Cepu (formerly Tjepoe or Tjepu) is a district (kecamatan) of Indonesia in Blora Regency, Central Java Province. Its seat is the town of Cepu [id].

History and economy

In colonial times, when Indonesia was part of the Dutch East Indies, Cepu was known for its teak (timber) and oil. The oil refineries, operated by Bataafse Petroleum Maatschappij, could produce about 11,000 bpd. They were blown up by the Dutch immediately after the Japanese landings on the island of Java in 1942. The invaders, one of whose objectives was the oilfields, committed atrocities. The teak is still highly regarded. By 2001, the oil reserves were thought to have been exhausted; but new ones have been discovered by ExxonMobil, which may yield 235,000 bpd.

Weather, climate and ecology

The nearest weather station to Cepu town appears to be Surakarta, Central Java, 104 km (65 mi) away.

Language

The local language is Bahasa Jawa Blora [id], a dialect of Javanese.

Subdivisions

Cepu District comprises the following rural and urban villages:

Transportation

Cepu lies between Semarang (127 km (79 mi)), the capital of Central Java Province, and Surabaya (179 km (111 mi)), the capital of East Java Province, and is connected to them by road. It is 30 km (19 mi) from Blora, the capital of Blora Regency.

Cepu is served by Cepu railway station [id; nl] and Ngloram Airport.

Cepu Forest Railway is a steam-powered narrow-gauge light logging railway that also runs tourist trains.

People

• Mukti Ali (1923-2004), Minister of Religious Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia; born in Cepu
• Sekarmadji Maridjan Kartosuwiryo (1905-1962), Indonesian Islamic mystic; born in Cepu
• Leonardus Benjamin Moerdani (1932-2004), general, Commander-in-Chief of ABRI 1983-1988, Minister of Defense and Security; born in Cepu