North Toraja Regency

North Toraja (or Toraja Utara) is a landlocked regency (kabupaten) of South Sulawesi Province of Indonesia, and the home of the Toraja ethnic group. The local government seat is in Rantepao which is also the center of Toraja culture. Formerly this regency was the northeastern part of the existing Tana Toraja Regency, but on 24 June 2008 this northeastern 36% of the area was split off to form this separate North Toraja Regency. It covers an area of 1,151.47 km2 and had a population of 216,762 at the 2010 census and 261,086 at the 2020 census; the official estimate as at mid 2025 was 268,717 (comprising 137,047 males and 131,670 females). The Tana Toraja boundary was determined by the Dutch East Indies government in 1909. In 1926, Tana Toraja was under the administration of Bugis state of Luwu. The regentschap (or regency) status was given on 8 October 1946, the last regency given by the Dutch. Since 1984, Tana Toraja has been named as the second tourist destination after Bali by the Ministry of Tourism, Indonesia. Since then, hundreds of thousands of foreign visitors have visited this regency. In addition, numerous Western anthropologists have come to Tana Toraja to study the indigenous Torajan people and their culture.