Jakarta

Jakarta is the largest city of Indonesia and its de facto capital. It is officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta, known as DKI Jakarta, with an administrative status equivalent to a province. It gained provincial status on 28 August 1961 and was legally designated a Special Capital Region in 1964.

Under a 2022 law and Law No. 2 of 2024, Jakarta stays the national capital until a presidential decree formalises the move to Nusantara in East Kalimantan. After the transfer it is designated a national economic centre and global city.

The city lies on Java’s northwestern coast, borders West Java and Banten, and faces the Java Sea. The Ciliwung River reaches the sea there, flowing through the city from south to north. Its land area is 662 square kilometres. The 2020 census counted 10,562,088 residents, and Wikipedia gives 41,914,000 for the metropolitan area in mid-2025.

The governor is directly elected and also appoints the mayors of the administrative cities.

Jakarta appears in our report on UNESCO adding the Mahabharata, the Arthashastra and the Rajatarangini to the Memory of the World register.

Sources: Wikipedia, Jakarta, citing the 2020 census of Indonesia.