Indonesia

Coordinates: 5°S 120°E / 5°S 120°E / -5; 120

Indonesia (ⁱ/ˌɪndəˈniːʒə/ IN-də-NEE-zhə or /ˌɪndoʊˈniːziə/ IN-doh-NEE-zee-ə; Indonesian: [ɪndonesia]), officially the Republic of Indonesia (Indonesian: Republik Indonesia [rɛpublik ɪndonesia]), is a sovereign island country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. It is the largest island country in the world by the number of islands, with more than fourteen thousand islands. Indonesia has an estimated population of over 255 million people and is the world's fourth most populous country and the most populous Muslim-majority country. The world's most populous island of Java contains more than half of the country's population.

Indonesia's republican form of government includes an elected legislature and president. Indonesia has 34 provinces, of which five have Special Administrative status. Its capital city is Jakarta. The country shares land borders with Papua New Guinea, East Timor, and the Malaysian Borneo. Other neighbouring countries include Singapore, the Philippines, Australia, Palau, and the Indian territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Indonesia is a founding member of ASEAN and a member of the G-20 major economies. The Indonesian economy is the world's 16th largest by nominal GDP and the 8th largest by GDP at PPP.

Jakarta

Jakarta /dʒəˈkɑːrtə/, officially known as the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (Indonesian: Daerah Khusus Ibu Kota Jakarta), is the capital and largest city of Indonesia, (though Jakarta is also a province) 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 10,075,310 as of 2014. The official metropolitan area, known as Jabodetabek (a name formed by combining the initial syllables of Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang and Bekasi), is the fourth largest in the world, yet the metropolis's suburbs still continue beyond it. Its unofficial built-up (metropolitan) area covers Bogor, Tangerang, Bekasi, Karawang, Serang, Purwakarta, Sukabumi and Subang regencies (123 districts) including also Tangerang, Bekasi, Tangerang Selatan, Depok, Serang and Cilegon Municipalities was home to 30,214,303 inhabitants as of 2010 census.

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). Today, the city has continued as the capital of Indonesia since the country's independence was declared in 1945. The city is currently the seat of the ASEAN Secretariat as well as houses important financial institutions such as the Bank of Indonesia, the Indonesia Stock Exchange, and the corporate headquarters of numerous Indonesian companies and multinational corporations. Jakarta's business opportunities, as well as its potential to offer a higher standard of living, attract migrants from all over Indonesia, making the city a melting pot of many communities and cultures.

East Indies

The East Indies or Indies (or East India) is a term that has been used to describe the lands of South and South East Asia. In a more restricted sense, the Indies can be used to refer to the islands of South East Asia, especially the Malay Archipelago. The name "Indies" is derived from the river Indus and is used to connote parts of Asia that came under Indian cultural influence (except Vietnam which came under Chinese cultural influence).

Dutch-held colonies in the area were known for about 300 years as the Dutch East Indies before Indonesian independence, while Spanish-held colonies were known as the Spanish East Indies before the US-conquest and later Philippines' independence. The East Indies may also include the former French-held Indochina, former British territories Brunei and Singapore, and former Portuguese East Timor. It does not, however, include the former Dutch New Guinea western New Guinea (West Papua), which is geographically considered to be part of Melanesia.

The inhabitants of the East Indies are almost never called East Indians, distinguishing them both from inhabitants of the Caribbean (which is also called the West Indies) and from the indigenous peoples of the Americas who are often called "American Indians." In colonial times they were just "natives". However, the peoples of the East Indies comprise a wide variety of cultural diversity, and the inhabitants do not consider themselves as belonging to a single ethnic group. Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam are the most popular religions throughout the region, while Christianity, Sikhism, Jainism and various other traditional beliefs and practices are also prominent in some areas. The major languages in this area draw from a wide variety of language families, and should not be confused with the term Indic, which refers only to a group of Indo-Iranian languages from South Asia.

West Jakarta

West Jakarta (Indonesian: Jakarta Barat) is a city (kota) within Jakarta Special District, Indonesia. It had a population of 2,278,825 at the 2010 Census; the administrative centre is at Puri Kembangan.

West Jakarta is bounded by North Jakarta to the north, Central Jakarta to the east, South Jakarta to the south, and Tangerang to the west.

Subdistricts

West Jakarta is divided into 8 subdistricts:

Education

Singapore School Kebon Jeruk, a Singapore international school, is in West Jakarta.

References

External links

Jakarta/West travel guide from Wikivoyage

Coordinates: 6°10′06″S 106°45′32″E / 6.16833°S 106.75889°E / -6.16833; 106.75889

Dutch East Indies

The Dutch East Indies (or Netherlands East Indies; Dutch: Nederlands-Indië; Indonesian: Hindia Belanda) was a Dutch colony that became modern Indonesia following World War II. It was formed from the nationalised colonies of the Dutch East India Company, which came under the administration of the Dutch government in 1800.

During the 19th century, Dutch possessions and hegemony were expanded, reaching their greatest territorial extent in the early 20th century. This colony which later formed modern-day Indonesia was one of the most valuable European colonies under the Dutch Empire's rule, and contributed to Dutch global prominence in spice and cash crop trade in the 19th to early 20th century. The colonial social order was based on rigid racial and social structures with a Dutch elite living separate from but linked to their native subjects. The term Indonesia came into use for the geographical location after 1880. In the early 20th century, local intellectuals began developing the concept of Indonesia as a nation state, and set the stage for an independence movement.