Jakarta (also Djakarta) is Indonesia's capital and biggest city. It is located on Java's northwest coast at the mouth of the Ciliwung River. Human settlements were there as early as the 5th Century AD, but its recorded history began in 1527.
Port History
In that year, the Sultan of Bantam defeated the Portuguese and named the site of his victory Jayakerta (Glorious Fortress). In 1619, the Dutch captured and destroyed the city, only to build a walled town they called Batavia on the site. The Dutch East India Company held the city until the early 1800s, when they reconstructed a Dutch-type town there, canals and all. From the early 19th Century, the Dutch expanded the city to the south and made it the center of the colonial government. Britain controlled the Port of Jakarta (Djakarta) briefly during the Napoleonic Wars. From 1920 to 1941, the Dutch modernized the city.
Colonial occupation ended when Japan forces occupied Indonesia during World War II. The Allies stayed there briefly after the war, then returned it to the Dutch. However, nationalists had declared independence in 1945 and renamed the city Djakarta, but the earlier Dutch name stuck until the world recognized Indonesian independence in 1949.
The Port of Jakarta has grown rapidly since independence. In the 1950s, President Sukarno started ambitious construction projects and modernized the city, including raising new office towers. The city was soon one of the largest in tropical Asia and was an important commercial and financial center during President Suharto's tenure. The Port of Jakarta was caught up in Asia's financial crisis in the late 1990s. Further, civil unrest grew, claiming many lives, and Suharto had to resign in 1998. Entering the 21st Century, Indonesia and the Port of Jakarta (Djakarta)faced significant social, political, and economic change.
Port Commerce
Jakarta's Container Port (JCP) is the largest container terminal in Indonesia and the country's national hub port. In August 2004, the Indonesian Commercial Newsletter announced that the country would build a new port in Jakarta using Japanese technology. Admitting that Jakarta's traditional port, Tanjung Priok, hadn抰 been improved for 150 years, the new Port of Jakarta (Djakarta)was needed for import and export traffic.
