Yogyakarta (also Jogjakarta in pre-1972 spelling or Jogja) is a city and province of Indonesia on the island of Java. It is the only province in Indonesia that is still formally governed by a precolonial Sultanate, the Sultanate of Ngayogyakarta Hadiningrat. The city is known as a center of classical Javanese fine art and culture such as batik, ballet, drama, music, poetry and puppet shows. It is also famous as a center for Indonesian higher education.
The official name of the Yogyakarta province is Special Region of Yogyakarta (Indonesian: Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta, or DIY). The city of Yogyakarta is the capital of the province.
Yogyakarta is located in south-central Java. It is surrounded by the province of Central Java (Jawa Tengah) and the Indian Ocean in the south. The city is located at [7°47′S 110°22′E].
The population of DIY in 2003 was approximately 3,000,000. The province of Yogyakarta has a total area of 3,185.80 km². Yogyakarta has the second-smallest area of the provinces in Indonesia, after the Jakarta Capital Region. However it has, along with adjacent areas in Central Java, some of the highest population densities of Java.
Administration
It is subdivided into four regencies (kabupaten) and one city (kota), as follows:
The Yogyakarta Sultanate, formally the Sultanate of Ngayogyakarta Hadiningrat, was formed in 1755 when the existing Sultanate of Mataram was divided by the Dutch East India Company (VOC) in two under the Treaty of Giyanti. This treaty states that the Sultanate of Mataram was to be divided into the Sultanate of Ngayogyakarta Hadiningrat with Yogyakarta as the capital and Mangkubumi who became Sultan Hamengkubuwono I as its Sultan and the Sultanate of Surakarta Hadiningrat with Surakarta as the capital and Pakubuwono III who was the ruler of the Sultanate of Mataram as its Sultan. The Sultan Hamengkubuwono I spent the next 37 years building the new capital, with the Kraton as the centerpiece and the court at Surakarta as the blueprint model. By the time he died in 1792, his territory exceeded Surakarta's.
The ruler Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX (April 12, 1912 - 1988) held a degree from the Dutch Leiden University, and held for a time the largely ceremonial position of Vice-President of Indonesia, in recognition of his status, as well as Minister of Finance and Minister of Defense.
In support of Indonesia declaring independence from the Dutch and Japanese occupation, in September 5, 1945, Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX of Yogya and Sri Paku Alam VIII in Yogya declared their sultanates to be part of the Republic of Indonesia. In return for this unfailing support, a law was passed in 1950, in which Yogyakarta was granted the status of province Daerah Istimewa (Special Region Province), with special status that recognizes the power of the Sultan in his own region's domestic affairs.
Hence Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX was appointed as the governor for life. During the Indonesian war of independence against the Dutch after World War II (1945-1950), the capital of the newly-declared Indonesian republic was temporarily moved to Yogyakarta when the Dutch reoccupied Jakarta from January 1946 until August 1950.
The current ruler of Yogyakarta is his son, Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono X, who holds a law degree from Universitas Gadjah Mada. Upon the elder sultan's death, the position of governor, according to the agreement with Indonesia, was to pass to his heir. However, the central government at that time insisted on an election. In 1998, Sultan Hamengkubuwono X was elected as governor by the provincial house of representatives (DPRD) of Yogyakarta, defying the will of the central government. He remains the only governor in Java without a military background: "I may be a sultan," he has been quoted in Asia Week as saying, "but is it not possible for me to also be a democrat?" [link] However, many sides have negative opinion about the position of Sultan in ruling the Special Region as governor. First, it degrades him from being the holy, infallible and revered Sultan, as governor deals with politics and social matters that may not be all things for all people. Secondly, unconsciously it will revert back to the old system of feudalism when a Sultan, without any election, is automatically appointed to hold an administrative position of power (as a governor), within the republic state system adopted by Indonesia.[[Neutral point of viewneutrality disputed]]
At Yogyakarta's center is the kraton, or Sultan's palace. Surrounding the kraton is a densely-populated residential neighborhood that occupies land that was formerly the Sultan's sole domain; evidence of this former use remains in the form of old walls and the ruined "Water Castle" (Tamansari), built in 1758 as a pleasure garden. No longer used by the sultan, the garden had been largely abandoned, and was used for housing by palace employees and descendants. Reconstruction efforts began in 2004, and an effort to renew the neighborhood around the kraton has begun. The site is a developing tourist attraction.
While the city sprawls in all directions from the kraton, the core of the modern city is to the north, site of a few buildings with distinctive Dutch colonial-era architecture, and the contemporary commercial district.
Jalan Malioboro, with rows of sidewalk vendors and nearby market and malls, is the primary shopping street for tourists in the city, while Jalan Solo, further north, is a shopping district more frequented by locals.
At the southern end of Malioboro, on the east side is the large local market of Beringharjo, not far from Fort Vredeburg a restored Dutch fort.
The city is divided into 14 districts (kecamatan).
1. Gondokusuman
2. Jetis
3. Tegalrejo
4. Umbulharjo
5. Kotagede
6. Mergangsan
7. Ngampilan
8. Danurejan
9. Kraton
10. Wirobrajan
11. Pakualaman
12. Mantrijeron
13. Gedongtengen
14. Gondomanan
Arts and culture
Yogyakarta is known for its silver work, leather puppets used for shadow plays (wayang kulit), and a unique style of making batik dyed fabric. It is also known for its vivid contemporary art scene. Yogyakarta is also known for its gamelan music, including the unique style Gamelan Yogyakarta, which developed in the courts.
The City contains an extensive aquarium, containing one of the largest shark tanks in the world, with a walk-through tunnel. It is situated in a recreational complex which also contains athletic, games-playing and aquatic facilities, and a fun-fair. The rides therein are not as complex, and do not contain as many loops and inversions as some rides in the United Kingdom and in the United States of America, but are nevertheless well patronised.
Museums
Due to the importance of Yogyakarta during the war of independence from the Dutch, there are numerous memorials and museums. Yogya Kembali, and Fort Vredeburg are two major museums of about 11 named in the city.
To the east of the town centre is a large air-force museum; as Indonesia was for a period in the Soviet sphere of influence this museum contains a number of vintage Russian aircraft not widely available for inspection in the NATO sphere of influence. The collection includes examples of the Mig 15 trainer (NATO designation Mongol), MiG 17 (Fresco), MiG 19 (Farmer), Mig 21 (Fishbed) and Tu16 (Badger), together with an assortment of American and British aircraft.
Transportation
Yogyakarta's airport is Adisucipto International Airport.
The city is located on one of the two major railway lines across Java between Jakarta / Bandung and Surabaya. It has two passenger railway stations, Tugu is the major intercity station. The other is Lempuyangan.
The city has an extensive system of public city buses, and is a major destination for inter-city buses to elsewhere on Java or Bali, as well as taxis, andong, and becak. Motorbikes are by far the most commonly-used personal transportation, but an increasing number of residents own automobiles.
The province of Yogyakarta bore the brunt of a 6.3-magnitude earthquake on 27 May, 2006 which killed 5,782 people and left some 36,299 persons injured. More than 135,000 houses are damaged, and 600,000 people are homeless . The earthquake extensively damaged the local region of Bantul, and its surrounding hinterland. The most significant number of deaths occurred in this region.
The coincidence of the recent eruption of Mount Merapi, and the earthquake would not be lost on the older and more superstitious Javanese - as such natural phenonomena are given considerable import within their understanding of the spiritual aspect of such events.
Department of Tourism, Post and Telecommunication Regional Office For Yogyakarta Special Region. (1997) Guide To Yogyakarta. Yogyakarta: Department of Tourism, Post and Telecommunication.
Ricklefs, M.C. (2001) A history of modern Indonesia since c.1200 (3rd ed.). Stanford: Stanford University Press. pp. 126-139, 269-271. IBN 0-8047-4480-7
