Jakarta

The area now known as Jakarta has had several names. During the period of the Sunda Kingdom, its harbour was known as Kalapa or Sunda Kalapa, one of the kingdom's principal ports on the north coast of western Java. Early Portuguese accounts referred to the harbour as Calapa. The name Jayakarta is traditionally traced to the conquest of Kalapa by forces under Fatahillah of the Demak Sultanate in 1527, although the reported renaming is not confirmed by surviving historical records. The name has been glossed as "victory" or "victorious deed"; early European sources recorded related forms including Iacarta, Xacatra, and Jacatra. After taking control of Jayakarta in 1619, the Dutch East India Company (VOC) rebuilt the settlement as Batavia, a name referring to the Batavi, whom the Dutch regarded as their ancestors. …

Archaeological evidence from the wider north coast of western Java predates the written record of the Jakarta area. The Buni culture, a prehistoric pottery tradition in coastal northern and western Java, is generally dated from about 400 BC to 100 AD and may have survived until the 5th century. Written evidence from the Jakarta area appears in the mid-5th-century Tugu inscription, found in present-day North Jakarta. The inscription records river works ordered by King Purnawarman of Tarumanagara and mentions the Candrabhaga and Gomati rivers, although several details of the works and their setting remain uncertain. After Tarumanagara, western Java came under the Sunda Kingdom. The Chinese work Chu-fan-chi referred to Sin-t'o, identified as western Java, and noted its harbour and pepper. By the early 16th century, Sunda Kelapa was the main commercial port of the Sunda Kingdom. …

Jakarta covers about 662 square kilometres (256 sq mi) of land and 6,977 square kilometres (2,694 sq mi) of sea area. Its urban area extends beyond the provincial boundary into the Jakarta metropolitan area, or Jabodetabek, which includes neighbouring cities and regencies in West Java and Banten. Daily commuting links Jakarta with surrounding municipalities, especially Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, and Bekasi. The city lies on the northwestern coast of Java at the mouth of the Ciliwung River, facing Jakarta Bay, an inlet of the Java Sea. Administratively, Jakarta includes five mainland municipalities and the Thousand Islands regency to the north of the mainland city. Except for some hilly areas in the south, Jakarta spreads across low, flat terrain. …

Jakarta's culture draws from its mixed population and its long history of migration from across Indonesia. Betawi traditions are part of Jakarta's local culture, while communities from other regions have added their own languages, customs, music, and foodways to urban life. Betawi arts include music, dance, theatre, and performance traditions such as tanjidor, gambang kromong, lenong, palang pintu, and ondel-ondel. Community events such as Lebaran Betawi present Betawi culture through performances, food, and ceremonial displays. Condet in East Jakarta has also been promoted as a Betawi cultural heritage area. Wayang orang performances are staged at the Bharata theatre in Senen, while Aula Simfonia Jakarta is one of the city's main venues for Western classical music. The city also hosts recurring cultural events, including Jakarta Fashion Week and the Java Jazz Festival. …

Jakarta is Indonesia's financial capital. A 2024 law frames the province's post-capital-transfer role as a national economic centre and global city, with functions in trade, services, finance, and national, regional, and global business activity. Jakarta's economic position can be traced through the port and administrative functions of Sunda Kelapa, Batavia, and colonial Jakarta, and later through its place in national and global economic networks. In 2024, Jakarta's gross regional domestic product (GRDP) at current prices reached Rp 3,679.36 trillion, and the city's economy grew by 4.90%. The same BPS release identifies wholesale and retail trade, including motor-vehicle and motorcycle repair, as the largest industry in Jakarta's economic structure, while household final consumption was the largest expenditure component. Realised investment reached Rp 241. …

Migration has contributed heavily to Jakarta's population growth since the early post-independence decades. People have moved to the city from across Indonesia for employment, education, and business opportunities, and Jakarta has become a destination for migrants from all regions of the country. In 1961, 51% of Jakarta's population had been born in the city, while 46.7% had been born in other Indonesian provinces. Modern population figures vary according to the boundary used. In 2025, Jakarta had about 11 million registered residents according to the city's population and civil registration office. The United Nations, using an urban-agglomeration approach, estimated the population of Jakarta and its surrounding urban area at nearly 42 million. Growth has increasingly extended beyond Jakarta's provincial boundaries. From 1980 to 2018, the population of Jakarta rose from about 6. …