Jakarta or Djakarta, city and special district (1990 pop. 8,227,746), capital and largest city of Indonesia, NW Java, at the mouth of the canalized Ciliwung River, on Jakarta Bay, an inlet of the Java Sea. It is the country's administrative, commercial, industrial, and transportation center, with food-processing plants, ironworks, automobile-assembly plants, textile mills, chemical factories, tanneries, sawmills, electronics plants, and printing establishments. Its port, Tanjungpriok, is Indonesia's largest, handling most of the country's export-import trade. Exports consist mainly of agricultural, forest, and mining products. There is an international airport.

The city has three sections—the old town in the north, with Javanese, Chinese, and Arab quarters; central Jakarta, with high-rise buildings; and a modern residential garden suburb in the south. With its many canals and drawbridges, North Jakarta resembles a Dutch town. Landmarks include the architectural monuments built during President Sukarno's long rule—freedom statues, a huge sports complex (financed by the Soviet Union), and the Istiqlal Mosque. Jakarta is the seat of the Univ. of Indonesia. There are notable museums and several 17th-century houses and churches.

The Dutch founded (c.1619) the fort of Batavia near the Javanese settlement of Jakarta, repulsing English and native attempts to oust them. Batavia became the headquarters of the Dutch East India Company and was a major trade center in the 17th cent. It declined in the 18th cent., following rebellions against the Dutch, but prospered again with the introduction of plantation cultivation in the 19th cent. From 1811 to 1814, Jakarta was the center of British rule in Java. Batavia was renamed Jakarta in Dec., 1949, and was proclaimed the capital of newly independent Indonesia.

formerly (1949–72) Djakarta

Capital (pop., 2000: city, 8,347,083; 2003 est.: urban agglom., 12,300,000) and largest city of Indonesia. Located on the northwestern coast of Java, it was founded in 1527 after the sultan of Bantam defeated the Portuguese on the site. The Dutch razed the city in 1619, rebuilding and renaming it Batavia and establishing it as the headquarters of the Dutch East India Company. In 1949 the city was renamed and made Indonesia's capital. It grew rapidly, soon becoming one of the world's most populous cities. A major trade, industrial, and financial centre, it is also the seat of several universities.

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