Kudus Regency

The town of Kudus was something of an important Islamic holy city in the sixteenth century. It is the only place in Java to have permanently adopted an Arabic name ('al-Quds', Jerusalem). Sunan Kudus, one of the nine Wali Sanga, was said to have been the fifth imam (head) of the mosque of Demak and a major leader of the 1527 campaign against 'Majapahit', before moving to Kudus.

The Mosque of Kudus (Masjid Menara), dating to this period, remains a local landmark to this day. It is notable for both its perseverance of pre-Islamic architectural forms such as Old Javanese split doorways and Hindu-Buddhist influenced Majapahit-style brickwork,^[4] and for its name al-Manar or al-Aqsa. The date AH 956 (AD 1549) is inscribed over the mihrab (niche indicating the direction of Mecca).^[5]

The Regency comprises nine districts (kecamatan), tabulated below with their areas and their populations at the 2010 Census^[2] and the 2020 Census,^[3] together with the official estimates as of mid-2024.^[1] The table also includes the number of administrative villages in each district (totaling 123 rural desa and 9 urban kelurahan - the latter all in Kudus town District), and its post code.

Note: (a) comprises 9 urban kelurahan (Kajeksan, Kerjasan, Mlati Kidul, Mlati Norowito, Panjunan, Purwosari, Sunggingan, Wergu Kulon, and Wergu Wetan) and 16 rural desa.
(b) Undaan District consists of a large southwards salient away from the rest of the Regency.

The town of Kudus, including those parts of the regency that form part of the urban area (the surrounding Kaliwungu, Jati, Gebog, and Bae Districts), had a population of 358,335 at the 1990 Census.^[15] Although most residents of Kudus are Javanese, there is an Indonesian Chinese minority in the town centre, as well as an Arab neighborhood, Kudus Kulon, to the west of the town centre.

The town is considered to be the "birthplace" of the kretek clove cigarette, which is by far the most widely smoked form of tobacco in the country, and it remains a major centre for their manufacture. Haji Jamahri, a resident of the town, invented them in the 1880s. A festival named Dandangan is held for about one month before Ramadhan, the Muslim fasting month, in Kudus Kulon.

On June 12, 2007, about 5,000 people gathered peacefully to protest against Jakarta's plan to build 4 nuclear reactors in the region. The movement included residents, activists, artists, students, public officials, members of parliament, military commanders, and police chiefs. This movement has been part of a series of responses from across Indonesian society against the use of nuclear technology for energy production.

• Hariyanto Arbi, badminton player
• Hermawan Susanto, badminton player
• Liem Swie King, badminton player
• Eddy Hartono, badminton player
• Sudono Salim, businessman
• Anthoni Salim, businessman
• Robert Budi Hartono, businessman
• Michael Bambang Hartono, businessman
• Julie van der Veen, Dutch visual artist
• Sastromoeljono, former governor of Jakarta

• Sunan Kudus