Buleleng Regency

Buleleng Regency (Indonesian: Kabupaten Buleleng; Balinese: ᬓᬪᬹᬧᬢᬾ​ᬦ᭄ ᬩᬸᬮᬾᬮᬾᬂ, Kabupatén Buléléng), is a regency (kabupaten) of the province of Bali, Indonesia. It stretches along the north side of the island of Bali from the Bali Strait in the west (separating Bali from East Java) almost to the eastern end of the island. It has a land area of 1,322.68 km² and a population of 828,156 in 2024. It is bordered by almost all other regencies in Bali except Klungkung, Gianyar and Denpasar City, and bordered by the Bali Sea and the Java Sea to its north. Its regency seat is in the town of Singaraja, whose urban area extends to the whole of Buleleng District.

At the official census of the 2024 Buleleng Regency's population was 828,156 (comprising 417,978 males and 410,178 females).

Buleleng was founded as a kingdom by Gusti Panji Sakti, who ruled c. 1660-c. 1700. He is commemorated as a heroic ancestor figure who expanded the power of Buleleng to Blambangan on East Java. The kingdom was weakened during its successors and fell under the suzerainty of the neighbouring Karangasem kingdom in the second half of the 18th century. It was headed by an autonomous branch of the Karangasem Dynasty in 1806–1849.

The Dutch attacked Buleleng in 1846, 1848, and 1849, and defeated it on the last occasion. Buleleng was incorporated into the Dutch colonial system and lost its autonomy in 1882. In 1929 a descendant of Gusti Panji Sakti, the renowned scholar Gusti Putu Jelantik, was appointed regent by the Dutch. He died in 1944, during the Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies. His son was a well-known novelist, Anak Agung Nyoman Panji Tisna. In 1947, Anak Agung Pandji Tisna surrendered the throne to his younger brother, Anak Agung Ngurah Ketut Djelantik, known as Meester Djelantik, until 1950. In 1949–50 Buleleng, like the rest of Bali, was incorporated into the unitary republic of Indonesia.