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Minangkabau Overview

The Minangkabau region is located in the mountainous area of western Central Sumatra. Its territory covers 18,000 square miles, stretching from north to south. Navis (1984) and Murad (1978) state that the Minangkabau cultural area includes the Luhak and Rantau areas. Luhak is the area of origin of the Minangkabau people, Luhak area consists of three regions, namely Luhak Tanah Datar, Luhak Agam, and Luhak Limo Puluah Koto. These three areas are known as Luhak nan Tigo. While Rantau is an area of the expansion of Luhak nan Tigo. The overseas area consists of the downstream region (the area around the Malacca Strait), the coastal area (measurements on the west coast of Sumatra), and the overland area (Solok, Pasaman, and others). Most of the Minangkabau area is currently in the Province of West Sumatra.

Minangkabau country has extraordinary natural beauty. It is not surprising that Hamka, an Indonesian writer from Minangkabau, said that “God created Minangkabau with a smile”, This statement symbolizes how beautiful the land of Minangkabau is. Besides having natural beauty land, Minangkabau also has a lot of uniqueness and diversity of cultures and traditions. The uniqueness and diversity of culture and traditions are widespread in language, ethnicity, art, oral traditions, traditional games, and also the diversity of cultures and traditions as well as other tangible and intangible cultural heritage.

The potential that is contained in the Minangkabau culture will be packaged into a Summer Course Program. This program will have a significant impact on the development of Andalas University (UNAND) to become a World Class University (WCU).