A substantial number of Minangkabau have also made their home in other parts of Indonesia, as well as in Malaysia where the state of Negri Sembilan was formed from groups tracing their origin to the Minangkabau heartland sometime in the 18th century (Fig. The rantau is located in the western coastal lowlands of West Sumatra and in all the adjacent Sumatran states. IL Expanding outward from this center, referred to as the heartland (darat of the Minangkabau world, is the migration area (rantau) where some one-half of the Minangkabau people live. Merapi, the enigmatic volcano usually hidden in clouds, from which the Minangkabau ancestors are supposed to have descended long ago (Fig. Local tradition places the origin of the Minangkabau world in the highlands of West Sumatra, an area of stunning natural beauty, which has probably been inhabited since at least the Neolithic period and probably much earlier. These are a proud people who celebrate their traditional identity and participate actively in the affairs of their nation. Known also for their literary flair, practicality, flexibility, and acute business sense, Indonesians of Minangkabau ancestry hold important political, economic, and domestic offices in the political mainstream of their country. The Minangkabau pride themselves on their matrilineal social system, believing this to provide the core of their customary law and the basis for their social identity. One of the prominent Indonesian ethnic groups, the Minangkabau constitute 3% of the entire Indonesian population and one-quarter of the Sumatran population.
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