Jakarta - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jakarta (also DKI Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. It also has a greater population than any other city in Southeast Asia. It was formerly known as Sunda Kelapa (397–1527), Jayakarta (1527–1619), Batavia (1619–1942), and Djakarta (1942–1972). Located on the northwest coast of Java, it has an area of 661.52 square kilometres (255.41 sq mi) and a population of 8,489,910.^[1] Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political center. Jakarta is the twelfth-largest city in the world; the metropolitan area, called Jabodetabek, is the sixth-largest in the world.
First established in the fourth century, the city became an important trading port for the Kingdom of Sunda. As Batavia, it grew greatly as the capital of the colonial Dutch East Indies. Renamed Jakarta in 1942 during Japan's occupation of Java, it was made the capital city of Indonesia when the country became independent after World War II.
Major landmarks in Jakarta include Indonesia Stock Exchange, the Bank of Indonesia, and the National Monument (Tugu Monas). The city is the seat of the ASEAN Secretariat. Jakarta is served by the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, Halim Perdanakusuma International Airport, and Tanjung Priok harbour; it is connected by several intercity and commuter railways, and served by several bus lines running on reserved busways.

Geography

Jakarta is located on the northwestern coast of Java, 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 thirteen rivers flowing through Jakarta, mostly flowing from 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 border is the province of West Java on its east side and the province of Banten on its west side.
The Thousand Islands, which are administratively a part of Jakarta, are located in Jakarta Bay north of the city.

Climate

Jakarta has a hot and humid equatorial/tropical climate (Af) according to the Köppen climate classification system. Located in the western-part of Indonesia, Jakarta's wet season rainfall peak is January with average monthly rainfall of 400 millimetres (16 in), and its dry season low point is August with a monthly average of 70 millimetres (2.8 in).^[2] The city is humid throughout the year with daily temperature range of 25° to 36°C (77°-97°F).^[3]

History

For more details on this topic, see History of Jakarta.

The former Stadhuis of Batavia, the seat of Governor General of VOC. The building now serves as Jakarta Historical Museum, Jakarta Old Town area.

Dutch Batavia in the 17th Century, built in what is now North Jakarta

The old name of Jakarta was Sunda Kelapa. 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 AD 39, 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.^[6]
After the power of Tarumanagara declined, all of its many territories, including Sunda Pura, became part of the Kingdom of Sunda. The harbour area were renamed Sunda Kelapa as written in a Hindu monk's lontar manuscripts, which are now located at the Bodleian Library of Oxford University in England, and travel records by Prince Bujangga Manik.^[7] By the fourteenth century, Sunda Kelapa 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, especially black pepper.^[8]
The Kingdom of Sunda made a peace agreement with Portugal by allowing the Portuguese to build a port in 1522 in order to defend against the rising power of the Sultanate of Demak from central Java.^[9] In 1527, Fatahillah, a Sumatran Malay warrior from Demak attacked Kingdom of Sunda and succeeded in conquering the harbour on June 22, 1527, after which Sunda Kelapa was renamed Jayakarta.^[9]

The Castle of Batavia, seen from West Kali Besar by Andries Beeckman circa 1656-58

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.^[10]
Apparently, Jayawikarta also made a trading connection with the English merchants, rivals of the Dutch, by allowing them to build houses directly across from the Dutch buildings in 1615.^[11] 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."

Batavia c.1870

Commercial opportunities in the capital of the Dutch colony 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.^[12] 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, the housing park of Menteng was started in 1913^[13], and Kebayoran Baru was the last Dutch-built residential area.^[12] By 1930 Batavia had more than 500,000 inhabitants,^[14] including 37,067 Europeans.^[15]
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.^[16][17] Projects in Jakarta included a clover-leaf highway, a major boulevard (Jalan MH Thamrin-Sudirman), monuments such as The National Monument, major hotels, shopping centre, and a new parliament building.
In October 1965, Jakarta was the site of an abortive coup attempt which saw 6 top generals killed, and ultimately resulted in the downfall of Sukarno and the start of Suharto's "New Order. A propaganda monument stands at the place where the general's bodies were dumped. In 1966, Jakarta was declared a "special capital city district" (daerah khusus ibukota), thus gaining a status approximately equivalent to that of a state or province.^[18] Lieutenant General Ali Sadikin served as Governor from the mid-60's commencement of the "New Order" through to 1977; he rehabilitated roads and bridges, encouraged the arts, built several hospitals, and a large number of new schools. He also cleared out slum dwellers for new development projects—some for the benefit of the Suharto family^[19][20]—and tried to eliminate rickshaws and ban street vendors. He began control of migration to the city in order to stem the overcrowding and poverty.^[21] Land redistribution, structural adjustment,^{[citation needed]} and foreign investment contributed to a real estate boom which changed the face of the city.^[22] The boom ended with the 1997/98 East Asian Economic crisis putting Jakarta at the center of violence, protest, and political maneuvering. Long-time president, Suharto, began to lose his grip on power. Tensions reached a peak in the Jakarta riots of May 1998, when four students were shot dead at Trisakti University by security forces; four days of riots and violence ensued resulting in the loss of an estimated 1,200 lives and 6,000 buildings damaged or destroyed.^[23] The Jakarta riots targeted many Chinese Indonesians.^[24] Suharto resigned as president, and Jakarta has remained the focal point of democratic change in Indonesia.^[25] A number of Jemaah Islamiah-connected bombings have occurred in the city since 2000.^[12]

Administration

Officially, Jakarta is not a city, but rather a province with special status as the capital of Indonesia. It is administered much like 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 municipalities, 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; the election 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.^[26]
List of cities of Jakarta:

• Central Jakarta (Jakarta Pusat: Pop. 889,448)^[27] is the most densely populated district and home to most of the city's skyscrapers. The district is the central government office, Bank Indonesia, the big mosque of Istiqlal, the big shopping center of Grand Indonesia and numerous museums.
• East Jakarta (Jakarta Timur: Pop. 2,391,166)
• North Jakarta (Jakarta Utara: Pop. 1,445,623 )
• South Jakarta (Jakarta Selatan: Pop. 2,001,353 )
• West Jakarta (Jakarta Barat: Pop. 2,093,013)

The only regency of Jakarta is:

• Thousand Islands (Kepulauan Seribu: Pop. 18,644), formerly a subdistrict of North Jakarta.

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Culture

National Museum of Indonesia

As the economic and political capital of Indonesia, Jakarta attracts many foreign as well as domestic immigrants. Many of the immigrants are from the other parts of the island of Java, bringing along a mixture of dialects of the Javanese and Sundanese languages, as well as their traditional foods and customs.
A nickname for Jakarta is "The Big Durian".
The Betawi (Orang Betawi, or "people of Batavia") is a term used to describe the descendants of the people living around Batavia and recognized as a tribe from around the 18th-19th century. The Betawi people are mostly descended from various Southeast Asian ethnic groups brought or attracted to Batavia to meet labor needs, and include people from various parts of Indonesia.^[28] The language and culture of these immigrants are distinct from those of the Sundanese or Javanese. The language is more based on East Malay dialect and enriched by loan words from Javanese, Chinese, and Arab. Nowadays, the Jakarta-dialects used by people in Jakarta is loosely based on Betawi Language.
There has also been a significant Chinese community in Jakarta for many centuries. Officially, they make up 6% of the Jakarta population, though this number may be under-reported.^[29]

One of the many Sukarno era statues in the city

A large shopping mall in Jakarta.

Jakarta has several performing art centers, such as the Taman Ismail Marzuki (TIM) art center in Cikini, Gedung Kesenian Jakarta near Pasar Baru, Balai Sarbini in Mall Semanggi area, Art Market in Ancol, and traditional Indonesian art performances at provinces pavilions in Taman Mini Indonesia Indah. Traditional music is often found at high-class hotels, including wayang and gamelan performances. Javanese Wayang Orang performance can be found at Wayang Orang Bharata building near Senen bus terminal. As the nation's largest city and capital, Jakarta has lured much national and regional talent who hope to find a greater audience and more opportunities for success.
Ironically, the Betawi arts are rarely found in Jakarta due to their infamous low-profile and most of them had moved to the border of Jakarta, ridden by the wave of immigrant. It is easier to find Java or Minang based wedding ceremonial instead of Betawi wedding in Jakarta. It is easier to find Javanese Gamelan instead of Gambang Kromong (mixture between Betawi and Chinese music) or Tanjidor (mixture between Betawi and Portuguese music) or Marawis (mixture between Betawi and Yaman music). However, some festivals such as Jalan Jaksa Festival or Kemang Festival tried to preserve the Betawi art by inviting the artist to do some performances.^[30]

Economy

The economy depends heavily on financial service, trading, and manufacturing. Financial service constituted 23% of Jakarta's GDP in 1989. The manufacturing industry is well-diversified with significant electronics, automotive, chemicals, mechanical engineering and biomedical sciences manufacturing sectors.^[31] Jakarta is the most luxurious and busiest city in Indonesia. In 2009, 13% of the population had an income per capita in excess of US$ 10,000 (Rp 108,000,000).^[32]

Transportation

Jalan Thamrin, a main road in Central Jakarta

One of the most populous cities in the world, Jakarta is strained by transportation problems.^[33] In Indonesia most communal transport is provided by mikrolets, which are privately run minibuses.

Road transport

Despite the presence of many wide roads, Jakarta suffers from congestion due to heavy traffic, especially in the central business district. To reduce traffic jams, some major roads in Jakarta have a 'three in one' rule during rush hours, first introduced in 1992, prohibiting fewer than three passengers per car on certain roads.

Motorised bajaj

Auto rickshaws, called bajaj (pronounced badge-eye), provide local transportation in the back streets of some parts of the city. From the early 1940s to 1991 they were a common form of local transportation in the city. In 1966, an estimated 160,000 rickshaws were operating in the city; as much as fifteen percent of Jakarta's total workforce was engaged in rickshaw driving. In 1971, rickshaws were banned from major roads, and shortly thereafter the government attempted a total ban, which substantially reduced their numbers but did not eliminate them. An especially aggressive campaign to eliminate them finally succeeded in 1990 and 1991, but during the economic crisis of 1998, some returned amid less effective government attempts to control them.^[34]

TransJakarta bus service in Jakarta

The TransJakarta bus rapid transit service operates on seven reserved busway corridors in the city; connected seven main points of Jakarta, such as Blok M, Jakarta Kota, Pulo Gadung, Kali Deres, Lebak Bulus, Ragunan, and Kampung Rambutan. The first TransJakarta line, from Blok M to Jakarta Kota opened in January 2004.
An outer ring road is now being constructed and is partly operational from Cilincing-Cakung-Pasar Rebo-Pondok Pinang-Daan Mogot-Cengkareng. A toll road connects Jakarta to Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in the northwest of Jakarta. Connected via toll road is the port of Merak and Tangerang to the west, connected Bogor, Puncak to the south, and connected Bekasi, Cikarang, Karawang, Cikampek, Purwakarta, and Bandung to the east.

Rail and Waterway

The elevated Gambir station in Central Jakarta

Numerous railways serve Jakarta, connecting the city 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, Jakarta Kota, Jatinegara, Pasar Senen, Manggarai, and Tanah Abang. During peak hours, the number of passengers greatly exceeds the system's capacity, and crowding is common.
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 metro (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 delayed due to a lack of funds, and the project has been abandoned by the developer PT Jakarta Monorail in March 2008. The government is now looking for new investors.
On 30 November 2007, KRL(Commuter Train) Ciliwung Blue Line began operation.^[35] It serves Jakarta's circle line, which was used in the 80s. The fare price is Rp3500,00. It serves Manggarai, Sudirman, Karet, Tanah Abang, Duri, Angke, Kampung Bandan, Rajawali, Kemayoran, Pasar Senen, Gang Sentiong, Kramat, Pondok Jati, and Jatinegara. The train can carry 400 passengers.^[36]
On 6 June 2007, the city administration started to introduce the Waterway, a new river boat service along the Ciliwung River.^[33][37]

Air

Soekarno-Hatta International Airport (CGK) is Jakarta's major airport and Indonesia's primary international gateway. It is used by both private and commercial carriers connecting Jakarta with other Indonesian cities and international destinations, and is Indonesia's busiest airport handling more than 30 million passengers annually. A second airport, Halim Perdanakusuma International Airport (HLP) serves mostly private and VVIP/presidential flights.

Education

See also: List of universities in Indonesia

Jakarta is home to many universities. The biggest is University of Indonesia who has two location in Salemba and Depok. Beside UI, three others of government universities are Jakarta State University, Jakarta State Polytechnic, and Jakarta Islamic State University. Nowadays, the oldest of which is the privately-owned Universitas Nasional (UNAS).^[38] There are also many other private universities in Jakarta, such as Universitas Trisakti ^[39], Universitas Katolik Indonesia Atma Jaya, and Universitas Tarumanagara, which are three of the few largest private universities in Indonesia. STOVIA was the first high school in Jakarta, established since 1851.^[40] As the largest city and the capital, Jakarta houses a large number of students from various parts of Indonesia, many of whom reside in dormitories or home-stay residences. Similar to other large cities in developing Asian countries, there are many professional schools. For basic education, there are a variety of primary and secondary schools, tagged with public (national), private (national and bi-lingual national plus) and international schools. Two of the major international schools located in Jakarta are the Jakarta International School and the British International School (BIS).

Sports

1962's built Bung Karno Stadium is the largest stadium in South East Asia, capable of hosting 100,000 spectators

Since Soekarno's era, Jakarta has often been chosen as the venue for international sport events, such as being the host of Asian Games in 1962, host of Asian Cup 2007 and several times hosting the regional-scale Sea Games. Jakarta is also home of several professional soccer clubs. The most popular of them is Persija, which regularly plays its matches in the Lebak Bulus Stadium. Another premiere division team is Persitara. The champions of Galatama competition, Warna Agung and Jayakarta soccer club, also homebase in Jakarta. The biggest stadium in Jakarta is the Bung Karno Stadium with a capacity of 100,000 seats^[41]. For basketball, the Kelapa Gading Sport Mall in Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta, with a capacity of 7,000 seats, is the home arena of the Indonesian national basketball team. Many international basketball matches are played in this stadium. The Senayan sports complex comprises several sport venues, which include the Bung Karno soccer stadium, Madya Stadium, Istora Senayan, a shooting range, a tennis court and a golf driving range. The Senayan complex was built in 1959 to accommodate the Asian Games in 1962. In 2011, Jakarta, together with Bandung, will once again host the Southeast Asian Games. Preparations to host the event have started since the conclusion of the 2007 Thailand Southeast Asian Games. The Indonesian Polo Association, as the governing body of polo in Indonesia, have stated its commitment to host the SEA Games polo tournament in Indonesia after polo is confirmed to be absent in the 2009 Laos Southeast Asian Games. The Indonesian Polo Team were placed last in the 2007 Southeast Asian Games.

Media

Main article: Communications in Indonesia

Newspapers

Jakarta has several daily newspapers such as Bisnis Indonesia, Investor Daily, Jakarta Globe, The Jakarta Post, Indo Pos, Seputar Indonesia, Kompas, Media Indonesia, Republika, Pos Kota, Warta Kota, Lampu Merah and Suara Pembaruan.

Television

• Government television: TVRI.
• Private national television: TPI, RCTI, Metro TV, Indosiar, StarANTV, SCTV, Trans TV, TV ONE, Trans 7, and Global TV.
• Local television: Jak-TV, O-Channel, and Space-Toon.
• Cable television: First Media, TelkomVision
• Satellite television: Indovision, Astro Nusantara, TelkomVision, Aora TV

Radio

Main article: List of radio stations in Jakarta

Landmarks and Tourist Attractions

The National Monument

Jakarta has many of museum, such as National Museum of Indonesia, Fatahillah Museum, Puppet Museum, Satria Mandala Museum, and Sailor Museum. Jakarta has several landmarks like National Monument and Wisma 46 in Central Jakarta.
Some tourist sites are Taman Mini Indonesia Indah, Ragunan Zoo, Jakarta Old Town, and the favourite site is Ancol Dreamland, include Dunia Fantasi, Sea World, and Police Academy Show. Jakarta is one of most attractive shopping place in Southeast Asia beside Singapore. There are also many shopping malls with the big area (more than 100,000 metres square), including Plaza Senayan, Plaza Indonesia, Grand Indonesia, Mal Kelapa Gading, Pondok Indah Mall, Mal Taman Anggrek, and Pacific Place. Beside traditional market likes Blok M, Tanah Abang, Senen, Glodok, Mangga Dua, and Jatinegara. As shopping city, every June-July Jakarta conducts annual Jakarta Great Sale. It takes place in the malls and department stores across the city with many offering special discounts and deals.^[42]

Problems

A trash dump in Bantar Gebang, Bekasi

Like many big cities in developing countries, Jakarta suffers from major urbanization challenges. 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 second 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 weekdays is almost double that of weekends, due to the influx of residents residing in other areas of Jabodetabek. 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.^[43]

Bombings

Main article: 2009 Jakarta bombings

On 17 July 2009, two bombs were detonated in the Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels in central Jakarta, killing at least nine people and injuring more than 40. Jakarta was attacked by suicide bombers on 2000 in Indonesia Stock Exchange building, on 2003 in the J.W Marriott Hotel, and on 2004 in Australian Ambassy.^[44]

Sanitation

Surveys show that "less than a quarter of the population is fully served by improved water sources. The rest rely on a variety of sources, including rivers, lakes and private water vendors. Some 7.2 million people are [without clean water]."^[45]

Flooding

During the wet season, Jakarta suffers from flooding due to clogged sewage pipes and waterways, deforestation near rapidly urbanizing Bogor and Depok, and the fact that 40% of it is below sea level^{[citation needed]}. Major floods occurred in 1996^[46][47] when 5,000 hectares of land were flooded ^[48] and 2007.^[49] Losses from infrastructure damage and state revenue were at least 5.2 trillion rupiah (572 million US dollars) and at least 85 people were killed ^[50] and about 350,000 people forced from their homes.^[51]. Approximately 70% of Jakarta's total area was flooded with water up to four meters deep in parts of the city.^[52][53]

The informal sector

In September 2007, a new law was brought into effect which attempted to regulate aspects of public order. It forbids the giving of money to beggars, buskers and hawkers, bans squatter settlements on river banks and highways, and prohibits spitting and smoking on public transportation. Unauthorized people cleaning car windscreens and managing traffic at busy intersections will also be penalized. Critics of the new legislation claim that such laws will be difficult to enforce and it tends to ignore the desperate poverty of many of the capital's inhabitants.^[54]

Sister relationships

Jakarta has sister relationships with a number of towns and regions worldwide:

Beijing in PRC Berlin in Germany Budapest in Hungary Istanbul in Turkey Jeddah in Saudi Arabia

Los Angeles in United States Manchester in United Kingdom Manila in the Philippines New Mumbai in India New South Wales (state) in Australia

Paris in France Rotterdam in Netherlands Seoul in South Korea Tokyo in Japan Pyongyang in North Korea