Jakarta in brief

JAKARTA IN BRIEF

Jakarta is a huge city with several district articles containing sightseeing, restaurant, nightlife and accommodation listings — have a look at each of them.

Jakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia, located on the northwest of the island of Java. Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre and the most populous city not only in Indonesia but in Southeast Asia as a whole.

Although the city is known for its heavy traffic and high level of pollution it is filled with an exciting nightlife and vibrant shopping areas. The city is also the centre and melting pot of Indonesian culture which might be the thing for you to enjoy Jakarta.

One excellent surprise you'll find in Jakarta is that once you past the taxi drivers who offer their services at the airport and really meet the locals, you will find that the people are among the most friendly, hospitable, and helpful people you'll find on earth, if you keep away from the mini-bus drivers who are notorious for being the harshest on earth. However, understand that Jakarta being a melting pot, you are guaranteed to meet people of all sorts here.

Districts

Jakarta is administratively divided into the following named districts (note that these district except central Jakarta are very dense in terms of area):

• Central Jakarta (Jakarta Pusat) - The Heart of Jakarta's Administrative, Government and financial, an aptly named district and the site of Jakarta's symbol, the 132 metre Monas (Monumen Nasional) which is located in world's largest city square "Lapangan Merdeka". Surrounding the area lies the presidential palace, government building, Istiqal Mosque (the largest Mosque in Southeast Asia), Jakarta's gothic cathedral and also the National Museum of Indonesia. There are also various museums within this part of the city such as National Gallery of Indonesia or Jakarta Planetarium. The area is also home to Jakarta's major landmark Bundaran HI or the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle, which is where Jakarta's topmost exclusive malls are located. One small road in the area called Jalan Jaksa or Jaksa road, a backpacker street, houses numbers of budget hotels and restaurants for travelers.

• West Jakarta (Jakarta Barat) - Home to Jakarta's only surviving old town area "Jakarta Kota Tua" a small area consisting of Dutch colonial buildings, its streets are throng with hawker food, crafted good vendors, artist as well as Jakartans youth hanging around. This area is home to the Fatahillah Museum or Jakarta History Museum, and numbers of few other museums cafes converted from old Batavia's offices, banks, warehouses, and shops. It is also home to Jakarta's Chinatown called "Glodok" area. Glodok is more of the electronic promenade of Jakarta, however, is rich in street hawker food and Chinese cuisine restaurant as well as old Chinese temples complexes. There are a lot of shopping going on in this area as well, as it is home to Indonesia's largest shopping mall "Mall Taman Anggrek"(Orchid Garden Mall).

• South Jakarta (Jakarta Selatan) - Jakarta's middle-upper class and elite's residential area and is also part of Jakarta's business centre. Where you can find upscale shopping centres and malls, restaurants, hotels, bustling nightlife and entertainment centre and affluent residential areas. One of the famous areas in the south is Kemang, a street filled with lanes of restaurant, pubs, nightclubs, and boutique shops which are popular among the Jakartans and expats alike. The Senopati area is also a burgeoning food street with some of the city's hippest and best restaurants and lounges, quickly displacing Kemang as the place to go and be due to Kemang's unbearable weekend traffic and new flashier options. These are where the elite local's go to eat and drink. The SCBD, Central business district also has some great options for lunch and the best clubs and lounges in the city. South Jakarta is also home to Gelanggang Bung Karno stadium in Senayan sports complex area, which is Indonesia's largest stadium.

• East Jakarta (Jakarta Timur) - Industrial Quarter of the city, Location of Taman Mini Indonesia Indah where you can see parts of Indonesia's multiethnic community rounded up as 1 and the most populous city within Jakarta, also crafted good at Utan Kayu art community, Cibubur camping ground, and Jakarta's 2nd airport, Halim Perdanakusuma airport.

• North Jakarta (Jakarta Utara) - Jakarta's main harbor area famed for its seafood and is the gateway to Thousand Island province of Jakarta. The Place is home to the area filled with excitement and bustling entertainment The Ancol Bayfront City Asia's largest integrated tourism area consisting of the fascinating Dufan theme park, Sea World, art markets, eco parks, shopping mall and beachside entertainment. The beautiful Thousand Islands is located just across the sea of Jakarta, it can be crossed by jetty service and is a place where people could escape the city's heavy combustion and pollution and enjoy the beautiful beach with marine parks and world-class resorts.

• Thousand Islands (Kepulauan Seribu) - Off-shore the mainland, lie hundreds of small islands, some of which are inhabited, but many are not and some are part of Marine National Park. Excellent diving spots will be difficult to find as the more popular ones are perhaps have been destroyed by tourism. To reach the islands, simply go to Muara Karang Port where scheduled passenger boats leave every 7 am in the morning.

Satellite cities: 

The Jabodetabek mega-city of 30 million includes Jakarta and the following satellite cities:

• Bogor - Located about 40km South of Jakarta, Bogor has a beautiful palace with deer inhabiting its garden, one of the biggest world-class botanical garden, and golf course.
• Tangerang - Located in the west of Jakarta, Tangerang is the area consisting of Soekarno Hatta airport, golf course, residential area, industrial parks.
• Bekasi - Residential area, Industrial parks.
• Depok - Located in south of Jakarta, home to the University of Indonesia.

Understand

Jakarta's nickname among expats is the Big Durian, and like its fruit namesake, it's a shock at first sight (and smell): a sweltering, steaming, heaving mass of some 28 million people (as many as The Netherlands' plus Belgium's total population) packed into a vast urban sprawl. The so-called megapolitan is a charm for Indonesians, both as a business and a government center, as it is the most developed city in Indonesia. But all of this comes at a cost: the city has been struggling very hard to keep up with the urban growth. Major roads are packed up during rush hours, while the public transportation system has been unable to alleviate that much traffic. Housing the population has been a problem too and adding to that, the numerous people's mentality are yet to make the city a great place to live in, as dreamed of.

All that said, while initially a bit overwhelming, if you can withstand the pollution and can afford to indulge in its charms, you can discover what is also one of Asia's most exciting, most lively global cities. There is plenty to do in Jakarta, from green parks & historical centers, to cosmopolitan shopping, diverse gourmet choices, and one of the hippest nightlife in Southeast Asia!

History

The port of Sunda Kelapa dates to the 12th century, when it served the Sundanese kingdom of Pajajaran near present-day Bogor. The first Europeans to arrive were the Portuguese, who were given the permission by the Hindu Kingdom of Pakuan Pajajaran to erect a godown in 1522. Control was still firmly in local hands, and in 1527 the city was conquered by Prince Fatahillah, a Muslim prince from Cirebon, who changed the name to Jayakarta.

    

By the end of the 16th century, however, the Dutch (led by Jan Pieterszoon Coen) had pretty much taken over the port city, and the razing of a competing English fort in 1619 secured their hold on the island of Java. The Dutch razed the old Jayakarta port during their conquest and rebuilt the town with dutch style of town planning, fort and canals. Under the name Batavia, the new Dutch town became the capital of the Dutch East Indies and was known as the Queen of the East.

During these times the town flourishes as the center of the Dutch East Indies Trading Company and grow radpidly, and during this time as well that Chinese and Eurasian population grew within the city. In order to keep order and control the Dutch banned the native Javanese to live within the walled part of the city while encouraging Chinese immigrant to flock the commercial walled city with its canal. It is also known that after the Dutch conquest of Malacca, Significant number of Portuguese decent people from Malacca were taken as captive to Batavia and they live in area called "Kampung Tugu".

The old Batavia which were planned in Dutch planning and canal were not doing so well, in fact the canal itself became breeding ground for mosquitoes. The city centre became unhealthy and filthy and the city were nicknamed "The Cemetry of the Europeans, this is also the reason why the city grew more in land.

In 1740, Chinese settlers rebelled against the Dutch. The rebellion was put down harshly with the massacre of thousands of Chinese settlers. The remaining Chinese settlers were exiled to Sri Lanka.

In 1795, the Netherlands were invaded and occupied by France, and on March 17, 1798, the Batavian Republic, a satellite state of France, took over both VOC debts and assets. But on August 26, 1811, a British expedition led by Lord Minto defeated the French/Dutch troops in Jakarta, leading to a brief liberation and subsequent administration of Indonesia by the British (led by Sir Stamford Raffles of Singapore fame) in 1811-1816. In 1815, after the Congress of Vienna, Indonesia was officially handed over from the British to the Dutch government.

In the early 1800s most canals were filled in, the town was shifted 4 km inland and the Pearl of the Orient flourished once again.

In the 18th century, more than 60% of Batavia's population consisted of slaves working for the VOC. The slaves were mostly engaged to undertake housework, while working and living conditions were generally reasonable.[citation needed] Laws were enacted that protected slaves against overly-cruel actions from their masters; for example, Christian slaves were given freedom after the death of their masters, while some slaves were allowed to own a store and made money to buy their freedom. Sometimes, slaves fled and established gangs that would roam throughout the area. From the beginning of the VOC establishment in Batavia, until the colony became a fully-fledged town, the population of Batavia grew tremendously. At the beginning, Batavia consisted of approximately 50,000 inhabitants and, by the second half of the 19th century, Batavia consisted of 800,000 inhabitants. By the end of the VOC rule of Batavia, the population of Batavia had reached one million.

The name Jakarta was adopted as a short form of Jayakarta when the city was taken over by the Japanese in 1942. After the second world war, the Indonesian declared their independence at Koningsplein which is today's Merdeka Square. The Indonesian war of independence followed after the second World War, with the capital briefly shifted to Yogyakarta after the Dutch attacked. The war lasted until 1949, when the Dutch accepted Indonesian independence and handed back the town, which became Indonesia's capital again.

Since independence Jakarta's population has skyrocketed, thanks to migrants coming to the city in search of (illusive) wealth. The entire Jabotabek (Jakarta-Bogor-Tangerang-Bekasi-Depok) metropolitan region (now officially Jabodetabekjur last census count (2010) was 28 million people, a figure projected to have hit 30 million already. The official name of the city is Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta Raya (DKI Jakarta), meaning "Special Capital City Region".

Climate

Jakarta has a tropical monsoon climate and the average rainfall measures 1.816mm (71.4 inches). The city experiences very small seasonal variations, since the average 24-hour temperature ranges from 26.1°C (79°F) in January to 27.2°C (80.6°F) in May, while heat and humidity persist year round. Temperatures have never fallen below 18°C (65°F) or risen above 36°C (97°F). The majority of precipitation falls from November to April.

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