CULTURE IN INDONESIA

Culture Columns

Due to its sheer vastness Indonesia contains a rich variety of cultures. Jakarta, Indonesia's capital city and the center of national politics and economics, is the melting pot of many such cultures. Starting from the colonial era - when the city was known as Batavia - people came from all corners of the archipelago to this developing megacity in search of a livelihood. As a consequence Jakarta currently has a population of almost ten million people (official figure). The distance from the area of cultural origin, however, has resulted in a fading of some cultural features (especially for those families that have been living in Jakarta for multiple generations), but it has been 'enriched' by a distinct urban culture.