Jakarta

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Jakarta

This page is about the capital city of Indonesia. For The Apache Jakarta project, see Jakarta Project.

Jakarta (also Djakarta or DKI Jakarta, formerly Batavia, as well as Jayakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Located on the northwest coast of the island of Java, at , it has an area of 661.52 km² and a population of 8,792,000 (2004).

History

The first recorded settlement at what is now Jakarta was the port of Kalapa, near the mouth of the Ciliwung River. Its origin can be traced to a Hindu settlement as early as the 5th century. By the 12th century, it was a major port for the Hindu kingdom of Sunda. The Portuguese were reported to be the first Europeans to visit the port of Kalapa. A Hindu king granted Portuguese traders permission to build a fort at Kalapa in the early 16th century. Jakarta's port is still called Sunda Kelapa today, after this early settlement.

In 1527, the city was conquered by Fatahillah (or Faletehan), a young leader from a nearby kingdom from the north. Fatahillah changed the name Kalapa into Jayakarta (meaning "City of Victory" in Javanese) on 22 June, 1527. This particular date is regarded as the official birth date of Jakarta. The Dutch came to Jayakarta at the end of the 16th century. In 1619 the forces of the Dutch East India Company, led by Jan Pieterszoon Coen, conquered the city and renamed Jayakarta to Batavia, the Latin name for a tribe that lived in the Netherlands during Roman times. On March 4, 1621 the city government called Stad Batavia was formed. Batavia was the capital of the colonial Dutch East Indies. In the early 19th century, the city was expanded as the Dutch began moving to the south, to higher-elevation areas thought to be healthier. The British captured Java in 1811 and occupied the island for five years while the Netherlands were occupied with the Napoleonic Wars in Europe, before returning it to Dutch control.

With formal, direct rule by the Netherlands expanding to more parts of the archipelago during the nineteenth and early twentieth century, the importance of the colonial Batavia (Jakarta) increased. Dutch tactics to maintain control and tax revenue at times required nearly all exports from anywhere in the region to be shipped through the city, establishing for the city an overwhelming political and economic dominance that it retains today.

Japan took possession of the city in 1942 during World War II and renamed it Jakarta, to gain local favor. Following Japan's defeat in 1945, the Dutch reoccupied the city despite the declaration of independence by the Indonesians on August 17, 1945. Jakarta was the center of the Dutch effort to retain control over their former colony during the war of independence that ended with the establishment of Indonesia in 1949.

Administration

Officially, Jakarta is not a city but a province with special status as the capital of Indonesia and is hence headed by a governor instead of a mayor. Jakarta, as a province, is divided into five cities (kota) (formerly municipality (kotamadya)) each headed by a mayor (walikota) and one regency headed by a regent (bupati).

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 in Jakarta is:

Thousand Islands (Kepulauan Seribu), formerly a sub-district of North Jakarta.

Culture

As the economic and political capital of Indonesia, Jakarta attracts many foreign as well as domestic immigrants. As a result, Jakarta has a decidedly cosmopolitan flavor and a diverse culture. Many of the immigrants are from the other parts of Java, bringing along a mixture of dialects of the Javanese and Sundanese languages, as well as their traditional foods and customs. The Betawi (Orang Betawi, or "people of Batavia") is a term used to describe the descendants of the people living around Batavia from around the 17th century. Orang Betawi are mostly descended from various Southeast Asian ethnic groups brought or attracted to Batavia to meet labour needs, and include people from various parts of Indonesia. The language and culture of these immigrants are distinct from those of the Sundanese or Javanese.

There has also been a Chinese community in Jakarta for centuries. Officially they make up 6% of the Jakarta population, though this number may be under reported ^*.

Jakarta has several performance centers, such as the Senayan center. Traditional music is often found at high-class hotels, including wayang and gamelan performances. As the largest Indonesian city Jakarta has lured much regional talent to relocate in hope of finding a greater audience and more opportunities for success.

The concentration of wealth and political influence in the city means that it has much more noticeable foreign influence on its landscape and culture, an effect illustrated by the presence in the city of many major international fast-food chains, for example.

Transportation

There are railways throughout Jakarta; however, they are inadequate in providing transportation for the citizens of Jakarta. In peak hours, the number of passengers simply overloads the capacity provided. The railroad tracks connect Jakarta to its neighboring cities: 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, Manggarai, Tanah Abang and Jakarta Kota.

Buses and transport cars (angkutan kota/angkot) are also popular. Like trains, they also become overloaded during peak hours. In 2004, the government formed a busway system named TransJakarta; it serves the initial 1st corridor route running from Jakarta Kota to Blok M. The busway takes less than half an hour to traverse a route which would normally take more than an hour during peak hours. Construction of the 2nd and 3rd corridor routes of the busway is completed in 2005, serving the route from Pulogadung to Kalideres. Busway serving both corridor routes has been operational since January 2006.

Despite the presence of many large, wide boulevards, 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 vehicles carrying less than three passengers on certain roads. In 2005, this rule covers the areas of Sudirman and Gatot Subroto.

Jakarta's road is notorious for behaviour of the traffic; the rules of the road are broken with impunity as a simple bribe of a few US dollars will simply make all one's legal problems disappear. Furthermore in recent years the number of motorcycles on the streets has being growing almost exponentially, ensuring many a problem due to ill-disciplined motorcyclists.

Jakarta's transportation also depends on toll road. The major toll road is the inner ring road from Tanjung Priok-Cawang-Grogol-Tanjung Priok. The 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 north of Jakarta. Also connected via toll road is the port of Merak and Tangerang to the west, Serpong to the southwest, Depok and Bogor to the south, and Bekasi, Cibitung and Karawang, Purwakarta and eventually to Bandung to the east.

Two lines of the Jakarta Monorail are under construction: the green line serving Semanggi-Casablanca-Kuningan-Semanggi and the blue line serving Kampung Melayu-Casablanca-Tanah Abang-Roxy. In addition, there are plans for a two-line subway (MRT) system, with a north-south line between Kota and Fatmawati, 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 government is also considering waterbus ferries as a cheaper means of transportation along the canals in Jakarta.

The primary airport for Jakarta is Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, Soekarno-Hatta is one of Indonesia's two major international air gateways.

Cycle rickshaws, called becak, provide local transportation on 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 were 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 the rickshaws. 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.Azuma, Yoshifumi (2003). Urban peasants: beca drivers in Jakarta. Jakarta: Pustaka Sinar Harapan.

Education

Jakarta is the home of many universities, the oldest of which is the Universitas Indonesia (UI), much of which has now relocated to Depok. The UI has a long history of student activism, and many politicians and political activists are graduates from the university. The Jakarta International School, Australian International School or British International School are some of the international schools that provide education from primary school up to high school levels for Jakarta's large international community.

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 in a home-stay residence. Similarly to other large cities in developing Asian countries, there is a large number of professional schools teaching everything from English as a second language, Mandarin, computer skills, accounting, etc.

Recreational places

Monas (National Monument)
Ragunan Zoo
Taman Impian Jaya Ancol (Ancol Dreamland)
Taman Ismail Marzuki (Indonesian Arts Center)
Taman Mini Indonesia Indah
Thousand Islands
Taman Ria Senayan
Sea World

Tourist areas

The center of Jakarta, Central Jakarta, offers some of the more convenient places for tourists to stay whilst visiting Jakarta. With an abundance of hotels in the area to suit all budgets It also has a wide selection of restaurants and bars and some quality shopping options including Plaza Indonesia and Entertainment X'nter. While nearby Plaza Senayan houses designer boutiques, the newly opened Plaza Senayan Arcadia has several chic restaurants and health center. Tourists looking for computers and other electronic goods can visit Ratu Plaza in South Jakarta.

Public transport is reasonably well catered for with the main Gambir railway station and north to south busway running along Jln. Thamrin, for journeys not covered by the busway taxis are cheap and plentiful.

The area is also home to Jalan Jaksa, the main backpacker street in Jakarta.

Shopping malls

Jakarta has more shopping venues than other cities of Indonesia. The biggest mall is located in North Jakarta in the center of the residential area. While these malls are relatively expensive to be accessible to many Jakartans, they dominate the high-end retail industry. Recent development of satellite cities in the surrounding areas, usually built around their own mega malls, parks, entertainment centers, and in some instances schools, has significantly expanded what is considered to be the practical border of Jakarta.

Some popular shopping malls includes Mal Taman Anggrek, Mal Kelapa Gading, Megamall, Plaza Senayan, Senayan City, Pondok Indah Mall , Plaza Indonesia , Mal Artha Gading and Ratu Plaza.

Sports

Jakarta is the home of popular football team Persija Jakarta, which regularly plays its matches in the stadium of Lebak Bulus. The biggest stadium is Bung Karno Stadium. With a capacity of more than 100,000 seats, it is one of the biggest stadiums in the world.

In basketball there is also Sport Mall in Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta, with capacity of 10,000 seats home to the national basketball team of Indonesia. Many international basketball matches happened in this stadium.

The Senayan sports complex is comprised of several sport venues, which include Bung Karno soccer stadium, Stadion Madya athletic stadium, Istora Senayan, a shooting range, a tennis court and a golf driving range. The Senayan complex was built to accommodate the Asian Games in 1962.

Media

Newspapers

Jakarta has several daily newspaper such as The Jakarta Post, Pos Kota, Kompas, and Media Indonesia.

Television

Government national television: TVRI.

Private national television: TPI, RCTI, Metro TV, Indosiar, antv, SCTV, Trans TV, Lativi, TV7, and Global TV.

Local television: Jak-TV, O-Channel, and Space-Toon.

Radio

Problems

Like many big cities in developing countries, Jakarta suffers from major urbanization problems. The population has risen sharply from 2.7 million in 1960 to 8.3 million in 2000, counting only its legal residents. The rapid population growth has outgrown the government's ability to provide basic needs for its residents. As the biggest economy in Indonesia, Jakarta has attracted a large number of workers from its surrounding areas. The population during weekdays is almost double that of weeknights or weekends, due to the influx of workers 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 workday.

During the wet season, Jakarta suffers from flooding due to clogged sewage pipes and waterways. Rainforest depletion due to rapid urbanization on the highland areas south of Jakarta near Bogor and Depok has also contributed to the floods.

Sister relationships

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

External links

Capitals in Asia | Cities in Indonesia | Coastal cities | Jakarta | Provinces of Indonesia

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