Updated 2016
On the surface, Jakarta is one of those big, ugly industrialized cities, where pollution sucks the life out of everything living, and cars reign supreme. With both massive poverty and massive wealth, it’s where business in Indonesia gets done. If you can get to the heart of the city and find its true energy, then you’ll find the hidden Jakarta, the one many people fall in love with.
Some of the statistical realities:
- It’s the 14th largest city, by population, in the world
- Approximately 10,000,000 people live here
- Just a bit less than a third of the entire population of Canada
- There are, reportedly, 1.5 million cars
- Reportedly, there are an additional 3 million motorbikes
- The waterways are fetid
- The air pollution is oppressive
There are, however lessons to be learned from Jakarta and the bustling capital of a country as diverse as Indonesia cannot be expected to be simple to sum up. It’s a melting pot of the best and worst that the islands-nation has to offer. It’s the place you’re likely to fly into if you’re connecting to Borneo, Sulawesi, Bali, or one of the other bigger islands and it’s a regular layover point for flights between the continents of Asia & elsewhere.