Bogor Botanical Gardens

The Bogor Botanical Gardens (Indonesian: Kebun Raya Bogor) is a botanical garden located in Bogor, Indonesia, 60 km south of Jakarta. It is currently operated by Indonesian Institute of Sciences (Indonesian: Lembaga Ilmu Pengetahuan Indonesia or LIPI). The Gardens are located in the city center and adjoin the presidential palace compound of Istana Bogor. It covers an area of 87 hectares (210 acres) and contains 13,983 different kinds of trees and plants of various origin. The geographic position of Bogor means it rains almost daily, even in the dry season. This makes the Garden an advantageous location for the cultivation of tropical plants.

Founded in 1817 by the order of the government of the Dutch East Indies, the Garden thrived under the leadership of many renowned botanists including Johannes Elias Teijsmann, Rudolph Herman Christiaan Carel Scheffer, and Melchior Treub. Since its foundation, Bogor Botanical garden has served as a major research center for agriculture and horticulture. It is the oldest botanical garden in Southeast Asia.

Bogor Palace

The Bogor Palace (Indonesian:Istana Bogor, Dutch:Het Paleis te Buitenzorg) is one of 6 Presidential Palaces of Indonesia, it is located in the city of Bogor, West Java. The palace is noted for its distinctive architectural and historical features, as well as the adjoining botanical gardens. Istana Bogor was opened to the public in 1968 to public tour groups (not individuals), with the permission of the acting President of Indonesia, Suharto. The gardens of the palace covers an area of 284,000 square metres (28.4 hectares).

During the colonial era the palace became favorite residence of the Governors-General due to Bogor's more adaptable climate. It was also favored by the late President Sukarno and became the official presidential residence until his downfall in 1967. The palace remain mostly unused until February 2015, when the new president Joko Widodo moved the president's office from Merdeka Palace to Bogor Palace.

History

The original colonial building on the site of Istana Bogor was a mansion named Buitenzorg (also Sans Souci, meaning: Without a care in Dutch), which dates back to 1745 as a country retreat for the Dutch Governors to escape the heat and diseases of Batavia. The location for the new palace was discovered by Baron van Imhoff on 10 August 1744, in a village named "Kampong Baroe". On the site he ordered a mansion to be built, however the construction wasn't completed by the end of his career in 1750 and thus it was continued by his preceder Jacob Mossel.

Bogor Regency

Bogor Regency (Indonesian: Kabupaten Bogor) is a regency (kabupaten) of West Java, Indonesia, south of DKI Jakarta. It is considered a bedroom community for Jakarta, and currently home to over 5 million people.

It is bordered by Tangerang Regency, the cities of South Tangerang, Depok and Bekasi, and finally Bekasi Regency, all to the north; it is also bordered by Lebak Regency (in Banten Province) to the west, Sukabumi Regency to the south, Cianjur Regency to the southeast, and Karawang Regency to the east; it fully encircles Bogor City, although the latter is administratively independent of the regency.

The area has witnessed significant population growth. Two areas formerly within the Regency have been split off as autonomous cities; on 20 April 1999, the city of Depok (until then a part of the Regency) was unified with some neighbouring districts of Bogor Regency to form an autonomous city of Depok (independent of the Regency); and Bogor city is also an autonomous city (similarly independent of the Regency). The Indonesian government has announced that it intends to divide the existing Bogor Regency by splitting off the western districts to form a new West Bogor Regency (Kabupaten Bogor Barat).

Bogor

Bogor (Indonesian: Kota Bogor, Dutch: Buitenzorg) is a city on the island of Java in the West Java province of Indonesia. The city is located in the center of the Bogor Regency (Indonesian: Kabupaten Bogor), 60 kilometers (37 mi) south of the Indonesian capital Jakarta, although it is administratively independent from that regency. Bogor is the 6th largest city of Jabodetabek (the Jakarta metropolitan region) and the 14th nationwide, with a population having passed 1 million; it is an important economic, scientific, cultural and tourist center, as well as a mountain resort. In 2015, the new president (Joko Widodo) moved the seat of the president from Merdeka Palace to Bogor.

In the Middle Ages, the city was the capital of Sunda Kingdom (Indonesian: Kerajaan Sunda) and was called Pakuan Pajajaran. During the Dutch colonial era, it was named Buitenzorg (meaning "Without a care" in Dutch) and served as the summer residence of the Governor-General of Dutch East Indies.

With several hundred thousand people living on an area of about 20 km² (7.7 sq mi), the central part of Bogor is one of the world's most densely populated areas. The city has a presidential palace and a botanical garden (Indonesian: Kebun Raya Bogor) – one of the oldest and largest in the world. It bears the nickname "the Rain City" (Kota Hujan), because of frequent rain showers. It nearly always rains even during the dry season.