 Jakarta, formerly known as Sunda Kelapa, Jayakarta and Batavia is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Located on the northwest coast of the island of Java, it has an area of 661.52 km² and a population of 8,792,000 (2004).
People visit Jakarta as they visit Kuala Lumpur, Tokyo, Milan, and any other economic capital of a country. Jakarta is best described as a bustling and ironic metropolis: a sweltering, steaming, heaving mass of some 10 million people packed into a vast urban sprawl, the contrast between the obscene wealth of Indonesia's elite and the appalling poverty of the urban poor is incredible. |
