[1] The table also includes the number of administrative villages (all classed as urban kelurahan) in each district and its postcodes.

At some point between 1890 and 1920, there was a major fire in the city, which was presumably mostly built from wood from the surrounding mountains (shown partly denuded in the 1928 panorama below).

After the Japanese invasion of Sumatra in 1942, a makeshift prison described as a "civilian camp" was set up at Taroetoengweg, in the city center, from 16 March to 4 May 1942.

On May 4 they were taken to the Native Secondary School for Boys in Pearadja (Taroetoeng), located in the mountains behind Sibolga.

Ferries from here service the outlying islands to the west, Simeulue and Nias, as well as the rest of Indonesia.