Jakarta Indonesia

Description: Jakarta officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta and formerly known as Batavia until 1949, is the nation’s capital city and the centre of the largest metropolis of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world’s most populous island, Jakarta is the largest metropole in Southeast Asia, and serves as the diplomatic capital of ASEAN. Jakarta is bordered by two provinces: West Java to the south and east; and (since 2000, when it was separated from West Java) Banten to the west. Its coastline faces the Java Sea to the north, and it shares a maritime border with Lampung to the west. Jakarta’s metropolitan area is ASEAN’s second largest economy after Singapore.

Population: 10,560,000

Demographics: Jakarta is pluralistic and religiously diverse, without a majority ethnic group. As of 2010, 36.17% of the city’s population were Javanese, 28.29% Betawi (locally established mixed race, cemented by diverse creole), 14.61% Sundanese, 6.62% Chinese, 3.42% Batak, 2.85% Minangkabau, 0.96% Malays, Indo and others 7.08%. The ‘Betawi’ (Orang Betawi, or ‘people of Batavia’) are immigrant descendants of the old city who became widely recognized as an ethnic group by the mid-19th century.

History: The north coast area of western Java including Jakarta was the location of prehistoric Buni culture that flourished from 400 BC to 100 AD. The first European fleet, four Portuguese ships from Malacca, arrived in 1513 while looking for a route to obtain spices. The Sunda Kingdom made an alliance treaty with the Portuguese by allowing them to build a port in 1522 to defend against the rising power of Demak Sultanate from central Java. In 1527, Fatahillah, a Pasai-born military commander of Demak attacked and conquered Sunda Kelapa, driving out the Portuguese. Sunda Kelapa was renamed Jayakarta, and became a fiefdom of the Banten Sultanate, which became a major Southeast Asian trading centre. After World War II ended, Indonesian nationalists declared independence on 17 August 1945, and the government of Jakarta City was changed into the Jakarta National Administration in the following month. In 1966, Jakarta was declared a ‘special capital region’ (Daerah Khusus Ibukota), with a status equivalent to that of a province. Based on law No. 5 of 1974 relating to regional governments, the Jakarta Special Capital Region was confirmed as the capital of Indonesia and one of the country’s then 26 provinces. Between 2016 and 2017, a series of terrorist attacks rocked Jakarta with scenes of multiple suicide bombings and gunfire. In suspicion to its links, the Islamic State, the perpetrator led by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Elevation: 8 m

Climate: Tropical climate. Average annual temperature in Jakarta is 28 C (82 F), the average for July is 28 C (82 F), the average for January is 28 C (82 F).

Attractions: Jakarta Aquarium And Safari, Istiqlal Mosque, National Monument, Anchol Dreamland, Jakarta Old Town, Thousand Islands

Airports: Halim Perdanakusuma International Airport HLP, Soekarno–Hatta International Airport CGK

Distance To City Centre: 30 km

Commute Length: 50 min

Average Transportation Cost: 50 USD

Traffic Hours: 6:30 am – 9:30 am, 4:30 pm – 7:30 pm