Jakarta, Indonesia News

About Jakarta, Indonesia

Jakarta is the financial center of Indonesia, and it is the biggest port of entry to other parts of Indonesia. It is a metropolitan city which reflects the economic, political, social and industrial development of the nation.

Jakarta accounts for roughly one-fourth of Indonesia's trade and services and two-thirds of its banking and financial sectors.

This enormous and vibrant city actually has quite humble roots, starting life as a small harbour town called Sunda Kelapa, which is located at the mouth of the Ciliwung River. Sunda Kelapa is still the name for the old port in the north of the city that hasn’t changed for centuries.

Jakarta was officially founded on June 22, 527 under the name of Jayakarta, the city has undergone a number of name changes, invasions and improvements. Under Dutch control, it was called Batavia which later changed to Jakarta when the Japanese came.

Jakarta is the centre of government, business, industry, and fashion for some two hundred million people spread across the entire archipelago, as well as a new center of commerce, entertainment and culture.

Jakarta is home for 12 million people who come from different ethnic groups.

It presents a mini Indonesia and the nation’s motto: "Unity in Diversity" for it complete and good combination of ethnics, languages and dialects, cultures and religion which live in the capital city.

Jakarta is the home of many universities, the oldest of which are state-run University of Indonesia(UI) and the privately-owned Universitas Nasional (UNAS).

There are also many other private universities in Jakarta. 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 home-stay residences.

Similar to other large cities in developing Asian countries, there are many professional schools. For basic education, there are a variety of primary and secondary schools, tagged with public (national), private (national and bi-lingual national plus) and international schools.

Two of the major international schools located in Jakarta are the Jakarta International School and the Gandhi Memorial International School. It is an IASAS school.

Other Major Cities:

• Surabaya
• Bandung
• Medan
• Bekasi
• Tangerang
• Semarang
• Depok
• Palembang
• Makasar
• Bogor
• Bandar Lampung
• Malang