Reds Krisnanda: SURAKARTA

Surakarta, often called Solo and less commonly Sala, is a city in Central Java, Indonesia of more than 520,061 people (2009) with a population density of 11,811.5 people/km². The 44 km² city adjoins Karanganyar Regency and Boyolali Regency to the north, Karanganyar Regency and Sukoharjo Regency to the east and west, and Sukoharjo Regency to the south. On the eastern side of Solo lies Bengawan Solo River. The city is the seat of Surakarta Sunanate kraton (palace/court). Together with Yogyakarta, Surakarta is the heir of the Mataram Kingdom that was split into two kingdoms in 1755.

Surakarta City and its surrounding regencies, Karanganyar, Sukowati, Wonogiri, Sukoharjo, Klaten, and Boyolali, are collectively called the ex-Surakarta Residency (Dutch: Residentie Soerakarta). After Surakarta became a city, it was divided into five subdistricts (kecamatan), each led by a camat, and 51 kelurahan, each led by a lurah. The subdistricts of Surakarta are:

Kecamatan Pasar Kliwon (Postal code: 57110): 9 kelurahan
Kecamatan Jebres (Postal code: 57120): 11 kelurahan
Kecamatan Banjarsari (Postal code: 57130): 13 kelurahan
Kecamatan Lawiyan (also spelled Laweyan, Postal code: 57140): 11 kelurahan
Kecamatan Serengan (Postal code: 57150): 7 kelurahan

Surakarta is also widely known by the name "Solo". "Surakarta" is used in formal and official contexts. The city has a similar name to the neighboring district of "Kartasura," where the previous capital of Mataram was located. The variant spelling "Soerakarta" reflects the Dutch orthography in use before the 1948 spelling reform.

Surakarta is a lowland lying on flat terrain 105 m above sea level (in the city center about 95 m above sea level), with an area of 44.1 km² (0.14% of the area of Central Java). It is approximately 65 km (40 mi) northeast of Yogyakarta and 100 km (62 mi) southeast of Semarang. The eastern part of the town is bordered by Bengawan Solo River, the longest river on Java. The river is the inspiration for the song "Bengawan Solo", a 1940s composition by Gesang Martohartono which became famous throughout much of Asia. The city's soil is fertile because of the river and its tributaries.

The city is surrounded by Merbabu and Mount Merapi (3,151 m high) to the west and Mount Lawu (3265 m high) to the east. The Sewu Mountain Range lies further south.

The water sources for Surakarta are in the valley of Merapi, a total of 19 locations, with a capacity of 3,404 l/second. The average source water height is 800–1,200 m above sea level. In 1890–1927 there were only 12 wells in Surakarta. Today, underground water wells in 23 locations produce about 45 l/second.

In March 2006, Surakarta's state water company (PDAM) had a production capacity of 865.02 l/second: from Cokrotulung, Klaten, 27 km from Solo, 387 l/s; and from 26 deep wells, with a total capacity of 478,02 l/second. The total reservoir capacity is 9,140 m³ and can serve 55,22% of the population.

The soil in Solo is fertile, partly because of the volcanic activity of Mounts Merapi and Lawu. Combined with abundant water source, makes the hinterland good for planting vegetables, food and cash crops. But in the last 20 years, manufacturing industry and tourism have been booming and agriculture declining.

Under the Köppen climate classification, Surakarta features a tropical monsoon climate. The city has a lengthy wet season spanning from October through June, and a relatively short dry season covering the remaining three months (July through September). On average Surakarta receives just under 2200 mm of rainfall annually, with its wettest months being December, January, and February. As is common in areas featuring a tropical monsoon climate, temperatures are relatively consistent throughout the year. Surakarta's average temperature is roughly 30 degrees Celsius every month.

Surakarta as a dense core city in Central Java, and its second city, spills considerably into neighboring regencies. Though a traffic study quotes the population as 1,158,000 as of 2008, this reflects only the very core, as the city affects entire neighboring regencies by significantly driving up overall population densities in Sukoharjo Regency and Klaten Regency over the already dense countryside. Furthermore, the government of Indonesia officially defines a broader region as Surakarta's extended metropolian zone, with the acronym Subosukawonosraten as the city and 6 surrounding regencies.,though obviously not a core metropolitan area as some of its regencies are not particularly suburbanized, it reflects a broader planning region. Both the metropolitan area and extended areas border Yogyakarta's metropolitan area, while only the extended metropolitan area borders Kedungsapur or Greater Semarang. See also List of metropolitan areas in Indonesia.

In the current Indonesian context, Surakarta is a city within the province of Central Java. Previous to the Indonesian nation being formed, it was an autonomous kingdom ruled by the Sunan and a principality ruled by the Mangkunegaran.
During Dutch occupation Yogyakarta and Surakarta were known as the Vorstenland or principalities. Rivalry between the two has been endemic since their founding in the 18th century and was a deliberate ploy by the Dutch to distract attention from the presence of the Dutch colonial power.
The hereditary ruler of the kraton or main court within the city bears the title of Pakubuwono, the present king being Pakubuwono XIII. Like Yogyakarta, Solo also has a junior court, born of another civil war: the Mangkunegaran, a small principality inside Kasunanan, of which Mangkunegara IX is the present monarch. Neither holds any political power and according to Indonesian law, both only have civilian status.

One of the earliest censuses held in Surakarta Residency (Residentie Soerakarta) was in 1885. At that time, with an area of about 5,677 km², there were 1,053,985 people in Surakarta Residency, including 2,694 Europeans and 7,543 Indonesian-Chinese. The area, 130 times the current area of Surakarta, had a population density of 186 people/km². The capital of the residency itself (roughly the size of the City of Solo proper) in 1880 had 124,041 people living in it.
According to the 2009 census, there were 245,043 males and 283,159 females (a sex ratio of 86.54) in Surakarta. 119,951 of the population were 14 years or younger, 376,180 were between 15 and 64, and 32,071 were above 65. The number of households was 142,627 and the average number of household members was 3.7. The population growth in the last 10 years was about 0.565% per year.
Compared to other cities in Indonesia, Surakarta is the most densely populated city in Central Java, the eighth most densely populated city in Indonesia, the 13th smallest city in Indonesia, and the 22nd most populous of 93 autonomous cities and 5 administrative cities in Indonesia.
The labor force of Solo in 2009 was 275,546, of whom 246,768 were working, while 28,778 were seeking work. Another 148,254 people aged 15 and above were not in the labor force.Based on employment numbers, the most common work in Solo was worker/paid employee (112,336), followed by self-employee (56,112), self-employee assisted by temporary employee (32,769), unpaid employee (20,193), self-employee assisted by permanent employee (14,880), freelance employee in non-agricultural work (10,241), and freelance employee in agricultural work (237). Based on the industry, most people in Solo worked in trade (106,426), services (59,780), manufacturing (42,065), communication (16,815), construction (9,217), financing (9,157), or agriculture (2,608), and the rest in mining, electricity, gas, and water companies (700).
The mean working week in Solo was 47.04 hours (47.74 for men and 46.13 for women), and 212,262 people worked more than 35 hours per week compared to 34,506 who worked less than that.

Public Services

There are many hospitals in Solo; some with 24-hour ICU facilities are PKU Muhammadiyah Hospital, Panti Kustati Hospital, Islamic Hospital of Surakarta, Kasih Ibu Hospital, Dr. Moewardi Hospital, Panti Waluyo Hospital, Brayat Minulyo Hosipital, Panti Kosala (Dr. Oen Kandang Sapi) Hospital, and Dr. Oen Hospital in Solo Baru. Public parks are also numerous, especially since Joko Widodo became mayor of Solo. He revitalized several parks and now the public of Solo can enjoy Balekambang Park, Sekartaji Park, Sriwedari Park, and Jurug Zoo, one of the oldest and biggest zoos in Indonesia. In Sriwedari Park there is also public entertainment such as Wayang Orang theatre GWO Sriwedari, and the night market in Ngarsopuro, which only opens on Saturday nights.
The area code of Solo is (+62)271. Coin or card phone booths are rare, but there are many phone shops and small stalls selling prepaid phone credits. Internet cafes are also abundant. Several public places such as restaurants and cafes provide Wi-Fi access to their customers too.

Surakarta has a long sport history and tradition. In 1923 Solo already had a football club, one of the earliest clubs in Indonesia (at that time still the Dutch Indies), called Persis Solo. Persis Solo was a giant club in the Dutch Indies and still exists, but is past its heyday. During the Perserikatan tournament, Persis became seven-time champion. Currently it plays in the Premier Division. Other than Persis, several clubs have existed in Solo: Arseto, Pelita Solo, Persijatim Solo FC, and lastly Solo FC, that plays in the Indonesian Premier League since 2011. Both clubs that still exist, Persis and Solo FC, have made Manahan Stadium their home ground. Manahan Stadium is one of the best sport stadiums in Central Java, with more than 25,000 seats, and has several times hosted national and international matches. It was recently the venue for the AFC Champions Cup 2007, the final venue of the Indonesian Cup 2010, and the opening venue for the Indonesian Premiere League on January 15, 2011.
In 1948, Surakarta became the host of the first National Games, whose opening date is still marked as the National Sports Day of Indonesia. At that tournament, Solo as Surakarta Residency came out as the champion. In 2011, Surakarta also became the host city of 2011 ASEAN ParaGames.
Until 2009, Surakarta was also the only city in Central Java with a professional basketball team, Bhinneka Solo. In 2009 the team was merged with Stadium Jakarta and moved to Jakarta.

Transportation

-Air

Adisumarmo International Airport (IATA code: SOC) has direct flights to Kuala Lumpur by Air Asia, Singapore by Silk Air and, during the haji season, Saudi Arabia, as well as regular flights to Jakarta by Garuda Indonesia, Sriwijaya Air, Lion Air and Batavia Air. The airport is located 14 km north of the city. Since May 2011, BST (Batik Solo Trans) buses connect the airport to the city. There is also taxicab service. In 2009 Adisumarmo had 2,060 outbound domestic flights and 616 outbound international flights.

-Train

Surakarta has four train stations, Solo Balapan, Purwosari, Solo Jebres, and Solo Kota (Sangkrah). Solo Balapan is the largest station in Surakarta, and is the junction between Yogyakarta (westward), Semarang (northward), and Surabaya (eastward), while Purwosari is the junction located west of Solo Balapan, and has a connection to Wonogiri (southward). There are several direct lines to other cities, such as Jakarta, Bandung, Surabaya, Semarang, Madiun, and Malang. For regional traffic, a special train connects Surakarta and Yogyakarta, the Prameks (Prambanan Ekspres) train.
Surakarta is unique because it is the only Indonesian city to still have a street-parallel rail track between Purwosari and Solo Kota, along Jalan Slamet Riyadi, Solo's main road. A heritage railway, called Jaladara, also operates between the two stations. Historically, Purwosari had the junction to Kartasura and Boyolali (northwestward).
In July 26, 2011 the Railbus has been launched to serve Surakarta/Solo-Wonogiri route, but for the moment only Solo-Sukoharjo trackage was ready due to there are 99 bridges should be strengthen between Sukoharjo-Wonogiri. Until April 2012, Surakarta-Wonogiri railbus is still in a big question mark due to the 12 tons railbuses are considered too heavy for existing railroad track that only has the capacity of accommodating 10-ton vehicles, furthermore PT KAI have proposed a fare between Rp30,000 ($3.27) and Rp40,000 ($4.36) per passenger, while Surakarta administration wants tickets to be priced much lower between Rp5,000 ($0.54) and Rp7,000 ($0,76).

-Road

Batik Solo Trans

Tirtonadi Terminal is the largest bus terminal in Surakarta. Surakarta is situated on Indonesian National Route 15, which connects it to Yogyakarta and Waru (Sidoarjo). A Semarang-Solo Toll Road is currently under construction. In 2009 the total extent of roadways in the city was 705.34 km: 13.15 km state road, 16.33 km province road, and 675.86 km local road. The number of bus companies was 23, and the total number of buses operating was 1,115 intra-provincial buses and 1,107 inter-provincial.
In 2010, the government of Surakarta launched a new bus route named Batik Solo Trans (BST), which resembles TransJakarta bus rapid transit service. It has only two routes, the Departure Route (Adisumarmo Airport – Kartasura – Palur) and the Return Route (Palur – Kartasura – Adisumarmo Airport). A single trip costs Rp.3000, Rp.1500 for students. A special ticket for the trip from or to the airport costs Rp.7000.

-Tourism

One main tourist attraction of Surakarta is the Keraton Surakarta, the palace of Susuhunan Pakubuwono, also the Princely Javanese court of Mangkunegaran. Pasar Gede market is often visited by tourists, mostly for its unique architecture and fame as the biggest traditional market in the Solo area. The Pasar Klewer is famous for its batiks in all prices and qualities, while the Pasar Triwindhu located near Mangkunegaran palace specializes in antiques. Taman Sriwedari is a popular local entertainment park featuring a children's playground, dangdut music performance, and Wayang Wong traditional Javanese dance performance almost every night. Near the park is Radyapustaka Museum, one of the oldest museums in Indonesia, with a collection of Javanese cultural artifacts. The traditional batik village of Laweyan and Kampung Batik Kauman, located in the southwest part of the city and the city center respectively, are famous for producing fine quality Javanese batik.

Surakarta is located 60 km from Yogyakarta and shares many tourism spots with it. Candi Borobudur, Candi Prambanan, Candi Ratu Boko, Candi Kalasan, and many other Candi or ancient temples are historical tourist sights. Surakarta is located much closer to Candi Cetho and Candi Sukuh on the slopes of Mount Lawu. The mountainous area of Tawangmangu, featuring Grojogan Sewu waterfall on the slope of Mount Lawu, is also a popular destination for tourists.
A modern museum and visitors centre is at the important Sangiran archeology site around 15 km north of Surakarta near the main road north out of Surakarta to Purwodadi.
Within Surakarta tourists can also use the Jaladara old steam train which was launched on in September 2009 for 5.6 km connecting Purwosari Station and City (Sangkrah) Station. In 2011 there were 60 trips and in 2012 will be 80 trips.
Accommodation is widely available from small lodgings to international chain hotels.

Culture

Surakarta together with Yogyakarta is well known as the cultural heartland of Java. As the centre of surviving Javanese court (kraton), Surakarta is famous for its refined, highly polished aesthetic, and sophisticated Javanese art. The Kraton served as an important center dedicated for the preservation of Javanese culture. Several important traditional Javanese ceremonies such as Satu Suro and Sekaten rituals were observed in high importance among its people. The Sunan (king) of Surakarta, although today no longer holds official actual political power, is still revered and holds important position as cultural symbol among Javanese people.

Local Dialect

The mother tongue of Surakartans is a local variety of Javanese that differs in some respects from that of other areas. For example, for Surakatans the Javanese word for "cold" is adem, but in Semarang it is atis. The Javanese language of Surakarta and Yogyakarta is used as the standard for all Javanese speakers throughout the nation. Indonesia's official national language is Indonesian.

Dances

As the center of Javanese courtly culture, Surakarta is the center of royal Javanese dances. Several Surakarta dances are characterized with its slow, constrained and refined movements, as the epitome of gracefulness; such as bedhaya, serimpi, and Surakarta style Wayang wong. Wayang wong is routinely performed in a wayang wong theatre in Sriwedari park.

Batik

The batik of Solo (Surakarta) is known as among the oldest batik tradition in Java. The typical style of Solo batik is its sogan (dark yellow) color, in contrast with Yogyakarta batik has whitish background. The main production centers of traditional Solo batik is in Kauman area and Laweyan, and Pasar Klewer is the main batik market in the city.

Surakarta In Popular Culture

In popular culture of Indonesia, the term Putri Solo (Solo Princess) is a well known idiom to describe the extraordinary beauty and grace of the Surakarta ladies. It is also popularly known among Indonesian ethnicities that the people of Solo are known for their politeness, well behave, refined, careful and often speak very softly.

The Solo Batik Carnival held annually, is the event that showcased Surakarta as the center of Javanese batik art as well as the center of creative fashion industry based upon batik.

Surakarta is also famous for staging some international music festivals such as Kereta Kencana World Music Festival (formerly Solo International Ethnic Music Festival), Solo Keroncong Festival, and metal music festival Rock In Solo.