PALEMBANG', formerly an independent kingdom on the e. coast of Sumatra; now a Netherlands residency, is bounded on the n. by Djambi, n.w. by Bencoolen, s. by the Lampong districts, and s.e. by the strait of Banca, has an area of 61,900 sq.m.; and a population amounting, in 1873. to 577,085 souls. Much of the land is low-lying swamp, covered with a wilderness of impenetrable bush; but in the s. it rises into mountains, of which Oeloe Moesi (Ulu Musi) is 6,180 feet. Gold-dust, iron-ore, sulphur with arsenic, lignite, and common coal are found; also clays suited for making coarse pottery, etc. Springs of pure oil occur near the coal-fields of Bali Boekit (Bttkit), and of mineral water in various places. Rice, cotton, sugar, pepper. tobacco, and, in the interior, cocoanuts, are grown; the forests producing gutta-percha, gum-elastic, rattans, wax, benzoin, satin wood, etc. The rivers abound with fish; and the elephant, rhinoceros, tiger, panther, and leopard roam the woods, as well as the deer, wild swine, and goats, with many varieties of the monkey.
In the dry season the thermometer ranges from to 92° F., and in the rainy season 76° to 80'. The climate is not unhealthy, except in the neighborhood of the swamps. The natives are descended from Javanese, who in the 16th c., or earlier, settled in Palem bang, and ruled over the whole land. The race, however, has become mixed with other Malays, and the language has lost its purity. In the n.w. interior is a tribe called the Koebocs (Kuhns), of whose origin nothing is known, but who are probably the remainder of the aborigines. They do not follow after agriculture, go about almost naked, and live chiefly by fishing and hunting. No idea of a supreme being seems to be possessed by them, though they believe in existence after death.