Jakarta
(2000 pop. 8.4 million). The Indonesian metropolis of Jakarta is situated on the northwest coast of Java and covers a territory of approximately 660 square kilometers. The present Indonesian capital has a history of nearly 500 years. It sprang up around a bustling pepper-trading port called Sunda Kelapa. In 1522 the Portuguese arrived, but before long they were driven out and the city was renamed Jayakarta, meaning "victorious city." For almost 350 years it was the center of Dutch colonial rule, known as Batavia. In 1942 the Japanese invaded Java, and Batavia's name was changed back to Jayakarta. After World War II the Dutch returned, but in 1949, when Indonesian independence was eventually achieved, Indonesians made Jakarta the capital of the new republic, abbreviating its old name.
At that time Jakarta had a population of 900,000. Today the population is over 8 million, having increased almost tenfold. The population of greater Jakarta, the city plus the surrounding districts, is about 17 million.
As Jakarta has attracted people from many other parts of Indonesia and from abroad, it is a cosmopolitan city with a culture of its own. Over the last fifteen years Jakarta has undergone great changes, but it is still a place of extremes, where wide avenues intersect with unpaved streets and modern buildings stand a few blocks from overcrowded shacks. The city is sometimes under water for days because the canals, built by the Dutch to prevent flooding in below–sea level sections, cannot hold the pouring monsoon rains.
Jakarta is the main economic center of Indonesia. Engineering is the dominant sector of Jakarta's heavy industry, including shipbuilding, transport equipment, electrical and electronics products. Manufacturing includes rubber, chemicals, paper, and timber products. Textile and food industries are well developed. Jakarta has the principal Indonesian seaport of international trade, exporting rubber, tin, coffee, palm oil, and petroleum. Jakarta's Sukarno-Hatta International Airport is the center of international air traffic in Indonesia. The Presidential Palace, the army headquarters, the National Museum, and other governmental buildings are located in Jakarta.
Further Reading
Jellinek, Lea. (1991) The Wheel of Fortune: The History of a Poor Community in Jakarta. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii Press.
Marcussen, Lars. (1990) Third World Housing in Social and Spatial Development: The Case of Jakarta. Brookfield, VT: Avebury.
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