of Bintan Island, south of Singapore, north of Rempang and Galang, and east of Bulan Island. The Singapore Strait separates Singapore and Batam, while the Riau Strait separates Batam and Bintan. Batam Municipality covers 3,990 km², of which 1,040 km² is land, a figure which includes some land reclamation. However, Barelang Island (not actually one but three, see above) covers roughly 715 km² of that 1,040 km², and Batam island itself covers only about 410 km² out of the total. The bulk of the municipal population resides on Batam Island. Climate Batam has a tropical rainforest climate (Af) with heavy rainfall year-round. Governance Mayor The Batam city government takes care of all population administration and civil registration as well as human resources. The current mayor is Muhammad Rudi who has served since 2016, accompanied by Amsakar Ahmad as deputy mayor. Batam Development Board (BP) The Agency for Free Trade Zone and Free Port of Batam, often abbreviated as BP Batam, is a government nonstructural body under the Chairmanship of the Board of Regions (DK) Batam Central Government, which is chaired by a Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs. BP Batam plays a role in land governance and investment in the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) of Batam. Administrative divisions Batam city is divided into twelve districts (kecamatan) – which include several adjacent islands such as Bulan, Rempang and Galang, as well as Batam Island itself. The whole municipality is thus often known by the abbreviation of Barelang. The districts are tabulated below with their areas, 2010 census populations and 2020 census populations, together with the number of administrative villages within that district and its postal codes. Notes: 1 comprises 116 islands to the west of Batam Island. 2 comprises 70 islands to the southwest of Batam Island 3 comprises 82 islands to the south of Batam Island, including Galang Island and Rempang Island. 4 comprises the east part of Batam Island, but also includes 23 islands off the eastern shore. 5 includes 14 islands off the coast of Batam Island. Demographics At the 2020 census, Batam had a population of 1,196,396 inhabitants. The population was increasing rapidly, with a population growth rate of more than 8% per year between 2001 and 2012, but has subsequently diminished. Ethnicity Today, Batam is inhabited by a heterogeneous mixture of people due to labor migration and desire to be close to Singapore; it is very diverse,