Jakarta's Coat of Arms

Jakarta (/dʒəˈkɑːrtə/; Indonesian pronunciation: [dʒaˈkarta] ^ⓘ, Betawi: Jakarté), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (Indonesian: Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta, abbr. DKI Jakarta) and formerly Batavia, is the capital (until August 17, 2024) and largest metropolis of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta is the largest metropole in Southeast Asia, and serves as the diplomatic capital of ASEAN. Jakarta is bordered by two provinces: West Java to the south and east; and, since 2000, Banten to the west. Its coastline faces the Java Sea to the north, and it shares a maritime border with Lampung to the west. Jakarta's metropolitan area is ASEAN's second largest economy after Singapore.

Jakarta is the economic, cultural, and political centre of Indonesia. It possesses a province-level status and has a population of 10,679,951 as of mid-2022. Although Jakarta extends over only 661.23 km² (255.30 sq mi) and thus has the smallest area of any Indonesian province, its metropolitan area covers 9,957.08 km² (3,844.45 sq mi), which includes the satellite cities of Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, South Tangerang, and Bekasi, and has an estimated population of 35 million , making it the largest urban area in Indonesia and the second-largest in the world (after Tokyo). Jakarta ranks first among the Indonesian provinces in the human development index. Jakarta's business and employment opportunities, along with its ability to offer a potentially higher standard of living compared to other parts of the country, have attracted migrants from across the Indonesian archipelago, making it a melting pot of numerous cultures.

Jakarta is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Southeast Asia. Established in the fourth century as Sunda Kelapa, the city became an important trading port for the Sunda Kingdom. At one time, it was the de facto capital of the Dutch East Indies, when it was known as Batavia. Jakarta was officially a city within West Java until 1960 when its official status was changed to a province with special capital region distinction. As a province, its government consists of five administrative cities and one administrative regency. Jakarta is an alpha world city and is the seat of the ASEAN secretariat. Financial institutions such as the Bank of Indonesia, Indonesia Stock Exchange, and corporate headquarters of numerous Indonesian companies and multinational corporations are located in the city. In 2021, the city's GRP PPP was estimated at US$602.946 billion.

Jakarta's main challenges include rapid urban growth, ecological breakdown, gridlocked traffic, congestion, and flooding due to subsidence (sea level rise is relative, not absolute). Jakarta is sinking up to 17 cm (6.7 inches) annually, which has made the city more prone to flooding and one of the fastest-sinking capitals in the world. In response to these challenges, in August 2019, President Joko Widodo announced his agreement with an official study that the capital of Indonesia would be moved from Jakarta to the planned city of Nusantara, in the province of East Kalimantan on the island of Borneo. The MPR approved the move on 18 January 2022. (Full article...)