<![CDATA[General Background Territorial disputes across island jurisdictions reflect governance vulnerabilities when integrating technical, legal, and sociological dimensions. Specific Background In Indonesia, the polemic over four disputed islands between Aceh and North Sumatra exposed administrative delimitation flaws under Minister of Home Affairs Regulation Number 141 of 2017, ultimately triggering presidential intervention. Knowledge Gap Existing scholarship predominantly examines technocratic and procedural mechanisms, leaving a scarcity of normative evaluations regarding regulatory alignment with the archipelagic principle mandated by the 1945 Constitution and Law Number 12 of 2011. Aims This normative legal research employs a statute approach to evaluate how Ministerial regional border affirmation norms align with the archipelagic principle and to formulate an integrative regulatory framework. Results The analysis reveals a procedural dichotomy where territorial integrity, national interest supremacy, and legal system unity are proactively enforced from initial stages through cartometric methods, national base maps, and centralized authority. Conversely, socio-cultural and historical cohesion is only applied reactively as a last resort when unresolved disputes escalate to central mediation, creating potential disharmony with local realities. Novelty This study offers a normative-conceptual perspective by evaluating administrative delimitation rules through a constitutional geopolitical mandate rather than treating them merely as technocratic instruments. Implications These findings underscore the urgency of revising Ministerial Regulation Number 141 of 2017 to proactively incorporate sociological, historical, and customary dimensions from the outset, thereby safeguarding national unity while accommodating local identity pluralism. Highlights: Cartometric methods and centralized authority proactively enforce territorial integrity and national legal unity. Sociological and historical considerations operate only reactively as a final dispute resolution mechanism. Regulatory revisions must integrate local customary realities early to prevent administrative jurisdiction conflicts. Keywords: Archipelagic Principle, Boundary Delimitation, Territorial Integrity, Normative Legal Research, Sociohistorical Cohesion]]>
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