Jakarta, Indonesia

Jakarta is the capital city of Indonesia. The city, with almost 11 million inhabitants, is the largest in all of Southeast Asia.

Located on the northwest coast of Java, Jakarta helps make the island, with a total of 149 million people, the most populous in the world. There are 40 million more people living on Java than on Honshū in Japan, where Tokyo is located, and 82 million more than on the island that England, Scotland and Wales share.

Jakarta is one of the oldest cities in the world, people have lived here continuously since the 4th century. Then the city was called Sunda Kelapa, and was the most important port city in the kingdom of Sunda.

Growing fast

The city is located on a low plain in Jakarta Bay, only eight meters above sea level on average.

The city has grown very fast, and the depletion of groundwater causes parts of the city to sink several centimeters a year. Combined with rising sea levels and periods of heavy rainfall, this makes Jakarta prone to flooding.

Jakarta is still a busy port city, but it is now more important as a center of trade and finance in Indonesia.

Indonesia

Indonesia consists of 17,508 large and small islands north of Australia. Most of the country is south of the equator, and there will be another visit on board Statsraad Lehmkuhl by King Neptune on the way to Jakarta.

Fossils of the first primitive humans who migrated out of Africa 1.8 million years ago, Homo erectus, have been found in Java. So there have been human ancestors living on the islands for a very long time. Modern man, homo sapiens, arrived in Indonesia much later, the oldest remains found are 30,000 years old.

Today's inhabitants came from the mainland in the north 4-5,000 years ago.

From around 600 until the 13th century, the islands were part of large Hindu and Buddhist kingdoms. In the 13th century, the first Islamic traders came to the islands, and Indonesia is now the country in the world with the most Muslims.

Dutch colony

The first European ships came to Indonesia from the Netherlands, Portugal and England in the early 16th century. The Dutch East India Company controlled Indonesia until 1799, when the country became a Dutch colony.

In the following years there were both conflicts and periods of war between the Netherlands and local rulers.

During World War II, Indonesia was occupied by Japan. After the war, the Netherlands was unable to regain control of the country, and in 1949 Indonesia became an independent state.

There are over 300 ethnic groups in Indonesia, and over 700 different languages ​​are spoken.

Conflicts between the ethnic groups, rebellions, coup attempts and wars marked the years leading up to 1999. Then free elections were held, and since then Indonesia has been a peaceful country.

Spices

Agriculture and fisheries are important for the economy. The country is the world's largest producer of natural rubber and palm oil, and large parts of the world's spices, coffee, soybeans, maize and rice also come from here.

Indonesia is also rich in minerals such as tin and nickel, bauxite, comer, silver and gold.

A long coastline

Indonesia is a popular travel destination, especially for people in Asia and Australia. They come to experience the culture, and not least the nature. The country has one of the world's longest coastlines, with beautiful beaches and coral reefs, and large areas of tropical rainforest.

The climate in Jakarta is hot and humid all year round. A total of 1,816 millimeters of precipitation falls a year, mostly in January and February. November is also a wet month, with normally 14 rainy days.

Normal maximum temperature in November: 30,6 ℃
Normal rainfall in November: 142 mm

Next port: Mauritius
Previous port: Singapore