Surakarta

Surakarta is an inland city on the left (west) bank of the Solo River toward the east of the Central Jawa Province of the island of Jawa (Java) in Indonesia. The metropolitan area has a population of 2.454 million,¹ and the city itself 499 thousand.² The tallest building as of the fall of 2017 is the Alila Hotel Solo (407 feet, 2015).³

The city grew as disputes grew within the families that traditionally ruled here and in Yogyakarta, eventually resulted in a separate sultanship here, but with a Dutch state-run company overseeing inter-familial disputes.⁴

The city is served by Adisumarmo International Airport, which is located in the Boyalali District.⁵

Historical maps

External references

Surakarta skyline, Central Jawa Province, Jawa island, Indonesia

Footnotes

1. 2010 census figure cited in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_metropolitan_areas_in_Indonesia, accessed February 14, 2017.
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_in_Indonesia, accessed February 14, 2017.
3. Emporis.com, accessed October 27, 2017.
4. See M. C. Ricklefs, A History of Modern Indonesia (Indiana University Press, 1981), pgs. 94-101. The Dutch run company was the Vereenigde Oost-[East-]Indische Compagnie (VOC).
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_the_busiest_airports_in_Indonesia, accessed February 15, 2017; my criterion for inclusion was 1M passengers in 2015.
5. Tertius Chandler, Four Thousand Years of Urban Growth, 2nd ed. (The Edwin Mellen Press, 1987), "Tables of the World's Largest Cities." The city was the largest on the island in 1800.
6. In 1800 the VOC reported to what had until recently been an independent Dutch country, but was in 1800 called the Bataafse Republiek and was subordinate to the French. Locally that subordination was nominal.