Pekalongan Regency is a regency () on the north coast of Central Java province in Indonesia. It covers an area of 892.91 km2 and had a population of 838,621 at the 2010 censusBiro Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2011. and 968,821 at the 2020 census;Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2021. the official estimate as at mid 2025 was 1,030,342 (comprising 523,526 males and 506,816 females).Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 27 February 2026, Kabupaten Pekalongan Dalam Angka 2026 (Katalog-BPS 1102001.3326) Its administrative centre was formerly at Pekalongan City, but since that city was administratively separated from the regency, the regency's capital is now at Kajen, which is located in the middle of the regency, about 28 km south of Pekalongan City. The regency was originally much larger, but on 14 June 1965 its eastern half was split off and formed into a separate Batang Regency. Pekalongan residents are well known for their pursuit of perfection regarding the Indonesian traditional clothing called Batik.
The Dutch name of the regency was Pacalongan.
Etymology According to the popular legend, the word Pekalongan is believed to be derived from the Javanese word, Topo Ngalong, which means "bat-like meditation". Meanwhile, Javanese toponymical pattern of Pa/Pe- -An actually means place of-, so the name Pa- Kalong -An means place of Kalong or fruit bat in Javanese.
Geography The northern part of the Pekalongan Regency is lowland, while the southern part of the regency is highland. The districts of Buaran, Siwalan, Tirto, Wiradesa and Wonokerto in the north coastal area together cover 91.20 km2 and had a population of 282,652 in mid 2025, essentially the western and southern suburbs of Pekalongan city.
Administrative districts Pekalongan Regency comprises nineteen districts (kecamatan), tabulated below with their areas and their populations at the 2010 census and the 2020 census, together with the official estimates as at mid 2025.Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 27 February 2026, Kabupaten Pekalongan Dalam Angka 2026 (Katalog-BPS 1102001.3326) The table also includes the locations of the district administrative centres, the number of administrative villages in each district (totaling 272 rural desa and 13 urban kelurahan), and its post code.
Region code Name ofDistrict(kecamatan) Area inkm2 Pop'ncensus2010 Pop'ncensus2020 Pop'nestimatemid 2025 Admincentre No.ofvillagesPostcode 33.26.01 Kandangserang 76.3131,80835,74537,473Kandangserang1451163 33.26.02 Paninggaran 97.7134,22141,83745,684Paninggaran1551164 33.26.03 Lebakbarang 63.119,88511,11611,657Lebakbarang1151183 33.26.04 Petungkriyono 83.0811,88213,17913,729Yosorejo951193 33.26.05 Talun 49.7725,41230,66733,277Kalirejo1051192 33.26.06 Doro 77.1237,07145,20749,303Doro1451191 33.26.07 Karanganyar 57.6835,69845,08850,016Legokkalong1551182 33.26.08 Kajen (district)85.6558,04873,06780,919Kajen25 (a)51161 33.26.09 Kesesi 68.8261,22871,70876,691Kaibahan23551162 33.26.10 Sragi 34.1460,66565,45167,274Bulak Pelem17 (b)51155 33.26.17 Siwalan 27.9537,57341,44743,062Siwalan1351137 33.26.11 Bojong 43.0962,46074,68180,675Bojong Minggir2251156 33.26.12 Wonopringgo 20.6641,18647,65650,671Rowokembu1451181 33.26.13 Kedungwuni 23.0690,774100,796105,057Kedungwuni Barat19 (c)51173 33.26.18 Karangdadap 21.5133,41341,25545,264Karangdadap1151174 33.26.14 Buaran 9.0642,49547,02248,927Wonoyoso10 (d)51171 33.26.15 Tirto 20.3965,00274,68779,142Pacar1651151-51182 33.26.16 Wiradesa 13.3956,06562,13964,708Kepatihan16 (e)51127-51152 33.26.19 Wonokerto 20.4143,73546,07346,813Wonokerto Kulon1151153 Totals 892.91838,621968,8211,030,342Kajen285
Notes: (a) including one kelurahan - Kajen. (b) including one kelurahan - Bulak Pelem. (c) including three kelurahan - Kedungwuni Barat, Kedungwuni Timur and Pekajangan. (d) including three kelurahan - Bligo, Sapugarut and Simbang Kulon. (e) including five kelurahan - Bener, Gumawang, Kepatihan, Mayangan and Pekuncen.
Tourism Pekalongan has long been known as a "batik city", and one of the centers of batik production is in the Districts of Buaran and Wiradesa. Some of the names of batik producers that are quite well known include Batik Humas (short for Husein Mohammad Assegaff). While the famous sarong (palekat fabric) factory in Pekalongan includes "Gajah Duduk" and "WadiMoor". There is also a batik center in Wiradesa which is International Batik Center (IBC).
Actually there are still a lot of tourism potential that can be developed in Pekalongan Regency, among others, Sunter Beach Depok, Watu Bahan, Wonokerto Beach, Petungkriyono Ecotourism, Water Tourism, Forest Tourism, Cultural Tourism, Curug Siwatang Paninggaran, Temple Trenggolek Paninggaran, Anjir Peak, Bukit Pawuluhan Kandangserang, and others. There are also hidden beautiful natural attractions such as Curug Bajing which access roads are not yet available. Pekalongan is still waiting for investors who want develop this attraction.
For food connoisseurs, Pekalongan provides culinary tourism in the form of Taoto and megono rice, Taoto is a kind of soto that is made with taco sauce and with meat and buffalo spices. Medium megono is chopped young jackfruit flavored with grated coconut and steamed which is suitable to be enjoyed while still hot
For those of you who like historical tours, you can visit the Pabrik Gula Sragie sugar factory located in the Sragi District. The factory is a Dutch colonial factory.
In the southern part of regency there is a mountainous tourist area named Linggo Asri, which includes bathing area, relics of lingga and yoni, playground and pine forest. There are also Pekalongan Hindu communities here.
Transportation
For travelers who are going on an adventure in Pekalongan Regency, there are many modes of transportation, including bus or angkot. In Kajen there is a bus terminal which is quite large namely Kajen Main Terminal which serves the Jakarta - Pekalongan route. Buses serving these routes include Dewi Sri, Dedy Jaya, Sinar Jaya, Kurnia Jaya, Garuda Mas, Laju Prima, etc.
There is also the only station in Pekalongan Regency, namely Sragi Station. Unfortunately, this station does not serve passengers because its status is a small station. However, for those of you who choose the train transportation mode, you don't need to worry because there are still other alternative stations, namely Pekalongan Station located in Pekalongan City. This station is a class A station that serves the entire train journey (except Argo Anggrek Malam) both from Jakarta and Surabaya.
Traditional foods Pekalongan offers several traditional foods, such as:
Sego Megono (Megono Rice) Sego Megono is rice with sliced young jackfruit and grated coconut. It is savory and spicy, it's usually served while still hot with an additional menu of fresh vegetables and fried fish. Sego megono is usually wrapped in teak leaves or banana leaves. Some people also call it "Sego Gori" (Jackfruit Rice).
Soto Tauto Pekalongan (Pekalongan Tauto Soup)
Soto tauto is a kind of meat soup with thick sauce made with tauto (fermented soy), buffalo meat and bowel.
Pindang Tetel A kind of soup, where the seasoning sauce are processed with ripe pucung fruit.
Iwak Panggang (Smoked Fish) This food is made of fish that is processed by smoking the fish, the fish will change its color, flavor and aroma. This food can be found in Pekalongan traditional markets.
Wajik Kletik Wajik Kletik is some kind of cake with diamond shape made from glutinous rice plus brown sugar and grated coconut mixed together.
Kopi Tahlil Kopi tahlil is made from a blend of pure coffee with spices like ginger, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, pandanus leaves, lemongrass, and nutmeg.
Apem Kesesi Apem kesesi is made from rice flour and palm/red sugar, the food was famous in pekalongan surrounding areas particularly in the western part up to the Comal, because it also markets to Comal traditional markets. Many people also recognize this food as Apem Comal.
Usek Krenyes Is a typical food Paninggaran a type of cracker made from tapioca flour and fried using river sand which of course has also been cleaned. "Krenyes" in Indonesian is a spice up on the usek. There are two variants of taste, namely spicy and sweety.
Ondhol Namely a kind of food typical of Paninggaran which is made from grated cassava.
Bothok Pecel It's typical simple food from vegetables with corn and grated coconut. PECEL= grated spinach, winged bean, bean sprouts etc, mixed with chili sauce.
Kroco Kroco is freswater snail boiled with natural spices and served with chili sauce, they are eaten with a small bamboo stick.
Education There are several colleges and academies in Pekalongan Regency. The State Institute for Islamic Study (IAIN) Pekalongan Muhammadiyah Polytechnic Pekalongan, Kajen College of Health Sciences (STIKES) Muhammadiyah Pekajangan Academy of Health Analysis (AAK) Pekalongan STIKAP (Islamic High School Kyai Ageng Pekalongan) YMI Wonopringgo Pekalongan Indonesia Open University (UPBJJ) UNIKAL (University of Pekalongan), Pekalongan.
Higher Education NU Pekalongan University Pekalongan State Islamic Institute (IAIN) Pekalongan University (UNIKAL) Pekalongan Kajen Community Community Academy (AKN) Muhammadiyah University Pekajangan Pekalongan (UMPP) Pekalongan Academy of Health Analysis (AAK) STIKAP (Kyai Ageng Islamic High School Pekalongan) YMI Wonopringgo Pekalongan UT Pekalongan Regency
Vocational High School State Vocational School Sragi, Kedungwuni, Lebakbarang, Karangdadap SMK Yapenda 01 Kedungwuni SMK Yapenda 02 Wiradesa Pekalongan Muhammadiyah Bligo Vocational School Muhammadiyah Bojong Vocational School SMK Muhamaduyah Kesesi SMK Muhamadiyah Kajen Kedungwuni Muhamadiyah Vocational School Muhammadiyah Karanganyar Vocational School Muhamadiyah Wiradesa Vocational School Muhammadiyah Talun Vocational School Muhamadiyah Doro Vocational School SMK Muhamadiyah Pencongan SMK Islamiyyah Sapugarut Bojong Islamic Vocational School Salakbrojo Kedungwuni Islamic Vocational School 45 Islamic High School Wiradesa Al-Fusha Kedungwuni Vocational School SMK Ar Rahman Watusalam Vocational School Ma'arif NU Tirto Vocational School Ma'arif NU Kajen SMK Ma'arif NU Kesesi Vocational School Ma'arif NU Doro Wira Bahari Wiradesa Vocational School Gondang Vocational School SMK Nurul Ummah Paninggaran SMK Diponegoro Karanganyar Vocational High School Siwalan Community Development Prima Kesesi Vocational School SMK NU Sragi SMK NU Kesesi
High school Public High School ( Bojong, Doro, Kajen, Kedungwuni, Kesesi, Kandangserang, Kesesi, Sragi, Paninggaran, Petungkriono, Talun, Wiradesa) Muhammadiyah I Pekajangan High School Muhammadiyah II Pekajangan High School SMA PGRI 1 Wiradesa SMA PGRI 2 Kajen Yapenda Karanganyar High School Doro Islamic High School YMI Wonopringgo Islamic High School Hasbullah Karanganyar Islamic High School MAN Pekalongan MA Ath-Thohiriyyah MA NU Karangdadap MA Salafiyah Simbangkulon Buaran MA Dr. Ibnu Mas'ud Wiradesa MA Muhammadiyah Pekajangan MA Hasbullah Karanganyar MA Nahdliyah Talun MA Salafiyah Syafiiyah Proto MA Yappi Kesesi MA Walisongo Kedungwuni MA Walisongo Pekajangan MA YMI Wonopringgo SMA N Wiradesa
Junior high school Middle School Bojong, Buaran, Doro, Kajen, Kesesi, Karangdadap, Kedungwuni, Kandangserang, Lebakbarang, Wiradesa, Tirto, Paninggaran, Petungkriyono, Sragi, Siwalan, Talun, Wonopringgo, Wonokerto, (2 State Junior High Schools in Each Sub-District) Pajomblangan NU Middle School Karangdadap NU Middle School Muhammadiyah Wiradesa Middle School, Bligo, Pekajangan, Wonopringgo, Kesesi Junior "NU" Kesesi, Kajen, Pajomblangan, Karangdadap YMI Wonopringgo Islamic Middle School Islamic Rembun Middle School, Simbang Wetan, Wonopringgo Walisongo Islamic Kedungwuni Middle School MTS Ath-Thohiriyyah MTS Muhammadiyah Pekajangan MTS Kajen Pekajangan MTS Gondang Wonopringgo, Pekalongan MTS "Kalijambe" Sragi MTsS Balanced kulon 1