Kota Sumenep, officially the Kota Sumenep District, was previously known as Town of Samanap in English, is a town and district which serves as the regency seat of Sumenep Regency, in the East Java province of Indonesia. It is the second smallest and most highly populated district in Sumenep Regency, with an area of 27.84 square kilometres (10.75 sq mi) and the population of 77,155 as at 2025.Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 27 February 2026, Kabupaten Sumenep Dalam Angka 2026 (Katalog-BPS 1102001.3529) The administrative capital is Pamolokan. On 29 June 2004, the western half of the Kota Sumenep District was removed and formed into a separate district, namely Batuan District.
This district is located 175 km east of Surabaya and 965 km east of Jakarta. Geographically, Kota Sumenep is near the southeastern coast of Madura island (but is separated from the sea by Kalianget District). Infrastructure and settlements from Sumenep Regency are also concentrated in this district, which is the center of government and economy for regency at the far eastern end of the island of Madura. Hugely prosperous in the eighteenth century, it is now a quiet, peaceful backwater, with its past glory still in evidence.
Etymology Kota Sumenep gained it is name from the combination of two words. The word Kota comes from Indonesian word kota which in turn comes from the Sanskrit word कोट्ट () which means fort, fortress, castle, fortified house, fortification, works, city, town, or place encircled by walls. It is also used formally in a few other Indonesian towns (districts) and cities, for example; Kota Jantho, Kota Tambolaka, and Kota Waisai. It can also be used informally to refer to any towns (districts) or cities. Hence, a direct translation of the name Kota Sumenep into English would be "Town of Sumenep" or "Sumenep Town".
While, the name Sumenep originated from the language of Old Javanese people from the words of Sungeneb (Old Javanese: , ) which means "the quiet valley", referring to most of the Kota Sumenep area which used to be land used by swamp deposits. Hence, Western writers often refer to Sumenep as Soemanap, Soemenap or Soemenep. In Bijdragen tot de kennis van de residentie Madoera (1858) published in Tijdschrift voor Nederlandsch Indië, J. Hageman stated that since the ruler of Sumenep, Tirtanegara replaced Cakranegara II in 1751, the word Sumenep was used officially as meaning "settled water" – (in Dutch).
Geography Most of the Kota Sumenep District area is located in the lowlands, which around 46 percent is paddy fields, rivers and plantations, the remainder is in the form of residential land, offices or agencies, shops, industry and other urban infrastructure. It is bordered by the Manding District to the north, Gapura District to the east, Kalianget District to the southeast, and the Batuan District to the south and west.
Climate Kota Sumenep has a tropical savanna climate (Aw) with May to November and heavy rainfall from December to April.
Government Kota Sumenep is led by a head of district who is then assisted by a district secretary or secretariat in carrying out his duties. The current head of the Kota Sumenep District is Yudi Nursukmadyanto, who has served since 2024 and is assisted by a district secretary named Parman.
Administrative divisions Administratively, the Kota Sumenep District area has 12 villages (desa) and 4 urban villages/wards (kelurahan) which are divided into 57 hamlets (dusun) or neighborhoods (lingkungan). The following is a list of names of the villages (desa and kelurahan) located in Kota Sumenep District: Name Village or Ward Area in km2 Pop'nestimate2021 Number ofhamlets Postal code Ministry of Affairs code Kolor 3.24 12,845 5 69417 35.29.01.2005 Pabian 4.95 6,468 4 69417 35.29.01.2006 Marengan Daya 0.95 2,251 4 69417 35.29.01.2007 Kacongan 2.24 2,173 4 69417 35.29.01.2008 Paberasan 4.09 4,283 4 69417 35.29.01.2009 Parsanga 3.18 5,047 3 69417 35.29.01.2010 Bangkal 0.41 2,348 3 69417 35.29.01.2011 Pangarangan 0.53 5,297 3 69412 35.29.01.2014 Kepanjin* 0.33 3,200 4 69415 35.29.01.2015 Pajagalan* 0.65 3,926 2 69416 35.29.01.2016 Bangselok* 0.43 4,972 4 69416 35.29.01.2017 Karangduak* 0.30 3,724 4 69417 35.29.01.2018 Pandian 0.73 4,418 3 69414 35.29.01.2019 Pamolokan** 1.74 7,934 4 69412 35.29.01.2013 Kebunan 1.54 3,130 3 69417 35.29.01.2012 Kebunagung 2.52 2,773 3 69413 35.29.01.2020
Note: (*) urban village/ward (kelurahan). (**) administrative capital.
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