Yogyakarta Special Region (Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta, DIY) is officially one of
Indonesia's 32 provinces. Yogyakarta is one of the foremost cultural centers of
Java. This region is located at the foot of the active Merapi volcano,
Yogyakarta was in the 16th and 17th centuries the seat of the mighty Javanese
empire of Mataram from which present day Yogyakarta has the best inherited of
traditions. The city itself has a special charm, which seldom fails to
captivate the visitor.
This province is one of the most densely populated areas of Indonesia. The city
came into being in 1755, after the Mataram division into the Sultanates of
Yogyakarta and Surakarta (Solo). Gamelan, classical and contemporary Javanese
dances, wayang kulit (leather puppet), theater and other expressions of
traditional art will keep the visitor spellbound. Local craftsmen excel in arts
such batiks, silver and leather works. Next to the traditional, contemporary
art has found fertile soil in Yogya's culture oriented society. ASRI, the
Academy of Fine Arts is the center of arts and Yogyakarta itself has given its
name to an important school of modern painting in Indonesia, perhaps best
personified by the famed Indonesian impressionist, the late Affandi. Yogyakarta
is often called the main gateway to the Central Java as where it is
geographically located. It stretches from Mount Merapi to the Indian Ocean.
There is daily air service to Yogya from Jakarta, Surabaya and Bali as well as
regular train service and easy accessibility by road. Yogyakarta is commonly
considered as the modern cultural of Central Java. Although some may prefer
Solo as a good runner up, Yogyakarta remains the clear front-runner for
traditional dance, Wayang (traditional puppetry) and music.
Yogyakarta has more than just culture though. It is a very lively city and a
shopper's delight. The main road, Malioboro Street, is always crowded and
famous for its night street food-culture and street vendors. Many tourist shops
and cheap hotels are concentrated along this street or in the adjoining tourist
area such Sosrowijayan Street.
The key attraction of Yogyakarta is 'Kraton' (the Sultan's Palace). The Sultan's
palace is the centre of Yogya's traditional life and despite the advance of
modernity; it still emanates the spirit of refinement, which has been the
hallmark of Yogya's art for centuries. This vast complex of decaying buildings
was built in the 18th century, and is actually a walled city within the city
with luxurious pavilions and in which the current Sultan still resides.
Yogyakarta is also the only major city, which still has traditional 'Becak'
(rickshaw-style) transport.
Geographically
Yogyakarta Special Region is geographically located almost equidistant from
Indonesia's two most important international gateways, about 600 km from
Jakarta and 1000 km from Bali. Yogyakarta also has excellent transport
connections by bus, train or plane to the rest of Java, Sumatra, Bali and
Lombok. Yogyakarta's Adisucipto Airport is in the process of changing its
status in order to receive not only domestics' flights from Bali and Jakarta,
but also direct charter and scheduled flights from other countries.
Geographically, Yogyakarta Special Province is situated in the Southern part of
Central Java and lies between 7 degree 33' and 8 degree 12', South altitude
between 110 degree and 50' East longitude. Some regencies of central Java
Province surround the administrative boundaries of this region: Southern East:
Wonogiri Regency Eastern: Klaten Regency Northwestern: Magelang Regency
Western: Purworejo Regency The Indonesian Ocean borders the Southern part of
Yogyakarta. The borderline of the seashore stretches from West to East of which
the length is around 100 km, started from Congot Beach in Kulon Progo Regency
and ended at Sadeng Beach in Gunung Kidul Regency.
Because of its location, Yogyakarta is strategically positioned for the economic
activity network in Java as well as for the tourist destination area. The
special region of Yogyakarta lies midway on the axis of several main tourist
destination areas, Jakarta and West Java westward, Central Java northward, East
Java and Bali eastward. It is linked by regular rail, road and air services to
other parts of Indonesian archipelago.
Climate and Weather in Yogyakarta
The average daily temperature range between 26 degree and 28 degree Celsius
with its minimum 18 degree C and maximum 35 degree C respectively. Average
humidity is 74% with its minimum of 65% and maximum 84% respectively. The
Yogyakarta Special Region lays approximately 7 South of the equator line and is
bathed in tropical; sunshine along the year. This region has a tropic climate
the daily atmosphere feels a little bit hot and humid. These are only two
seasons along the year, the wet or rainy seasons and dry monsoon. Usually the
wet seasons begin at September and lasts about August. Generally there is no
rainfalls from may to August and there fore the atmosphere feels hot and humid
on the day and cool in the night and early morning. The monthly rain falling
Yogyakarta varies between 3mm and 496mm in which those above 300mm take place
during the month of January up to April. The heaviest rainfall usually occurs
in February while the lowest commonly happens between May and October Average
annually rainfall is about 1,900mm.
Populations of Yogyakarta
Based on 2000, the total population of Yogyakarta special Region amounted to
3.311.812. Yogyakarta Municipality that has 461,800 inhabitants spread over
32,50 kilometers or the average population density is thus over 14,200 persons
per square kilometer. The least densely populated districts is in Gunung Kidul
regency which has 720.643 inhabitants and cover 1,485 square kilometers or the
density rate is 485 persons per square kilometer. Since a very long time ago
the Provincial territory of Yogyakarta Special Region and its surrounding has
been decently populated. The majority residents of Yogyakarta Special Region
are Javanese whose language derives from ancient Sanskrit. However, as
Yogyakarta is considered to be "Indonesia's academic city" due to the numerous
centers for higher learning, many of the inhabitants are student who come from
all over Indonesia to study.
Culture of Yogyakarta
The culture Yogyakarta province with its status as a special region lies in the
Southern part of Central Java, in the heartland of Javanese culture. As the
former capital and the center of several kingdoms in the past, this region and
its people are very rich in a variety of cultures. It is widely known from to
historical records that the civilization, art and culture had developed well in
the center of those kingdoms respectively in the Ancient Mataram Kingdom (8th -
10th Century) era, the second Mataram Kingdom (17th - 18th Century) and
Sultanate Ngayogyokarto from the mid of 18th Century up today.
It should be noted that the cultural heritage from the past includes the
magnificent temples, the ruins of palaces and monasteries, the various kind of
traditions, cultural events, traditional folk and performing arts, architecture
and other traditional activities. It is important to note that this is all part
of the living culture of Yogyakarta, color of daily activities of live and the
local inhabitants behavior, particularly the Javanese community with its
traditional way of life and customs. Therefore, because of its culture richness
and heritage, Yogyakarta has long been known as the cradle of Javanese culture.
The other legendary name for Yogyakarta City, among the elders as well as the
youth generation that is the City of Art and Culture. Traditional and modern
exhibition are held almost every day and night about the art of theater,
pantomime, music, classic and contemporary dances, poems, etc. Those are flow
in the heart of the city. Even more, there are abundant of cultural ceremony,
such as Sekaten, Gunungan, Labuhan, Malioboro Fair, etc, which make the city
has high value of tradition, art, and culture.
Yogyakarta: Vacations and Tourism
The province of Yogyakarta has a total area of about 3.185,80 square kilometres
and is subdivided into four districts and one city, the city itself has a
surface of about 32,5 square kilometres and the four districts are Sleman,
Bantul, Gunung Kidul, and Kulon Progo. Yogyakarta is located in the centre of
the island Java, bordered on the south by the Indian Ocean and on the north by
a chain of volcanoes and is one of the principal cultural centres there. The
province of Yogyakarta is one of the most densely populated areas of Indonesia,
in 2000 the total population amounted to 3.311.812 people. The majority of the
inhabitants are Javanese. However as Yogyakarta is said to be “Indonesia’s
academic city” thanks to the numerous centres of higher education, many of the
residents are students of all over Indonesia.