Jakarta, Indonesia

According to abbreviationfinder, Jakarta is the Indonesian political, industrial and financial center. Considered the capital and most populous city and the eleventh most populated city on the planet and its metropolitan area is known as Jabodetabek. Bahasa Indonesia is the official language. The people are predominantly Muslim, minority religious groups are Christians, Hindus and Buddhists.

Geography

Jakarta is located on the island of Java. The city sits above sea level, which favors the formation of the usual floods. The southern part of the city is more mountainous. Jakarta is geographically bordered by Java Barat province to the east and Banten to the west. Indonesia is an archipelago of 17,000 islands with an area of about 1.92 million square kilometers.

The Thousands of Islands (Kepulauan Seribu, in Indonesian, and Thousand Islands, in English), which are a part of the administrative region of Jakarta, are located in Jakarta Bay. The 105 islands that form them extend 45 km north of the city, although the closest island is only a few kilometers from the mainland.

Hydrography

There are approximately 13 rivers that flow through Jakarta, mostly from the mountainous southern parts of the city to the north and the Java Sea. The most important river is the Ciliwung, which divides the city into two areas: east and west.

Climate

Its climate is equatorial. Although Indonesia is hot and humid throughout the year, the official rainy season runs from October to August and is characterized by heavy rain storms. The city has high levels of humidity and the daily temperature ranges from 25 ° C to 38 ° C in the lowlands. Higher altitudes enjoy colder conditions Being located in the western part of Indonesia, its wettest season is January with average monthly rainfall of 350 mm, while its driest season is August, with an average of 60 mm.

Population

A population of 8.49 million people is concentrated in an area of ​​650 km², adding up to 18.6 million in its metropolitan area. See population of Indonesia.

Economy and development

It maintains good economic development through its main connection links with the exterior, which are the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport and the Tanjung Priok seaport.

Under the Sutiyoso government, since 2004, and the city launched a new bus system called TransJakarta and in 2007 its monorail was abandoned.

In Jakarta you can find the Indonesian Stock Exchange, the Bank of Indonesia and the Monumen Nasional or Tugu Monas, the tower that symbolizes the independence of Indonesia.

Capital district

It obtained a status roughly equivalent to that of a state or province in 1966, when it was declared a capital district (Daerah khusus ibukota.

Lieutenant General Ali Sadikin served as governor from that time until 1977; he rehabilitated roads and bridges, encouraged the arts, built several hospitals, and a large number of new schools. It also empowered slum dwellers for new development projects and tried to remove the ban on rickshaws and street vendors. He also began to control migration to the city in order to curb overcrowding and poverty. Land redistribution and foreign investment contributed to a real estate boom that changed the face of the city.

Administration

Jakarta is not a city but a province with the special status of the capital of Indonesia. Its administration is like that of any other Indonesian city. For example: Jakarta has a governor (instead of a mayor), and it is divided into several regions with their own administrative systems. Jakarta as a province is divided into five cities (kota), formerly municipalities, each led by a mayor, and a regency (kabupaten) led by a regent. In August 2007, Jakarta held its first governor elections, which were won by Fauzi Bowo. The city governors are previously elected by the local parliaments. This is part of the Indonesian government’s drive to decentralize politics, holding direct local elections in some places.

Society

As the political and economic capital of Indonesia, Jakarta is a cosmopolitan city with a diverse culture that attracts many foreign and domestic tourists. For this reason, many of the city’s immigrants come from different parts of the island of Java, bringing with them a mixture of dialects of the Javanese and Sundanese languages, as well as their own typical foods and products. It is a bustling urban metropolis, known for its overcrowding, traffic saturation, and income disparity.

The betawi (Orang Betawi, or Batavian people) is a term used to describe the descendants of the population living around Batavia and recognized as a tribe since the 18th-19th century. The Betawi are mostly descendants of South Asian ethnic groups drawn to Batavia for work needs and include people from various parts of Indonesia. The language and culture of these immigrants are different from those of Sundanese or Javanese. The language is more based on a dialect of the Eastern Malays and enriched by loanwords from Javanese, Mandarin Chinese and Arabic. Today, the Jakarta dialects used by the population in the city are loosely based on the Betawi language.

There is also a notable Chinese community in Jakarta that has been going on for several centuries. Officially they represent 6% of Jakarta’s population, although that estimate may be somewhat low.