Thousand Islands (Indonesia)

The Thousand Islands (officially Kepulauan Seribu) are a chain of islands to the north of Jakarta's coast. It forms the only regency of Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia. It consists of a string of 110 islands stretching 45 km (28 mi) north into the Java Sea at West Jakarta Bay and in fact north of Banten Province.

A decree states that 36 islands may be used for recreation. Of these 36 islands, only 13 islands are fully developed: 11 islands are homes to resorts and two islands are historic parks. Twenty-three islands are privately owned and are not open to the public. The rest of the islands are either uninhabited or support a fishing village.

History

The modern history of the Thousand Islands begins with its role in the defenses of the city of Batavia for the VOC and the Dutch colonial empire. Since the establishment of Batavia in 1610, Onrust island has been a naval base.

After the VOC failed to obtain control of trade at Banten in 1610, the Dutch obtained permission from Prince Jayakarta to build a dock at one of the islands in Jakarta Bay as a place to repair and equip ships sailing to Asia, particularly South East Asia. The island Prince Jayakarta assigned to the VOC was Onrust Island, a 12-hectare (30-acre) island 14 km (8.7 mi) from Jakarta.

Basuki Tjahaja Purnama

Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (EYD: Basuki Cahaya Purnama, Chinese: 鍾萬學; Tjung Ban Hok; pinyin: Zhōng Wànxué; born 29 June 1966) is an Indonesian politician and the Governor of Jakarta. On 14 November 2014, he was appointed by Jakarta City Council as the 17th Governor of Jakarta and inaugurated by President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) on 18 November. He was a legislator in the Indonesian People's Representative Council and Regent of East Belitung. He is also known by his Hakka Chinese nickname, Ahok (Chinese: 阿學).

He was also a member of Commission II of the House of Representatives for the 2009–2014 term. However, he resigned from the position in 2012 to run for the Lieutenant Governor position in the Jakarta governor election.

According to The Jakarta Post, he is the first Chinese Indonesian and the first Christian to be the Governor of Jakarta. However, the New York Times and Vice News claim that a governor appointed in the 1960s, Henk Ngantung, was also ethnic Chinese and Christian.

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.