Meunasah Keudee – a small gampong in Kecamatan Mesjid Raya, Kabupaten Aceh Besar
Meunasah Keudee is a gampong (village) in Aceh province, Indonesia, situated in the northern part of Sumatra. Administratively, it belongs to Kecamatan Mesjid Raya, which itself functions as part of Kabupaten Aceh Besar. Kecamatan Mesjid Raya is one of the districts of Kabupaten Aceh Besar in Aceh province; according to 2020 data, it had a population of 21,231 inhabitants and an area of 129.93 km². Based on the coordinates of Meunasah Keudee (5.5943045 N, 95.5164604 E), it is located in the central-eastern part of the district, near the convergence of the Strait of Malacca and the Andaman Sea. According to BPS (Badan Pusat Statistik) data from 2023, Meunasah Keudee lies just 0.5 km from the kecamatan seat and 86.5 km from the capital of Kabupaten Aceh Besar.
General overview
According to BPS statistics, Meunasah Keudee is the smallest gampong in Kecamatan Mesjid Raya, with an area of only 59 hectares, of which 26 hectares are non-agricultural land. This proportion illustrates that the village's built-up and uncultivated surface represents a relatively significant share of the total area. Kecamatan Mesjid Raya is divided into two mukims (Mukim Krueng Raya and Mukim Lamnga), encompassing a total of 13 gampongs; Meunasah Keudee is one of the villages in Mukim Krueng Raya. The first part of the gampong's name – "meunasah" – refers in Acehnese tradition to a type of village community building that serves both as a prayer space and a venue for community life; the word "keudee" means market or trading place in the Acehnese language, suggesting that the settlement may have once held, or continues to hold, small-scale trading functions in its immediate surroundings. Kecamatan Mesjid Raya belongs to the Kabupaten Aceh Besar regency in Aceh province, Indonesia. Regarding the kabupaten as a whole: the publication "Mesjid Raya District in Figures 2024" issued by BPS reflects the situation at the end of 2023 and describes all gampongs in the district, including Meunasah Keudee, based on primary data collection. Due to its proximity to the district seat – just half a kilometer away – Meunasah Keudee enjoys relatively good accessibility in terms of local administrative and service infrastructure.
Real estate and investment
No independent, published real estate market data is available specifically for Meunasah Keudee. However, more general indicators are available for the broader region of Kabupaten Aceh Besar. The median price of properties for sale in Aceh Besar is approximately 196,928 USD, while the median price per square meter is approximately 1,288 USD. This level falls within the average range of the Indonesian rural real estate market and is considerably lower than prices characteristic of areas surrounding major cities in Bali or Java. The Kecamatan Mesjid Raya region is primarily characterized by smaller-scale agricultural and coastal properties; in rural gampongs, as in the case of Meunasah Keudee, real estate transactions are typically determined by local demand rather than demand from tourists or investors. Under Indonesian law, foreign individuals cannot acquire full ownership (Hak Milik) of Indonesian real estate; they have access to long-term lease arrangements (Hak Sewa, Hak Pakai) and certain other title forms subject to specific conditions, the applicability of which should be clarified in advance with an Indonesian legal expert in each case. Kabupaten Aceh Besar is part of Aceh province, where general Acehnese customary law (adat) and Islamic-based local legal systems (qanun) may also influence the course of real estate matters, making the involvement of local experts particularly warranted. Meaningful statements about investment dynamics specific to Meunasah Keudee cannot be made due to lack of sources.
Safety and security
Statistical data on public safety at the settlement level for Meunasah Keudee is not available in accessible public sources. In broader context, Kabupaten Aceh Besar forms part of Aceh province, which has its own distinctive autonomous administrative status within Indonesia. The 2020 population data for Kecamatan Mesjid Raya was 21,231 inhabitants, indicating a relatively sparsely populated, predominantly rural district. Such rural, small-population communities in Aceh generally organize their daily life within the framework of village community norms (adat) and Islamic-based local regulations, which in practice means close social control and strong community cohesion. It may be said in general that Aceh province, following the 2004 tsunami and the reconstruction period, gradually stabilized after the introduction of special autonomy in 2005, and today is characterized by low levels of violent crime compared to other Indonesian provinces; however, specific crime statistics for Meunasah Keudee are not available, so the general provincial-level picture cannot be directly applied to the village.
Tourist attractions
Meunasah Keudee itself does not appear as a recognized tourist destination in available public sources. The broader area of Kecamatan Mesjid Raya, to which the gampong belongs, is richer in visitable sites. Within the Mukim Krueng Raya area is the natural hot spring bath known as Ie Suum, located in the gampong of the same name. The region also features the historical fortress Benteng Inong Balee, which tradition holds was built for the defense of a group of Acehnese war widows who had acquired combat skills. Bukit Lamreh (Lamreh Hill) is one of the most well-known natural attractions in the Krueng Raya region, though relatively few visitors are aware of it. The Pantai Pasir Putih Lhok Me beach extends near Tanjung Kelindu and is characterized by the presence of mangrove trees lining the shore. The Pelabuhan Malahayati port is also located within Kabupaten Aceh Besar, near the Krueng Raya beach. The Mukim Krueng Raya area is only about 40 km from Banda Aceh, accessible by land in at most one hour. It is important to note that these attractions are located in other gampongs of the district and at other points in Mukim Krueng Raya, and are not directly within the boundaries of Meunasah Keudee; no named landmark is listed in sources that would be exclusively associated with this village.
Summary
Meunasah Keudee is a small gampong covering only 59 hectares, located within Kecamatan Mesjid Raya in Kabupaten Aceh Besar, Aceh province. It lies half a kilometer from the kecamatan seat and 86.5 km from Banda Aceh. Kecamatan Mesjid Raya had a population of nearly 21,000 inhabitants and an area of 129.93 km² in 2020, within which Meunasah Keudee is the smallest gampong. The settlement has not itself become a recognized tourism or investment destination; its value is derived primarily from the broader heritage and natural endowments of Mukim Krueng Raya and its relative proximity to Banda Aceh. The real estate market and public safety situation of the kabupaten as a whole can be characterized at the level of available data, but these characteristics cannot be directly and accurately applied to the village without detailed, local-level sources.
