Why This Asian Country Is Making The Decision To Move Its Capital

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If you know anything about Jakarta, the current capital of Indonesia , you probably know that it is the largest city in Southeast Asia. How large, exactly? Over 13 million people currently live there, and Java, which is an island on which Jakarta sits, ranks as the most populated island in the world — it is home to more than 257 million people. As a result, the Indonesian government is taking action: it wants to move the country’s capital altogether.

The Culture Trip reports that the government is making moves to relocate the nation’s capital to Palangkaraya, a city in central Indonesia.

After a brief visit to Palangkaraya by President Joko Widodo (Jokowi), a plan to move the capital was drafted and sent to the national development planning committee. If the plan passes, the relocation project will start in 2018.

Wikimedia (Featured: Palangkaraya)

So, other than the mass number of people living in Jakarta, why relocate? And why relocate now?

Because there is such a dense population in Jakarta, it has become the country’s center of business and industry. Though the booming economy (and tourism) helps bring in revenue to Indonesia, living in Jakarta is becoming nearly impossible with sky-rocketing housing rates as well as unbearable traffic jams. Officials fear that the severity of conditions will negatively impact businesses in Jakarta, which would hurt the entire nation.

Why Palangkaraya?

Palangkaraya, the proposed new capital, has very little business and a population of a little over 220,000 people. Seems like a weird choice, right? Wrong.

Pixabay (Featured: Jakarta)

The location was chosen for a number of reasons, including the fact that it’s right in the center of the country, making it fairly accessible to everyone. Also, Palangkaraya’s location makes it less susceptible to natural disasters like earthquakes and floods. Of course, the small population was also a major factor.

Indonesia will potentially become part of the small number of countries that have changed their capitals, but the reasoning behind the move is beyond understandable. We’re interested to see what happens, for sure.