Featured article illustration: Map of Indonesia by Vardion
Before we get started, it is crucial to familiarize yourself with how Indonesia is “split up” administratively, because knowledge of these divisions are important components to writing out an Indonesian address properly.
There are 38 provinces in Indonesia, in which there are 90+ cities and 400+ regencies.
Within those cities and regencies, there are over 7,000 districts and over 83,000 sub-districts.
You can read more about these divisions here: The 5 Administrative Divisions of Indonesia
Street Name and Unit Number
Unlike some countries where street names are usually preceded by a street number such as 100 Mangga Avenue, in Indonesia, there is generally no such thing as a street number. However, there is a unit number that typically follows the street name. The unit number refers to a building or a housing unit located along the street.
For example:
- Let’s say there is a street called Jalan Mangga Emas.
- Jalan is an Indonesian word meaning “street” and it is almost always used and written at the beginning of a street name.
- Now, back to the example. Along Jalan Mangga Emas, there are stretches of housing and building units located on that street.
- These units are marked by numbers, so in specifying a unit, you would identify it as having the address Jalan Mangga Emas No. 5, or Jalan Mangga Emas No. 19.
Simplified Address Format
As mentioned in another post: The 5 Administrative Divisions of Indonesia, a city and a regency typically do not co-exist and the difference between the two is that a city is typically more populated and urbanized compared to a regency.
If an address is located in a city, and you are providing the address locally to someone or an organization within the same province, a simplified address will usually suffice. The suggested format is as follows:
Jalan [Street Name] No. [Unit Number] [City], [Province], [Postal code] Indonesia
Check out the following example (all example addresses in this post are dummy addresses):
Jalan Mangga Emas No. 5
Denpasar, Bali, 80263
Indonesia
Note that Indonesia has a 5-digit-number postal code format.
Complete Address Format
If an address is located in a regency, or if you prefer to be more specific regardless of where the address is located in, you can use a complete address format. Couriers and post offices typically recommend the use of this format.
The difference between a simplified and a complete address format is that the complete one contains information on regency, district, and subdistrict that are typically omitted in a simplified one.
If the address is in a city: Jalan [Street Name] No. [Unit Number] Kelurahan [Subdistrict], Kecamatan [District] [City], [Province], [Postal code] Indonesia If the address is in a regency: Jalan [Street Name] No. [Unit Number] Kelurahan [Subdistrict], Kecamatan [District] Kabupaten [Regency], [Province], [Postal code] Indonesia
Example:
Suppose the following is an address located in the city of Denpasar:
Jalan Mangga Emas No. 5
Kelurahan Sanur, Kecamatan Denpasar Selatan
Denpasar, Bali, 80263
Indonesia
Suppose the following is an address located in the regency of Badung:
Jalan Nanas Perak No. 19
Kelurahan Seminyak, Kecamatan Kuta
Kabupaten Badung, Bali, 80304
Indonesia
Abbreviation
When writing out an address in a complete format, you can abbreviate Kelurahan, Kecamatan, and Kabupaten into Kel., Kec., and Kab. respectively. You can also abbreviate Jalan as Jl. For example:
Jl. Nanas Perak No. 19
Kel. Seminyak, Kec. Kuta
Kab. Badung, Bali, 80304
Indonesia
Over and Out
With a population of over 270 million people, it’s not surprising that there would be variations in how addresses are formatted in Indonesia. Some banks would opt for a simplified address format, whereas couriers and post offices generally prefer a complete one. Bureaucratic and government forms will also vary when it comes to the address formats you can enter.
In any case, the formats outlined in this post are generally accepted. When filling out forms, you can always start by eyeing whether there is sufficient space for a complete address format, then simplify and/or abbreviate as necessary.
