Jakarta : The Capital of Indonesia

 

Jakarta, officially known as the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (Indonesian : Daerah Khusus Ibu Kota Jakarta), is the capital and largest city of Indonesia, and one of the most populous urban agglomerations in the world. Located on the northwest coast of Java, Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre, and with a population of 9,761,407 as of December 2012, it is the most populous city in Indonesia and in Southeast Asia. The official metropolitan area, known as Jabodetabek (a name formed by combining the initial syllables of Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang and Bekasi), is the second largest in the world, yet the metropolis's suburbs still continue beyond it. The metropolitan has an area of 4,383.53 square kilometres (1,692.49 sq mi) and population of well over 28 million. Jakarta is listed as a global city in the 2008 Globalization and World Cities Study Group and Network (GaWC) research. Based on survey by Brooking Institute, in 2011 growth of economic of Jakarta ranked 17th among the world's 200 largest cities, a jump from its 2007 ranking of 171. Jakarta has grown more rapidly than Kuala Lumpur, Beijing and Bangkok.

In 2014 A.T. Kearney as Global consultant released the Global Cities Index, which also includes the Emerging Cities Outlook 2014 which mentioned Jakarta as rank first among 35 cities. Jakarta has a bustling luxury property market. Knight Frank, a global real estate consultancy based in London, reported in 2014 that Jakarta offers the highest return on high-end property investment in 2013 as compared to any other cities in the world.

Established in the fourth century, the city became an important trading port for the Kingdom of Sunda. It was the de facto capital of the Dutch East Indies (known as Batavia at that time) and has continued as the capital of Indonesia since the country's independence was declared in 1945.

The city is the seat of the ASEAN Secretariat. Jakarta is served by theSoekarno-Hatta International Airport, Halim Perdanakusuma Airport and Tanjung Priok Harbour; it is connected by several intercity andcommuter railways, and served by several bus lines running on reserved busways.