The ten districts comprise forty-three rural villages (desa) listed below with their areas and their populations as officially estimated for mid 2023:[17] Macaronis was first discovered in 1980 by pioneer surf discoverers Chris Goodnow, Scott Wakefield, and Tony Fitzpatrick, who originally named the break ‘P-Land’ on their first visit (after Pasangan Bay / Pagai Islands).

At the West of Sumatra, the Mentawai Islands have the most consistent surf breaks in Indonesia making it one of the preferred choices for serious surfers.

[23][24] The islands have been separated from Sumatra since the mid-Pleistocene period, which has allowed at least twenty endemic species to develop amongst its flora and fauna.

They are highly endangered due to logging, unsustainable hunting, and conversion of rainforest to palm oil plantations.

[26] The Mentawai Islands lie above the Sunda megathrust, a seismically active zone responsible for many great earthquakes.

On October 25, 2010, an earthquake in southern Sumatra led to a deadly tsunami that devastated villages in South and North Pagai.