Jakarta's former name was Batavia (until 1949) when it was de facto the capital of the Dutch East Indies, the former Dutch colony. Jakarta (also DKI Jakarta) situated on the northwest corner of the island of Java bordering the Java Sea. It is the country's largest city and the capital of Indonesia in Maritime Southeast Asia, south of the South China Sea and the Java Sea. The city is the political and financial center of the island nation. Jakarta is a city that is famous for its malls but the biggest of these is Taman Anggrek Mall in the west of the city. Locals claim that some 10,000 people visit the mall every day and you will find a vast array of shops here that are suitable for all tastes and budgets.

The official language is Indonesian (Bahasa Indonesia), the language spoken on the island of Java is Javanese. But Greater Jakarta is a melting pot, an immigration magnet and home to people from all over Indonesia and Southeast Asia, with significant numbers of people speaking Sundanese, Javanese, Betawi as well as Batak languages.
 

• Jakarta had an estimated population of over 10 million people in 2016,
• Jakarta is located at the mouth of the Ciliwung Riveron Jakarta Bay on the northwest coast of Java, which is by an inlet of the Java Sea.
• The northern part of Jakarta is flat alluvial plains but some areas are below sea level and subject to flooding while the south of Jakarta is my hilly and less prone to flooding.
• Jakarta sinks nearly 17 cm (6.7 inches) each year, which has worsened flooding in the area. This has caused the national government to consider moving the Indonesian capital to a different city.
• Jakarta's climate has tropical monsoons. The wet season is from October to May while June through September is the dry season. The city is tropical and humid with temperatures ranging from 75 to 93 °F (24 to 34 °C) and a humidity level between 75 and 85 percent a majority of the year.
• According to date from the 2000 Census, the ethnic population of Jakarta was: Javanese: 35.16%, Native Jakarta / Betawi: 27.65%, Sundanese: 15.27%, Chinese: 5.53%, Batak: 3.61%, Minangkabau: 3.18%, Malays: 1.62%.
• The city of Jakarta has the highest number of overseas Chinese in Indonesia. The city has a diverse Sumatran population, with more than 346,000 Batak, 305,000 Minangkabau, and 155,000 Malays.
• Islam is by far the most common religion in Jakarta, accounting for almost 86% of the population according to data from the 2010 Census. This is followed by Protestantism (7.5%), Buddhism (3.3%), Catholicism (3.15%), Hinduism (0.21%) and Confucianism (0.06%).
  
   

Jakarta is administratively equal to a province with special status. The executive branch is headed by an elected governor and a deputy governor, while the Jakarta Regional People's Representative Council is the legislative branch with 106 directly elected members. Jakarta City Hall at the south of Merdeka Square houses the office of the governor and the vice governor, and the main administrative office. Executive governance consists of five administrative cities each headed by a mayor—and one administrative regency headed by a regent. Unlike other cities and regencies in Indonesia where the mayor or regent are directly elected, Jakarta's mayors and regent are chosen by the governor of Jakarta. Each city and regency is divided into administrative districts.
 

Indonesia is the largest economy of ASEAN, and Jakarta is the economic nerve centre of the Indonesian archipelago. Jakarta's nominal GDP was US$483.8 billion in 2016, which is about 17.5% of Indonesia's. Jakarta ranked at 21 in the list of Cities Of Economic Influence Index in 2020 by CEOWORLD magazine. According to Japan Center for Economic Research, GRP per capita of Jakarta will rank 28th among the 77 cities in 2030 from 41st in 2015, the largest in Southeast Asia.  Savills Resilient Cities Index has predicted Jakarta to be within the top 20 cities in the world by 2028.Jakarta is an important alpha world city with major financial institutions such as the Bank of Indonesia, Indonesia Stock Exchange, and corporate headquarters of numerous Indonesian companies and multinational corporations. 

Jakarta has over 10 million people, estimated to become the world’s most populated metro by 2030. But only 40 per cent of Jakarta’s citizens have access to clean, pipeline water, leading many to tap the groundwater. This isn’t Jakarta’s only infrastructure problem; the city’s traffic and air pollution is considered some of the worst in the world, alongside its rapid, sprawling urban expansion resulting in a drastic loss of green spaces. “The density is horizontal, not vertical,” says Tiyok Prasetyoadi, a managing director of the Jakarta-based architecture firm PDW Architects, and a core founder of the Green Building Council of Indonesia, adding. “Lots of land and housing need a lot of spaces. So we don’t have good public infrastructure.”