Where to Stay in Jakarta, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta

What is Jakarta known for?

Jakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia, its political and cultural centre on the island of Java. The nickname fits. Locals call it The Big Durian, a play on the Big Apple of New York, for a capital that overwhelms before it wins people over.

The National Monument of Indonesia towers over the centre, the National Museum of Indonesia and the National Gallery of Indonesia stand nearby, and the seat of ASEAN, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, sits here too. It is the busy heart of the whole archipelago.

What are the main landmarks in Jakarta?

Jakarta's landmarks gather around the city centre, most raised to mark the young nation. The National Monument of Indonesia is the best-known of them, a tall column at the heart of the capital. Museums cluster close by.

The National Museum of Indonesia and the National Gallery of Indonesia hold the country's collections, while Jakarta Cathedral and the older Santa Maria de Fatima Church stand among the churches of the centre. Monuments crowd the streets too, from the Selamat Datang Monument to the West Irian Liberation Monument. Older buildings survive between them, among them Candra Naya and the Mohammad Hoesni Thamrin Building.

What is the history of Jakarta?

Jakarta dates back to 1527, first appearing as a small settlement on the northwestern shore of Java. The settlement grew slowly in its early years. Over the centuries the coastal town rose to lead the whole archipelago, becoming the natural centre of the island of Java.

Independence reshaped its role. With the founding of the Republic of Indonesia in 1945, the city became the capital of a new nation spread across thousands of islands. Much of what stands in the old centre of the city records that turn to nationhood.

The Museum of National Awakening and the Gedung Joang 45 both take their names from the road to independence. Newer monuments followed. The National Monument of Indonesia rose at the heart of the capital, and the Selamat Datang Monument and the West Irian Liberation Monument went up as the young republic found its feet.

The capital still keeps its founding in its street names and its stone. From a small coastal settlement of 1527 to the capital of Indonesia, the city has spent its whole history facing the Java Sea.

Where is Jakarta?

Jakarta spreads across a low, flat plain on the northwestern coast of Java, facing the Java Sea to the north. The ground stays near sea level. Close to sea level, the city runs back from the shoreline into the plain, hemmed by the neighbouring provinces of West Java and Banten on its landward sides.

The built-up area does not stop at the city line, spilling outward into the wider sprawl of Jabodetabek. Water and the flat coast define the ground here more than any hill.

What is the climate of Jakarta?

Jakarta sits in the tropics, hot and humid across the whole year on its low coast by the Java Sea. Cool weather never arrives. The calendar turns on rain rather than temperature, splitting into a wetter half and a drier one, and the heaviest storms fall on the low, flat ground of the city.

Warm sea air holds the humidity in place. From one month to the next, the capital of Indonesia stays steamy on the coast of Java.

How do you get to Jakarta?

Jakarta is the main way into Indonesia for most travellers, the busiest arrival point in the country. Flights come first. Being the country's capital, it takes in air links from Southeast Asia and the rest of the archipelago, with onward hops out to the islands.

On the ground, roads and commuter rail thread out through the metropolitan belt of Jabodetabek into West Java and Banten. Inside the city, heavy traffic makes short distances slow, so plans allow extra time to cross the capital.