Aceh was the closest point of land to the epicenter of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, which devastated much of the western coast of the province.

The Hindu-Buddhist culture in Aceh was not as evident or well established as in other parts of Indonesia.

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Aceh soon became a cultural and scholastic Islamic center throughout Southeast Asia.

At Pasai, in what is the North Aceh Regency, there was a thriving international port.

Sultanate of Aceh was established by Sultan Ali Mughayat Syah in 1511.

Aceh allied itself with the Ottoman Empire and the Dutch East India Company in their struggle against the Portuguese and the Johor Sultanate.

Pirates operating from Aceh threatened commerce in the Strait of Malacca; the sultan was unable to control them.

Britain was a protector of Aceh and gave the Netherlands permission to eradicate the pirates.

Aceh army was rapidly modernized, and Aceh soldiers butchered Kohler .

Aceh had to balance traditional Muslim justice with Dutch law.

Sukarno, the first president of Indonesia, had reneged on his promise made on 16 June 1948 that Aceh would be allowed to rule itself in accordance with Islamic Law.

Aceh was politically dismantled and incorporated into the province of North Sumatra in 1950.

The Indonesian central government responded in 2001 by broadening Aceh's autonomy, giving its government the right to apply Sharia law more broadly and the right to receive direct foreign investment.

In 2001, villagers from the North Aceh Regency sued Exxon Mobil for human rights abuses at the hands of Indonesian military units hired by the company for security for its natural gas operations.

Western coastal areas of Aceh, including the cities of Banda Aceh, Calang, and Meulaboh, were among the areas hardest-hit by the tsunami resulting from the magnitude 9.

Under the agreement Aceh would receive special autonomy and government troops would be withdrawn from the province in exchange for GAM's disarmament.

Aceh has the largest range of biodiversity in the Asian Pacific region.

An Islamic court in the province of Aceh passed down its first sentence for homosexuality on the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, 17 May 2017 in spite of international appeals to spare the couple.

The capital and the largest city is Banda Aceh, located on the coast near the northern tip of Sumatra.

However, poverty in Aceh remains significantly higher than in the rest of Indonesia.

Population of Aceh was not adequately documented during the Indonesia 2000 census because the insurgency complicated the process of collecting accurate information.

Aceh is a diverse region occupied by several ethnic and language groups.

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