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(Based on blank map by Wikipedia user Indon. License: CC BY-SA) |
A PolGeoNow News Brief
Here at Political Geography Now, we prioritize reporting on things in the world that have actually changed. But sometimes news about future or possible changes, like Belize and Guatemala going to court over their border dispute, are interesting enough that we want to share them with you sooner. This article represents a new format where we'll be publishing short, to-the-point summaries of those kinds of geography news stories. As always, we encourage you to tell us what you think by leaving a comment on our Twitter or Facebook!A Brief Guide to Indonesia's Capital Move:
- Indonesia announced in April that it was planning to move its capital away from Jakarta, the crowded, sinking megacity where the country's government is currently based.
- Last week, Indonesia's president confirmed the plan to move the capital, and announced the approximate location and time frame for setting up the new government center.
- Although the city of Palangkaraya was said to be a top candidate for the new location of Indonesia's capital, the government instead chose a site several hundred kilometers away to build a whole new city.
Country Name: • Indonesia (English, Indonesian) Official Name: • Republic of Indonesia (English) • Republik Indonesia (Indonesian) Capital: Jakarta |
- The exact location of the new capital site hasn't been released, but we know its approximate whereabouts based on a press conference and tweet naming which districts will border it. No name has been announced yet for the city
- Indonesia's current capital, Jakarta, is located on the densely-populated island of Java, while the new one is planned on the island of Borneo, which has some cities but also hosts much of Southeast Asia's rapidly-shrinking tropical rainforest.
- The move will bring the capital closer to the center of Indonesia, but also much closer to a major international border (in this case, with Malaysia).
- Though it's uncommon, countries have been known to move their capitals in the past, often to newly-created cities. Indonesia has actually moved its capital before: It was switched to the city of Yogyakarta for three years in the 1940s, during the country's war of independence from the Netherlands.
- Construction is set to begin next year, and the president hopes the new capital can begin operating in 2024, the last year of his final term in office. But many Indonesians are skeptical about the chances of it really happening.
Stay tuned to PolGeoNow to find out how it turns out! If Indonesia's capital move goes through or is cancelled, you'll hear about it here. For more details as events develop, follow us on Twitter.