Gunung Kidul Regency

Gunung Kidul Regency

Gunungkidul is a regency in the southeast part of the province of Yogyakarta Special Region, Indonesia. The regency (the name of which means South Hills in Javanese) is bordered by the city of Yogyakarta to the north west, Bantul Regency to the west, Sleman Regency to the north west and the Indian Ocean to the south.

Gunungkidul is in a karst region. This leads to difficult geography for farmers and contributes to considerable poverty. The southern coastal of Gunungkidul is rough and wild but exotic with several beautiful beaches: Baron, Kukup, Krakal, Drini, Sepanjang, Sundak, Siung, Wediombo and Sadeng. Some of these beaches provide fresh fish and other sea product supplied by local fisherman. The most notable is Baron beach. There is a park next to the beach surrounded by seafood restaurants and hostels. There is a fresh fish market in the east side of the beach. On the west side, a river flows out from an almost sea-level cave on the side of western ridge. The beach itself is khaki-colored and sprawled with traditional fishermens' boat. Beside the main beach there is a kilometre of almost untouched white sand beach lying beyond its eastern ridge. It can be reach by small hike; there is a rest area with a beautiful view on top of the eastern hill.

There are also tourist sites to visit near the beach area of Parangtritis which is located on the border of the Kidul and Bantul districts. There are some temples, springs, and underground rivers in the village of Girijati near Parangtritis.

The Gunungkidul area in earlier times was heavily forested. However most of the teak forests have now been removed and many reforestation projects occur on the western edge of the regency. The regency has been subject to extensive drought and famine within the last hundred years. Water shortages and poverty remain serious problems in the region.