South Sumatra is a province of Indonesia. It is located on the southeast of the island of Sumatra, The province spans 91,592.43 km² and an estimated population of 8,497,196. The capital of the province is Palembang. The province borders the provinces of Jambi to the north, Bengkulu to the west and Lampung to the south. The Bangka Strait in the east separates South Sumatra and the island of Bangka, which is part of the Bangka Belitung Islands province. This province is rich in natural resources, such as petroleum, natural gas and coal. The province is inhabited by many different ethnic groups, with Palembang people the largest ethnic group. Most speak Palembang Malay, which is mutually unintelligible to both Indonesian and Standard Malay. Other ethnic groups include the Javanese, Sundanese, Minangkabau and Chinese. Most are concentrated in urban areas and are largely immigrants from other parts of Indonesia.
From the 7th century to the late 14th century, the province was the seat of the Buddhist Srivijaya Empire, which influenced much of Southeast Asia. Srivijaya was an important centre for the expansion of Buddhism from the 8th to the 12th century.