daerah

Daerah is an Indonesian term meaning region, area, or territory. It describes a portion of land that shares geographic, cultural, or administrative characteristics and can refer to natural regions, administrative units, or urban and rural areas. The word functions as a generic noun in both everyday usage and formal contexts.

In geography, daerah denotes a defined spatial unit that can vary in scale, from a river basin (daerah aliran sungai) to a provincial or district area. In governance, it appears in official language describing territories, including special-status regions such as Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta, and other administrative zones. The concept thus encompasses both nonpolitical regions and territorially governed areas.

In planning and statistics, daerah provides a practical way to refer to areas for data collection, policy formulation, and development programs. The term is widely used in Indonesian and Malay-speaking contexts, with synonyms such as wilayah or kawasan used in similar senses.