Economy
The western part of the city is home to many industrial parks and factories. The port of Semarang is located on the north coast and it is the main shipping port for the province of Central Java. Many small manufacturers are located in Semarang, producing goods such as textiles, furniture, and processed foods. Large companies, such as
Kubota, is a tractor and heavy equipment manufacturer based in Osaka, Japan. One of its notable contributions was to the construction of the Solar Ark. The company was established in 1890.The company produces many products including:...
and
Coca-ColaCoca-Cola is a carbonated soft drink sold in stores, restaurants, and vending machines in more than 200 countries. It is produced by The Coca-Cola Company of Atlanta, Georgia, and is often referred to simply as Coke...
, also have plants in Semarang or its outer towns.
Many major banks in Indonesia have large offices in Semarang. These include
BCABank Central Asia is an Indonesian bank founded on August 10, 1955.The Asian monetary crisis in 1997 had a tremendous impact on Indonesia’s entire banking system. In particular, it affected BCA’s cash flow and even threatened its survival. Panic rush forced the bank to seek assistance from the...
,
BNIBank Negara Indonesia , commonly known as BNI, is an Indonesian bank. It branches primarily in Indonesia, but it can also found in Singapore, Hong Kong, Tokyo, London and New York. It had 1,000 branches and 9 million customers in 2006. It is quoted on the Indonesia Stock Exchange as...
, Panin Bank,
HSBCHSBC Holdings plc is a global banking and financial services company headquartered in Canary Wharf, London, United Kingdom. it is the world's second-largest banking and financial services group and second-largest public company according to a composite measure by Forbes magazine...
, Permata, and
Bank MandiriBank Mandiri , headquartered in Jakarta, is the largest bank in Indonesia in term of assets, loans and deposits. Total assets as of Q2 2010 were IDR 402.1 trillion . It also has Capital Adequacy Ratio of 23% , Return on Asset of 0.71 %, and Return on Equity of 7.38 %...
. Most of these offices are located in the center of the city, especially around Jalan Pandanaran and Jalan Pemuda.
Hospitality is becoming increasingly important in Semarang. It is home to about a dozen upscale hotels that cater to business travelers and tourists, including Hotel Santika Premiere, Hotel Novotel, Hotel Horison Semarang, Hotel Ibis, Hotel Pandanaran, Hotel Ciputra Semarang, Hotel Ciputra, Grand Candi Hotel, Quest Aston Semarang, Patra Jasa and Hotel Gumaya.
The majority of stores in Semarang are small, family-owned businesses. Home consumer spending is mostly split between traditional wet markets ("Pasar") for locally-sourced fresh produce (fish, meat, vegetables) and western-style malls and supermarkets for manufactured, finished products (dry goods).
Pasar Johar,
Pasar Gang Baru,
Pasar Jatingaleh, and
Pasar Jati are examples of traditional wet markets. Hypermart, ADA Swalayan, Giant, and now Carrefour are the larger supermarket/department store chains in Semarang.
CarrefourCarrefour S.A. is an international hypermarket chain headquartered in Levallois-Perret, France. It is one of the largest hypermarket chains in the world...
, a French chain, opened its first store in Central Java at DP Mall in Semarang. The other two malls are Ciputra Mall and the Java Supermall. A fourth mall,
ParagonA paragon is a large, flawless diamond. The title is now used figuratively to denote a model of excellence or perfection of any kind; one having no equal; a perfect embodiment of a concept.Paragon may also refer to:-Places:...
, is the largest shopping center in Central Java Province.
Air
Semarang is served by Achmad Yani International Airport, with daily flights to other major Indonesian cities as well as to
SingaporeSingapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
.
Road
TaxisA taxicab, also taxi or cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice...
are widely available. The primary means of public transportation is by minibus, called "bis." These tend to be slow, old, and dilapidated. The better minibuses are the blue-colored ones fielded by the nationally-owned Damri company. Also widely available are the orange or yellow-colored converted minivans called
angkot (from
angkutan = transportation and
kota = city). Angkot serve certain routes throughout the city and are operated privately. Though cheap, they are not usually known for being comfortable. Their fares are not fixed, and charged according to an unspoken but generally accepted consensus of fare to distance ratios, a confusing system which takes familiarity and time to learn. Semarang's two largest bus terminals are Mangkang and Terboyo.
A
bus rapid transitBus rapid transit is a term applied to a variety of public transportation systems using buses to provide faster, more efficient service than an ordinary bus line. Often this is achieved by making improvements to existing infrastructure, vehicles and scheduling...
serves Semarang, called Trans Semarang.
Semarang has a toll road,
Jalan Tol or the Semarang Artery. Currently, Semarang-Solo Toll Road is under construction.
Semarang is located in
Indonesian National Route 1Indonesian National Route 1 is a major road in Java, Indonesia. It passes through 5 provinces along the north coast , Banten, Jakarta, West Java, Central Java and East Java. It connects Merak and Ketapang. Merak is a ferry terminal to Sumatra and Ketapang is ferry terminal to Bali. Besides the...
, that connects it to Merak and Ketapang (
BanyuwangiThe Regency of Banyuwangi is located at the easternmost end of the Indonesian island of Java and it is a very strategic area for those who want to go to Bali, since it also serves as an important ferry port between Java and Bali. It is surrounded by mountains and forests to the west; by sea to the...
).
Indonesian National Route 14Indonesian National Route 14 starts from Semarang on the north coast of Java and ends at Yogyakarta to the south.It passes through spectacular mountain scenery as it proceeds through the Kedu Plain between the Merapi - Merbabu complex to the east, and Sumbing to the west.-Route:Semarang – Ungaran...
towards Bawen starts here.
Railway
Semarang played a key role in railway history of Indonesia. It is the place where the first railway network was built in Indonesia. The railway connects Kemijen and Tanggung, and opened for public in August 10, 1867. In Dutch colonial era, there was a tram system in Semarang before being dismantled in early
1940sFile:1940s decade montage.png|Above title bar: events which happened during World War II : From left to right: Troops in an LCVP landing craft approaching "Omaha" Beach on "D-Day"; Adolf Hitler visits Paris, soon after the Battle of France; The Holocaust occurred during the war as Nazi Germany...
.
There are two large train stations in Semarang, Semarang Poncol and Semarang Tawang. The two stations operate train service to Tegal, Slawi, Bandung, Jakarta, Surakarta, Yogyakarta, Cepu, Bojonegoro, Jombang, Kediri, Malang, and Surabaya. Other smaller train stations are Mangkang, Jerakah, and Alastuwa.
Culture
The population of Semarang is predominantly Javanese, though with smaller numbers of people from many regions in Indonesia. The city is known for its large ethnically Chinese population. The main languages spoken are
IndonesianIndonesian is the official language of Indonesia. Indonesian is a normative form of the Riau Islands dialect of Malay, an Austronesian language which has been used as a lingua franca in the Indonesian archipelago for centuries....
and
JavaneseJavanese language is the language of the Javanese people from the central and eastern parts of the island of Java, in Indonesia. In addition, there are also some pockets of Javanese speakers in the northern coast of western Java...
. Sometimes
Hokkien ChineseHokkien is a Hokkien word corresponding to Standard Chinese "Fujian". It may refer to:* Hokkien dialect, a dialect of Min Nan Chinese spoken in Southern Fujian , Taiwan, South-east Asia, and elsewhere....
or Mandarin is spoken among the Chinese residence.
Education
Semarang is home to several notable universities and high schools. A notable state-owned university at Semarang is
Diponegoro UniversityDiponegoro University is a state university located in Semarang, Central Java, Indonesia and a member of IDGHE. Founded in 1956 as a private university by Semarang University Foundation, it is a pioneer of higher learning institutions in the Indonesia and the first and oldest corporation in...
and Universitas Negeri Semarang or, in English, the Semarang State University. Other notable universities are Soegijapranata Catholic University, Sultan Agung Islamic University, and Dian Nuswantoro University. Semarang has some medical schools that offer school of medicine, nursing etc., such as
Faculty of Medicine Diponegoro UniversityFaculty of Medicine, Diponegoro University is one of the leading Medical Schools in Indonesia. The faculty is part of Diponegoro University, established in October 1st, 1961 and running in affiliation with Dr. Kariadi Hospital. Regarding to the THES-QS Top World University Rankings in 2007, for...
, Faculty of Medicine UNISSULA, and Faculty of Medicine UNIMUS. Among the other schools is Karangturi, a national private school which has facilities for children in Kindergarten through senior high school. Karangturi is known for having a high proportion of Chinese-Indonesian students.
Sights, temples and monuments
As a result of its large ethnically Chinese population, the city boasts several Chinese temples. These include Sam Po Kong (Gedung Batu), built in honour of the Chinese Great Admiral
Zheng HeZheng He , also known as Ma Sanbao and Hajji Mahmud Shamsuddin was a Hui-Chinese mariner, explorer, diplomat and fleet admiral, who commanded voyages to Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and East Africa, collectively referred to as the Voyages of Zheng He or Voyages of Cheng Ho from...
who visited the area in 1405. A 10.7 meter-tall
bronzeBronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive. It is hard and brittle, and it was particularly significant in antiquity, so much so that the Bronze Age was named after the metal...
statue about Rp.1 billion ($115,000) with four languages (Indonesian language, English, Chinese and Japanese) of his brief history will be complemented the temple. The others are Tay Kak Sie Temple. Blenduk Church, a 1753 Protestant church built by the Dutch, is located in the old town (called "Oudstad"). Tugu Muda (Youth Monument), a monument to heroes of Indonesia's independence struggle, is located in a large roundabout surrounded by famous buildings such as Gedung Lawang Sewu and the Semarang Cathedral. Jalan Pemuda, one of the roads leading into the roundabout, is a major shopping street. The Cathedral of the Holy Rosary is the seat of the
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Semarang.
Semarang River
As Singapore River, Semarang is constructing Semarang River at Banjir Kanal Barat (Garang River) near Karangayu Bridge. In medio July 2011, gardens in river banks and some traditional boats have available to use. The project will be finished in 2013 with river gardens, trotoars, gardens lighting, water activities, art sites, sport sites and balcony-and-stairs for sightseeing.
Food
Semarang is widely known for its Bandeng presto (pressure-cooked milkfish),
LumpiaLumpia are pastries of Chinese origin similar to fresh popiah or fried spring rolls popular in Southeast Asia. The term lumpia derives from Hokkien lunpia , which is an alternate term for popiah...
,
WingkoWingko, which is sometimes called Wingko Babat, is a traditional Javanese pancake-like snack made from coconut.It is a kind of cake made mainly of coconut and other ingredients. Wingko is popular especially along the north coast of Java island. It is sold mostly by peddlers on trains, at bus...
, Tahu Gimbal,and Ganjel Rel
The era of Classical Indische Town (1678–1870)
Semarang was handed by the Sultan of Mataram to the Dutch East Indies in 1678. The city was pictured as a small settlement with a pious Muslim area called
Kauman, a Chinese quarter, and a Dutch fortress. The fortress has a pentagonal form with only one gate in the south and five monitoring towers to protect the Dutch settlement from rebellion actions, segregating the spaces between Dutch settlement and other areas. In fact, the city of Semarang was only referred to the Dutch quarter while the other ethnic settlement were considered as villages outside the city boundary. The city, known as de Europeeshe Buurt, was built in classical European style with church located in the centre, wide boulevards and streets skirted by beautiful villas. According to Purwanto (2005), the urban and architectural form of this settlement is very similar to the design principles applied in many Dutch cities, which begun to concern on the urban beautification.
Due to the long and costly Java War, there were not much of funding from the Dutch East Indies government, effecting the development of Semarang. The majority of land was used for rice fields and the only small improvement was the development of surrounding fortress. Although less developed, Semarang has a fairly arranged city system, in which urban activities were concentrated along the river and the settlement was linked to a market where different ethnic groups met to trade. The existence of the market, in the later years, become a primary element and a generator of urban economic growths.
An important influence on urban growth was the Great Mail Road project in the 1847, which connected all the cities in northern coast of Central and East Java and made Semarang as the trade centre of agricultural production. The project was soon followed by the development of the Netherlands Indies railway and the connecting roads into the inner city of Semarang at the end of nineteenth century. Colombijn (2002) marked the development as the shift of urban functions, from the former river orientation to all services facing the roads.
The growth of the modern city (1870–1922)
Improved communication, as the result of the Mail and Railway projects, had brought an economic booming for the city in the 1870s. There were hospital, churches, hotels, and large houses built along the new main roads;
Bojongscheweg,
Pontjolscheweg, and Mataram street, causing denser population in the ethnic settlements and creating the urban kampong. There was also a city tram connecting the inner city to and fro the suburbs in 1892. In addition, the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 improved the global economic condition, elevating trade between Europe and Asia as well as opening new opportunities for city development. The government of Dutch East Indies had allowed private sectors to invest capital in agribusiness and generated various forms of employment, which affected on the deformation of the former Dutch quarter into offices area.
Urban growth had made acutely dense the urban kampong, reaching the number of 1000 inhabitants per hectare and degrading the quality of living condition. In this early twentieth century, mortality rate was very high due to the overcrowding and lack of hygiene that triggered the invasion of cholera and tuberculosis. Cobban (1993) noted the ethical movement of kampongverbetering led by Henry Tillema in 1913 and the concern of the Advisor for Decentralisation for kampong improvement through the betterment of public toilets, drainage, and the planning of public housing. The municipal council of Semarang had also seen the importance to separate residential area from the city as working place.
In 1917, a healthy housing project was implemented in the Southern part of Semarang called Candi Baru. Thomas Karsten, the advisor for city planning, transformed the concept of ethnic segregation that divided previous urban settlements into a new housing district plan based on economic classes. Although practically the three ethnic groups were also divided into three economic classes where the Dutch and rich Chinese occupied the largest lots in the housing district, Karsten had effectively emerged the developed district by integrating the road network, introducing newly improved public wash and bathing, squares and sporting facilities that can be utilised communally. Following the Candi Baru, there were three other housing plans between 1916–1919 to accommodate 55% population increase in Semarang; 45,000 Javanese, 8500 Chinese and 7000 Europeans. Karsten marked a new approach to town planning which emphasis on the aesthetic, practical and social requirements, articulated not in terms of racial terms but economic zones.
Driven by economic growth and spatial city planning, the city had doubled in size and expanded to the south by the 1920s, creating a nucleus of a metropolis where multi-ethnic groups lived and traded in the city. The villages in the suburbs such as Jomblang and Jatingaleh steadily became the satellite towns of Semarang, more populated with a bigger market area. Before the invasion of Japan in 1942, Semarang had already become the capital of Central Java Province, as the result of trade and industrial success and spatial planning.
Notable people born in Semarang
- Purnomo Yusgiantoro
Purnomo Yusgiantoro , is a former president-secretary general of OPEC, former Indonesian Minister of Energy for three presidents, and Minister of Defense in the Second United Indonesia Cabinet....
, politician
- Agung Laksono
Agung Laksono is the coordinating minister for people's welfare in the Second United Indonesia Cabinet and a member of the Golkar Party. Previously, he was the Speaker of Indonesia People's Representative Council from 2004 to 2009...
, politician
- Willem Einthoven
Willem Einthoven was a Dutch doctor and physiologist. He invented the first practical electrocardiogram in 1903 and received the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1924 for it....
, medical doctor, invented the ECG, Nobel price winner
- Conrad Emil Lambert Helfrich
Luitenant-Admiraal Conrad Emil Lambert Helfrich, GNL, KCB of the Royal Netherlands Navy was a leading Dutch naval figure of World War II. He was born in Semarang....
, Dutch admiral
- Hubertus van Mook, Dutch politician
- Rob Nieuwenhuys
Rob Nieuwenhuys was a Dutch writer of Indo descent. The son of a 'Totok' Dutchman and an Indo-European mother, he and his younger brother Roelof, grew up in Batavia, where his father was the managing director of the renowned Hotel des Indes .His Indies childhood profoundly influenced his life...
, literary historian and author.
- P.F.Dahler
Pieter Frederich Dahler , more commonly known as P.F. Dahler or Frits Dahler, was one of the leading Indo politicians and activists advocating integration of the native Indo-European community into the indigenous society of the Dutch East Indies...
, politician, member BPUPKI.
- Tukul Arwana
Tukul Riyanto is an Indonesian comedian who presents the Bukan Empat Mata chatshow on Trans 7.-Early life:Tukul was born in Semarang, Central Java. When he was young, he often appeared on stage during celebrations of Indonesia's Independence Day. He also worked as driver...
, comedian who borrowed the TV Show program in Bukan Empat Mata
- Ki Narto Sabdo, Wayang
Wayang is a Javanese word for theatre . When the term is used to refer to kinds of puppet theatre, sometimes the puppet itself is referred to as wayang...
puppeter
- Hanako Fujii Djajaputra, Fashion Designer
- Raden Saleh
Raden Saleh Sjarif Boestaman is one of the best known painters from Indonesia and a pioneer of modern Indonesian art....
, painter
External links
Official website Semarang City Guide Semarang City Information and Promo