Padang Panjang is located in the cool highlands of West Sumatra, inland from the provincial capital Padang. It sits on a plateau beneath the volcanoes Mount Marapi and Mount Singgalang. It has an area of 23 km² and a population of over 40,000 people. The main road through Padang Panjang links coastal Padang and the highland capital, Bukittinggi. This town is the base of famous performing arts conservatorium, Sekolah Tinggi Seni Indonesia (STSI) Padang Panjang (college of traditional Indonesian arts). The town is also home for the Minangkabau Cultural Documentation and Information Center (Pusat Dokumentasi dan Informasi Kebudayaan Minangkabau – PDIKM).