Samosir

For the regency, see Samosir Regency.

Samosir Island

Native name: Pulau Samosir (Indonesian) Pulo Samosir (Batak)
Samosir is in the middle of Lake Toba.
Samosir Island
Geography
Location	South East Asia
Coordinates	2°35′N 98°49′E
Area	630 km2 (240 sq mi)
Administration
Indonesia
Demographics
Population	108,869 (2020 Census)
Pop. density	172.8/km2 (447.5/sq mi)
Ethnic groups	Batak

Samosir, or Samosir Island, is a large volcanic island in Lake Toba, located in North Sumatra Province on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia. Administratively, Samosir Island is governed as six of the nine districts within Samosir Regency. The lake and island were formed after the eruption of the Toba supervolcano some 75,000 years ago.

At 630 square kilometres (243 sq mi), Samosir is the largest island within an island and the fourth largest lake island in the world. It also contains two smaller lakes, Lake Sidihoni and Lake Aek Natonang. Across the lake on the east of the island lies the Uluan Peninsula. The island was historically linked to the mainland of Sumatra on its western part by a narrow isthmus connecting the town of Pangururan on Samosir and Tele on mainland Sumatra, but it was split by the Tano Ponggol Canal and bridge in 1906, which was widened in 2019. Tele consequently offers one of the best views of Lake Toba and Samosir Island. One of the most important objects on the island is a Lutheran church, and opposite it is a huge hill.

Tourism

Samosir is a popular tourist destination due to its exotic history and the vistas it offers. The tourist resorts are concentrated in the Tuktuk area. The island is the centre of the Batak culture and many of the Toba Batak traditional houses (rumah adat) remain on the island. Most of the tourist accommodations are concentrated in the small town of Tuktuk, which is located a one-hour ferry ride across the lake from the town of Parapat. The passenger ferry leaves from Tiga Raja harbor every hour between 8.30 and 19.00. For those running late, there is an option to take the passenger boat from Ajibata to Tomok until 8.30 pm. A car ferry leaves the mainland from Ajibata and lands in the small town of Tomok, about a 10-minute drive from Tuktuk until 9 pm. There are also other passenger ferries and individual hotels may also have ferries available.

Gallery

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  Samosir Island
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  Graves on Samosir Island
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  Tano Ponggol Canal
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  Sarcophagus in Samosir c. 1916