:: Jakarta - Indonesia Capital City Travel Guides ::
INDONESIA BIGGEST CITY
Jakarta (also DKI
Jakarta),
is
the capital and largest city of Indonesia. It was
formerly known as Sunda Kalapa (397-1527), Jayakarta
(1527-1619), Batavia (1619-1942), and Djakarta
(1942-1972). Located on the northwest coast of the Java
Island, it has an area of 661.52 km˛ and an official
population of 8,389,443 (2000[1]). Jakarta currently is
the eleventh largest city, fifth largest metropolitan
area and ninth most densely populated city in the world
with 44,283 people per sq mile.[3] Its metropolitan area
is called Jabodetabek and contains more than 23 million
people, and is part of an even larger Jakarta-Bandung
megalopolis.
Jakarta is served by the Soekarno-Hatta International
Airport. Since 2004, Jakarta, under the governance of
Sutiyoso, has built a new bus system, which is known as
"TransJakarta" or "Busway." Jakarta had hoped to
establish its newest transportation system, the Jakarta
Monorail, in 2007, but the project has been delayed and
its completion date will very likely be pushed back.
Jakarta also is the location of the Jakarta Stock
Exchange and the National Monument.
Geography
Jakarta is
located on the northwestern coast of Java Island, at the
mouth of the Ciliwung River on Jakarta Bay, which is an
inlet of the Java Sea. The northern part of Jakarta is
constituted on a plain land, approximately eight meters
above the sea level. This contributes to the frequent
flooding. The southern parts of the city are hilly.
There are about 13 rivers flowing through Jakarta,
mostly flowing form the hilly southern parts of the city
northwards towards the Java Sea. The most important
river is the Ciliwung river, which divides the city into
the western and eastern principalities. The city borders
the province of West Java on its east side and the
province of Banten on its west side.
The thousand islands, which is a part of the
administrative region of Jakarta, is located in the
Jakarta Bay. These 105 islets are located 45 km on the
north part of the city.
HISTORY
The old name of Jakarta was Sunda Kalapa. The earliest
record mentioning this area as a capital city can be
traced to the Indianized kingdom of Tarumanagara as
early as the fourth century. In 397 AD, King Purnawarman
established Sunda Pura as a new capital city for the
kingdom, located at the northern coast of Java.[5]
Purnawarman left seven memorial stones with inscriptions
bearing his name spread across the area, including the
present-day Banten and West Java provinces. The Tugu
Inscription is considered the oldest of all of them.
After Tarumanagara power declined, all his territories,
including Sunda Pura, felt under the Kingdom of Sunda.
The harbour area were renamed into Sunda Kalapa as
written in a Hindu monk's lontar m
anuscripts,
which are now located at the Oxford University Library
in England, and travel records by Prince Bujangga Manik.
By the 14th century, Sunda Kalapa became a major trading
port for the kingdom. The first European fleet, four
Portuguese ships from Malacca, arrived in 1513 when the
Portuguese were looking for a route for spices and
especially pepper.
The Kingdom of Sunda made a peace agreement with
Portugal by letting the Portuguese to build a port in
1522 in order to defend against the rising power of the
Sultanate of Demak from the central of Java.[9] In 1527,
Fatahillah from Demak attacked Kingdom of Sunda and
succeeded in conquering the harbour on June 22, 1557,
after which Sunda Kalapa was renamed into to Jayakarta.
Through
the relationship with Prince Jayawikarta from the
Sultanate of Banten, Dutch ships arrived in Jayakarta in
1596. In 1602, the British East India Company's first
voyage, commanded by Sir James Lancaster, arrived in
Aceh and sailed on to Banten where they were allowed to
build a trading post. This site became the center of
British trade in Indonesia until 1682.
Apparently, Jayawikarta also made a trading connection
with the English merchants, the Dutch rivalry, by
allowing them to build houses directly across from the
Dutch buildings in 1615. When relations between Prince
Jayawikarta and the Dutch later deteriorated,
Jayawikarta's soldiers attacked the Dutch fortress. But
even with the help of fifteen British ships, Prince
Jayakarta's army wasn't able to defeat the Dutch, in
part owing to the timely arrival of Jan
Pieterszoon
Coen (J.P. Coen). The Dutch burned the English fort, and
forced the English retreat on their ships. With this
victory, Dutch power in the area was consolidated. In
1619 they renamed the city "Batavia."
Within Batavia's walls, wealthy Dutch built tall houses
and pestilential canals. Commercial opportunities
attracted Indonesian and especially Chinese immigrants,
the increasing numbers creating burdens on the city.
Tensions grew as the colonial government tried to
restrict Chinese migration through deportations. On 9
October 1740, 5,000 Chinese were massacred and the
following year, Chinese inhabitants were moved to Glodok
outside the city walls. The city began to move further
south as epidemics in 1835 and 1870 encouraged more
people to move far south of the port. The Koningsplein,
now Merdeka Square, was completed in 1818, and Kebayoran
Baru was the last Dutch-built residential area.
The city was renamed "Jakarta" by the Japanese during
their World War II occupation of Indonesia. Following
World War II, Indonesian Republicans withdrew from
allied-occupied Jakarta during their fight for
Indonesian independence and established their capital in
Yogyakarta. In 1950, once independence was secured,
Jakarta was once again made the national capital.[12]
Indonesia's founding president, Sukarno, envisaged
Jakarta as a great international city. He instigated
large government-funded projects undertaken with openly
nationalistic and modernist architecture.[13] Projects
in Jakarta included a clover-leaf highway, a major
boulevard (Jalan Sudirman), monuments such as The
National Monument, major hotels, and a new parliament
building
Administration
Officially,
Jakarta is not a city but a province with special status
as the capital of Indonesia. It is administered much as
any other Indonesian province. For example, Jakarta has
a governor (instead of a mayor), and is divided into
several sub-regions with their own administrative
systems. Jakarta, as a province, is divided into five
cities (kota) (formerly municipality) each headed by a
mayor and one regency (kabupaten) headed by a regent. In
August 2007, Jakarta held its first ever election to
pick a governor, which was won by Fauzi Bowo. The city's
governors have previously been appointed by local
parliament. The poll is part of a country-wide
decentralization drive allowing for direct local
elections in several areas.
List of cities of Jakarta:
* Central Jakarta
(Jakarta Pusat)
* East Jakarta (Jakarta Timur)
* North Jakarta (Jakarta Utara)
* South Jakarta (Jakarta Selatan)
* West Jakarta (Jakarta Barat)
The only regency of Jakarta is:
* Thousand Islands (Kepulauan Seribu), formerly a
subdistrict of North Jakarta.
Transportation
One of the most
populous cities in the world, Jakarta is strained by
transportation problems. Notes BBC News, "Only 2% of
Jakartans use public transport at the moment. Car users,
meanwhile, are growing at a rate of 10% a year...Unless
something is done, analysts say, the city will become
completely gridlocked in the next few years
Rail and Waterway
There are
railways throughout Jakarta; however, they are judged as
being inadequate for providing necessary transportation
for the citizens of Jakarta. In peak hours, the number
of passengers greatly exceeds capacity. The railroad
tracks connect Jakarta to its neighboring regions: Depok
and Bogor to the south, Tangerang and Serpong to the
west, and Bekasi, Karawang, and Cikampek to the east.
The major rail stations are Gambir, Jatinegara, Pasar
Senen, Manggarai, Tanah Abang and Jakarta Kota.
Jakarta Railway transportation system
Jakarta Railway transportation system
Two lines of the Jakarta Monorail are under
construction: the green line serving Semanggi-Casablanca
Road-Kuningan-Semanggi and the blue line serving Kampung
Melayu-Casablanca Road-Tanah Abang-Roxy. In addition,
there are plans for a two-line subway (MRT) system, with
a north-south line between Kota and Lebak Bulus, with
connections to both monorail lines; and an east-west
line, which will connect with the north-south line at
the Sawah Besar station. The current project, which
began in 2005, has been halted due to a lack of funds
and its future remains uncertain.
Population in excess of
infrastructure
Like many big
cities in developing countries, Jakart
a
suffers from major urbanization problems. The population
has risen sharply from 1.2 million in 1960 to 8.8
million in 2004, counting only its legal residents. The
population of greater Jakarta is estimated at 23
million, making it the fourth largest urban area in the
world. The rapid population growth has outgrown the
government's ability to provide basic needs for its
residents. As the third biggest economy in Indonesia,
Jakarta has attracted a large number of visitors. The
population during weekends is almost double that of
weekdays, due to the influx of residents residing in
other areas of Jabotabek. Because of government's
inability to provide adequate transportation for its
large population, Jakarta also suffers from severe
traffic jams that occur almost every day. Air pollution
and waste management are also severe problems. By 2025
the population of Jakarta may reach 24.9 million, not
counting millions more in surrounding areas.
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