Cilacap Regency

Cilacap Regency (Javanese: ꦏꦨꦸꦥꦠꦺꦤ꧀ꦕꦶꦭꦕꦥ꧀, also spelt: Chilachap, old spelling: Tjilatjap, Sundanese: ᮊᮘᮥᮕᮒᮦᮔ᮪ ᮎᮤᮜᮎᮕ᮪) is a regency (Indonesian: kabupaten) in the southwestern part of Central Java province in Indonesia. Its capital is the town of Cilacap, which had 263,098 inhabitants in mid 2024, spread over three administrative districts.

Cilacap Regency covers an area of 2,249.28 km² (including the 115-km² Nusakambangan Island off the south coast), and it had a population of 1,642,107 at the 2010 Census and 1,944,857 at the 2020 Census; the official estimate as at mid-2024 was 2,007,829 (comprising 1,020,920 males and 1,006,459 females). The languages used in Cilacap are Javanese and Sundanese, although most people can speak Indonesian; the dialect of Javanese used is Banyumasan.

There are schools of all levels in Cilacap and several higher-learning institutions. Several academies exist, such as Akademi Maritim Nusantara (National Maritime Academy). A polytechnic, Politeknik Cilacap, was established in 2008 and offers Engineering, Electronics and Informatics education.

Cilacap Regency comprises twenty-four 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 2024. The table also includes the locations of the district administrative centres, the number of administrative villages in each district (comprising 269 rural desa and 15 urban kelurahan - the latter all in the 3 Cilacap town districts), and its postcode. The three districts comprising Cilacap town formerly formed an Autonomous city but have now been subsumed back into the regency.

Notes: (a) except the desa of Cigintung (which has a post code of 53222) and the desa of Limbangan (which has a post code of 53232).
(b) includes the population and the area of the offshore island of Pulau Nusakambangan (or Tambakreja kelurahan).
(c) consists of the 5 kelurahan of Cilacap, Sidakaya, Tambakreja, Tegalkamulyan and Tegalreja.
(d) consists of the 5 kelurahan of Donan, Gunungsimping, Kutawaru, Lomanis and Sidanegara.
(e) consists of the 5 kelurahan of Gumilir, Karangtalun, Kebonmanis, Mertasinga and Tritih Kulon.

The town of Cilacap is also a sea port on the southern coast of the island of Java. The port is one of only a few that exist on the southern coast that can service shipping of reasonable tonnage. The nearest safe anchorage east is Pacitan. The city's harbor is protected by Nusakambangan, an island best known as the site of several high-security correctional facilities although there are also hopes that the island can be developed as a tourist hub. Nusakambangan sheltered Cilacap from the worst of the 2004 tsunami. Nevertheless, the disaster took 147 lives, devastated beaches, damaged 435 fishing boats and inflicted material losses amounting to about Rp 86 billion (around $9 million).

During World War II Cilacap was an important departure point for people fleeing the Japanese invasion, especially Dutch colonists. Many left the Dutch East Indies by boat or seaplane, the majority heading for Broome in Western Australia.

The port is a hub for national or international trade. The town's Tunggul Wulung Airport provides scheduled airline services to Jakarta and Semarang.