Demak Regency

{{Main|Demak Sultanate}}

The area was a part of the Majapahit Empire during its zenith around the 14th century. The city itself was founded sometime in the late fifteenth century, possibly by a Chinese whose descendant later became the Sultans of Demak. The first Sultan was known as Raden Patah, who was a vassal of Majapahit until 1478.{{cite book|last1=Ricklefs|first1=M.C.|title=A History of Modern Indonesia since C.1200|date=2008|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|pages=38–39}} The city was founded as a seaport, next to the now-nonexistent Muria Palaeostrait (which separated Java from Muria Island - now Mount Muria), although silting has now entirely turned the waterway into land.{{cite journal|last1=Sunarto|title=Geomorphological Development of the Muria Palaeostrait in Relation to the Morphodynamics of the Wulan Delta, Central Java|journal=Indonesian Journal of Geography|date=2006}} The Sultanate expanded in the expense of the declining Majapahit and its fragments, conquering the coastal region of Tuban around 1527 and reaching inland areas as far as Malang by 1546. As the capital, the city became an important center for trade and the spread of Islam across the island, and a base of the semi-apocryphal Wali Sanga. Upon the decline of the Sultanate, the region was conquered in turn by the Pajang and Mataram Sultanates.{{cite book|last1=Soekmono|first1=R.|title=Pengantar sejarah kebudayaan Indonesia 3|date=1981|publisher=Penerbit Kanisius|location=Yogyakarta|isbn=9789794132913|edition=Edisi 3.|language=id}} The seaport began to silt sometime in the 17th century, diminishing the region's importance as a seaport.

File:Topography chart semarang residency.jpg.]]

Direct VOC presence in Java started upon their capture of Jayakarta (now Jakarta, then Batavia) on 1619. In the 18th century, a massacre of ethnic Chinese in Batavia triggered a war between VOC and Mataram, resulting in the latter's defeat and cession of the north coast of Java, including Demak, to VOC.{{cite book|last1=Setiono|first1=Benny G.|language=id|title=Tionghoa Dalam Pusaran Politik|date=2008|publisher=TransMedia|location=Jakarta|isbn=9789797990527|page=161|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CH0p3zHladEC&q=voc|access-date=18 August 2017}} Upon the latter's dissolution on late 1799, administration of the area along with the rest of VOC's territory was transferred to the Dutch Government while Mataram was reduced to several fragmented states in the south coast of Java, including Yogyakarta and Surakarta.

As part of Dutch East Indies, Demak was organized with nearby Semarang into Residentie Semarang as the Demak Regency{{cite web|last1=Cribb|first1=Robert|title=Administrative divisions in Central Java, 1931|url=http://www.indonesianhistory.info/map/cjsubdist1931.html|website=Digital Atlas of Indonesian History|access-date=18 August 2017}} and later into Central Java province upon the independence of Indonesia.

In 2014, the gross regional domestic product of the regency was Rp 14.078 trillion (US$1.133 billion) or Rp 12.73 million per capita (US$1025),{{cite web|title=Demak in Figures 2017|url=https://demakkab.bps.go.id/website/pdf_publikasi/DDA-2017-BARU-Watermark.pdf|website=BPS Kabupaten Demak|publisher=Statistics Indonesia|access-date=18 August 2017|language=id|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170818174142/https://demakkab.bps.go.id/website/pdf_publikasi/DDA-2017-BARU-Watermark.pdf|archive-date=18 August 2017|url-status=dead}}{{rp|369}} with the agriculture and manufacturing sectors being the largest contributors. Rice is the most important agricultural produce, with 608,532 tons harvested in 2016 from {{convert|69,975|ha}} of cultivated land.{{rp|212}}

A {{convert|300|ha|adj=on}} industrial park is currently under construction, aimed to boost investment in the regency.{{cite news|last1=Oktaviane|first1=Dwi|title=Demak bangun kawasan industri, siap layani investor|url=https://video.tempo.co/read/2017/07/24/7300/demak-bangun-kawasan-industri-siap-layani-investor|access-date=18 August 2017|agency=Tempo|date=24 July 2017|language=id}}

The Regency comprises fourteen districts (kecamatan), tabulated below with their areas and their populations at the 2010 CensusBiro Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2011. and the 2020 Census,Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2021. together with the official estimates as at mid 2024.Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 28 February 2025, Kabupaten Demak Dalam Angka 2025 (Katalog-BPS 1102001.3321) The table also includes the locations of the district administrative centres, the number of administrative villages in each district (totaling 243 rural desa and 6 urban kelurahan - the latter all in Demak District), and its post code.

Note: (a) except for desa of Kembangan, which has a post code of 59511. (b) comprises the 6 kelurahan (Betokan, Bintoro, Kadilangu, Kalicilik, Mangunjiwan and Singorejo) and 13 desa.

The first five districts listed above are situated in the southwest part of the Regency (and thus adjacent to Semarang City), with an area of 366.29 km² and 551,450 inhabitants in mid 2024. The remaining nine districts are situated further away from Semarang, with an area of 630.65 km² and 701,520 inhabitants in mid 2024.Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 28 February 2025, Kabupaten Demak Dalam Angka 2025 (Katalog-BPS 1102001.3321)

• Demak Sultanate
• Demak (town)

{{Reflist}}

{{Central Java}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Serang basin

Category:Tuntang basin