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Posted by Khurram Shehzad on Friday May 13, 2011 | Travel Articles | 756 views

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Tags: Indonesia Istiqlal Mosque Jakarta Ragunan Zoo Tour West Irian Liberation Monument

Republic of Indonesia is a country in Southeast Asia; it is the world’s fourth most populous country with a population of nearly 240 million. Indonesia comprises 17,508 islands. Its economy is the world’s eighteenth largest economy by GDP and 15^th largest by purchasing power parity. Jakarta is the largest city and the capital of the nation and is the center of major cultural, political and economic activities in the country. Jakarta is also the most populous city in the country as well as in Southeast Asia, and is the 10^th most populous city in the world. Name of the city is derived from ancient Javanese word “Jayakarta” meaning “complete victory”.

Jakarta is home to major government offices, embassies and headquarters of many companies and the first impression of this city is like a business city but this city has so many hidden charms and attractions for the tourists specially old part of the city is a popular tourist destination being home to many of the finest hotels, restaurants, cultural and entertainment centers and historic places it is truly an amazing place to visit. Some of the notable landmarks and places in the city include National Monument at the Merdeka Square, Jakarta Cathedral, Istiqlal Mosque, West Irian Liberation Monument, Ragunan Zoo, Dunia Fantasy theme park, Ancol dreamland and Jakarta Old town.

Jakarta being the world’s 10^th most populous city faces some transportation problems including traffic congestion, a very common form of local transportation in the city streets is a tri wheeler “Auto rickshaw” known as bajaj. Today a wide network of TransJakarta bus rapid transit and a metro system along with trains satisfy the needs of transportation. Two major airports serve the city namely the “Soekarno-Hatta International Airport” and “Halim Perdanakusuma International Airport”, Soekarno-Hatta airport is also known as the Cengkareng by the locals of this city, this airport provides services to many international airlines having flights to Indonesia this airport caters passenger flights as well as cargo flights from many parts of the world and can be titled as the aerial gateway to Indonesia. The second airport mostly serves for private flights including presidential or VIP flights along with some chartered flights to Jakarta.

This city is also the educational center of the nation being home to many universities, colleges, schools and other educational institutes such as Politeknik Negri Jakarta, Universitas Trisakti, Universitas Tarumanagara, and Universitas Islam Negri Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta. It is also home to some international schools including New Zealand International School, Jakarta International Korean School, Australian International School and Singapore International School.