History of the Emergence of the Dispute

It is known that the ratification of the Minister of Home Affairs Decree Number 300.2.2-2138 of 2025 was based on the results of verification by the National Toponym Standardization Team, a team that is tasked with helping to determine interregional boundaries. It is known that in 2009, the National Toponym Standardization Team assigned to the Province of North Sumatra included the four islands as part of North Sumatra, which was then stipulated through the letter of the Governor of North Sumatra Number 125/8199. At almost the same time, the National Toponym Standardization Team assigned to the Province of Aceh had also completed verifying the region, which was then stipulated through the letter of the Governor of Aceh Number 125/63033. Basically, the letters of the two governors both included the four islands as their respective provincial territories. The difference between the two letters is that the Governor of North Sumatra stipulated the four islands under the names of Rangit Besar Island, Rangit Kecil Island, Malelo Island, and Panjang Island, while the Governor of Aceh in his letter stipulated the four islands under the names we know today. Until finally in 2017, the Ministry of Home Affairs through the Directorate General of Regional Administration Development issued Letter Number 125/8177/BAK which stated that the four islands belonged to North Sumatra. This letter was reinforced by the Decree of the Minister of Home Affairs Number 100.1.1-6117 of 2022 which was then repeated with the Decree of the Minister of Home Affairs Number 300.2.2–2138 of 2025.