Encyclopedia
Jakarta , formerly known as
Sunda Kelapa,
Jayakarta and
Batavia is the
capital and largest city of
Indonesia. Located on the northwest coast of the
island of
Java, it has an area of 661.52 kmē and a population of 8,792,000 . Jakarta has been developed for more than 490 years and currently is the ninth most dense city in the world with 44,283 people per square mile. It's metropolitan area is called Jabotabek and contains more than 23 million people, and it comprises an even larger Jakarta-
Bandung megalopolis.
Jakarta is served by the
Soekarno-Hatta International Airport. Since 2002, Jakarta, under the governance of Sutiyoso, has developed its new transportation system, which is known as "TransJakarta" or "Busway" and in 2007, Jakarta will establish its newest transportation system, the Jakarta Monorail. Jakarta also is the location of the Jakarta Stock Exchange and the
National Monument.
History
The first recorded settlement at what is now Jakarta was the port of origin can be traced to a Hindu settlement as early as the 4th century. By the 14th century, it was a major port for the
Hindu kingdom of Sunda.
The first
European fleet in 1513, which were four
Portuguese ships from
Malacca. Malacca had been conquered by
Alfonso d'Albuquerque in 1511, when they were looking for
spices and especially
pepper. The relationship between the
Kingdom of Sunda and Portugal became more intense when another Portuguese visited Sunda, named Enrique Leme with the intention to give a present. He was welcomed well in 1522 and because of that, the Portuguese received the right to build a warehouse and to expand the fort in Kalapa . This was regarded by the Sundanese as a consolidation of their position against the raging
Muslim troops from the rising power of the
Sultanate of Demak in Central Java.
After that, in 1527, the
Muslim troops which came from Cirebon and Demak, under the leadership of Fatahillah attacked Sunda Kingdom. The king was expecting the Portuguese to show up and help them to hold Fatahillah's army since they've had an agreement between Sunda and Portuguese. However, the Fatahillah's army succeeded and conquered the city on June 22, 1557 and Fatahillah deciced to change the name "Sunda Kelapa" into "Jayakarta" .
The follower of the Sultan of
Banten , Prince Jayawikarta was also majorly involved in the history of Jakarta. In 1596, many Dutch ships arrived in Jayakarta, with the intention of trading
spices, more or less was the same with Portuguese's intention. In case of this, the Prince took the
Dutch arrival seriously as the Dutch had build many
military buildings. Apparently, Prince Jayawikarta had a connection with the
British and allowed them to build houses directly across the Dutch's building in 1615. Later, when Prince Jayawikarta and the Dutch's relationship escalated, his sodiers attacked the Dutch fortress which covered two main buildings, named Nassau and Mauritus. With the help of 15 ships from the British, Prince Jayakarta's army was able to defeat the Dutch, which at that time was under the governance of
Jan Pieterszoon Coen in 1618. Since then, the Prince had a friendship agreement with the British.
Later, things changed for the prince, when the Sultan of Banten sent soldiers and summoned Prince Jayawikarta for establishing a close relationship with the British without an approval from the Banten authorities. Because of that, the relationship between Prince Jayawikarta and Banten government, as well as the British and Banten had weakened. Moreover, the prince decided to move to Tanara, a small place in Banten until he died. Prince's death has relieved the Dutch as they tried to establish a close relationship with Banten. In addition to this, the Dutch also had hired many soldiers from
Japan,
Germany, Scotia,
Denmark and
Belgium. Finally, they was able to conquer the city with a calm approach and changed the name into "Batavia", which remained as is for 300 years.
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 each headed by a mayor and one regency headed by a regent.
List of cities of Jakarta:
- Central Jakarta
- East Jakarta
- North Jakarta
- South Jakarta
- West Jakarta
The only regency of Jakarta is:
...
, formerly a subdistrict 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 is a term used to describe the descendants of the people living around Batavia from around the 18th century. The Betawi people 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 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 was completed in 1999, serving the route from Pulogadung to Kalideres. Busway serving both corridor routes has been operational since January 2002.
Despite the presence of many large, 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 passengers on certain roads. In 2005, this rule covered the Gatot Subroto Road.
Jakarta's road is notorious for the 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 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 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 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, 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.
Education
Jakarta is the home of many universities, the oldest of which is the
University of Indonesia , much of which has now relocated to Depok. Jakarta International School, Australian International School, The Gandhi Memorial International School and British International School are some of the international schools that provide education from primary school up to high school levels for Jakarta's small 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 such as Mandarin and computer skills.
...
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, bars and brothels and shopping malls.
Public transport is reasonably well-catered for with the main Gambir railway station and north to south
busway running along Thamrin Road, 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 financial district. 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 hospitals, has significantly expanded what is considered to be the practical border of Jakarta. Some popular shopping malls includes
Pondok Indah Mall, Mall Taman Anggrek, Plaza Indonesia, Mal Kelapa Gading, Megamall Pluit, Plaza Senayan, Entertainment X'nter, Citos and Senayan City.
Sports
Jakarta is the home of popular
football team
Persija, 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 volleyball there is also a sport mall in Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta, with capacity of 7,000 seats home to the national volleyball team of Indonesia. Many international volleyball matches happened in this stadium.
The Senayan sports complex is comprised of several sport venues, which include Bung Karno soccer stadium, Madya 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 1959.
Media
Newspapers
Jakarta has several daily newspaper such as
The Jakarta Post,
Kompas,
Media Indonesia,
Republika,
Pos Kota, and Suara Pembaruan.
Television
Government 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 1.2 million in 1960 to 5.8 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 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.
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:
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FranceReferences
See also
- Jakarta Riots of May 1998
- List of Governors of Jakarta
- Jakarta Old Town
External links
