Surakarta, Central Java Province, Indonesia

🇮🇩 Surakarta, known colloquially as Solo, is a city in Central Java, Indonesia. It is situated alongside the Solo River. Its built-up area, consists of Surakarta Municipality and 59 districts spread over seven regencies. Surakarta as a dense core city in Central Java, and its second city, spills considerably into neighbouring regencies. Surakarta City and its surrounding regencies, Karanganyar, Sragen, Wonogiri, Sukoharjo, Klaten, and Boyolali, are collectively called the ex-Surakarta Residency.

History Hominid habitation in the region of Surakarta is evidenced from roughly one million years ago, the age of the "Java Man" skeleton found 80 km upstream. Another famous early hominid from this area is called "Solo Man".

The Surakarta area was part of the Mataram Kingdom and in this time a village called Wulayu seems to have already existed in or around the present-day city of Surakarta, as evidenced by a ferry charter issued by Balitung in A.D. 904. The Majapahit empire renewed this ferry charter in 1358.

By the 18th century, the village had acquired the name of Sala. This name is said to be derived from the sala tree. As the Javanese pronunciation "Sala" was considered difficult to pronounce by the Dutch, the name later morphed into "Solo".

In 1745, on the basis of astrological calculations and Dutch commercial interest, Surakarta was chosen to be the new capital of the Mataram Sultanate which was on the verge of becoming a vassal state of the Dutch East India Company. The formal name is derived from the previous capital Kartasura. The official court history claims that Surakarta originally stood on a lake, which was drained by the favor of the mythical queen of the southern sea, Kanjeng Ratu Kidul.

In the ensuing colonial era, the kingdom of Mataram was divided into the Surakarta Sunanate (northern court) and the Yogyakarta Sultanate (southern court). Surakarta ruled by hereditary monarchs, who were given the unique Javanese cultural title Susuhunan. Since both Surakarta and Yogyakarta had become vassal states of the Dutch, traditional court arts, notably gamelan, were developed to demonstrate cultural power instead of developing military power.

Pakubuwono X Perhaps the most significant ruler of the 20th century was Pakubuwono X. His relationship with the Dutch, his large family, and his popularity contributed to perhaps the largest funeral procession that ever occurred in Surakarta. He had spent a large amount of money on the Royal Graveyard at Imogiri, both the main sections of the graveyard and the new section that he was buried in. In the era just prior to independence Surakarta had European, Chinese, and Arab quarters.

Struggle for independence After hearing the proclamation of Indonesian Independence, Pakubuwono XII declared Surakarta a part of the Republic of Indonesia. Because of this support, President Sukarno declared Surakarta a Special Region with the Susuhunan, Pakubuwono XII, continuing as governor. This terminology was also used for the Special Region of Yogyakarta, which continues to be legally governed by its sultan to this day. However, unlike Yogyakarta, Surakarta had intense, organized resistance to the continuation of the monarchy. In October 1945, a republican movement was established in Surakarta led by Tan Malaka, a member of the Indonesian Communist Party.

On October 17, the vizier of Surakarta, KRMH Sosrodiningrat V (a member of the BPUPK), was kidnapped. The new vizier, KRMT Yudonagoro, and 9 other court officials were also kidnapped by the same movement in March 1946, including heir to the viziership KRMTH Wuryaningrat.

In response, Prime Minister of Indonesia Sutan Syahrir met with Wuryaningrat and other Surakarta leaders in May and agreed to abolish the established government entirely.

On June 16, 1946, the Surakarta "special region" was abolished and replaced with a regency (kabupaten), administered by a republican government outside the control of the Susuhunan and his court. This event is commemorated as the birthday of the city of Surakarta.

On June 26, Prime Minister Sutan Syahrir was kidnapped in Surakarta by a rebel movement led by Major General Soedarsono, the commander of the 3rd division. President Sukarno was angry at this kidnapping and on July 1, 1946, 14 communist leaders including Tan Malaka were arrested by Indonesian police on Sukarno's instructions. However, Soedarsono freed the rebel leaders immediately. Sukarno asked the local military commander in Surakarta, Lieutenant Colonel Suharto to arrest Major General Soedarsono and the rebel group.

Suharto refused to follow this command unless it was given directly by the Military Chief of Staff, General Soedirman. Sukarno was angry at this rejection of his commanding authority, and called Suharto a stubborn (koppig) officer.

Suharto pretended to support the rebellion and persuaded Soedarsono and his group to stay at his headquarters at Wiyoro, Surakarta for their own safety. Later that night he persuaded Soedarsono to meet President Sukarno at his palace the next morning. Suharto secretly informed the presidential guard troops about Soedarsono's plan on the next morning. On July 3, 1946, Soedarsono and his group were arrested by the presidential guard near the palace. Prime Minister Syahrir was released unharmed. Several months later, Maj. Gen. Soedarsono and his group were pardoned and released from prison.

However, this did not halt the ascendancy of the Communist Party in Surakarta. In November 1946, the communists kidnapped the regent and vice-regent and seized power for themselves, a coup quickly legitimated after the fact by Sukarno. In 1947, Amir Sjarifuddin appointed Wikana, a communist, as Surakarta's military governor.

In December 1948, the Dutch attacked and occupied the cities of Yogyakarta and Surakarta as part of Operation Kraai. The Indonesian Army, led by General Soedirman, started a guerrilla war from surrounding areas. The Dutch declared that the Republic had been destroyed and no longer existed. To disprove this, the Indonesian army conducted large-scale raids into the cities of Yogyakarta and Surakarta, called Serangan Oemoem. On August 7, 1949, Indonesian troops led by Slamet Riyadi managed to defeat the Dutch troops and occupied the city for several hours. To commemorate this event, the main street of the city of Surakarta was renamed Brigadier General Slamet Riyadi Street.

Surakarta remained under communist control until October 1965. Local government was unclear about how to proceed after the 30 September Movement and went about business as usual. As a result, Suharto's forces entered Surakarta without resistance, mobilized local youth paramilitaries, and indiscriminately slaughtered the entire local government.

Administrative divisions After Surakarta became a city, it was divided into five districts (kecamatan), each led by a camat, and subdivided into 51 kelurahan (now 54), each led by a lurah.

Greater Surakarta Surakarta as a densely-populated core city in Central Java, and its second city, spills considerably into neighboring regencies. Surakarta City and its surrounding regencies, Karanganyar, Sragen, Wonogiri, Sukoharjo, Klaten, and Boyolali, are collectively called the ex-Surakarta Residency (Dutch: Residentie Soerakarta).

Though a traffic study quotes the population as 1,158,000 as of 2008, this reflects only the continuously built-up area, 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 metropolitan zone, with the acronym "Subosukawonosraten" - for SUrakarta, BOyolaki, SUkoharjo, KAranganyar, WONOgiri, SRAgen, KlaTEN - as the city and the entire 6 surrounding regencies, which reflects a broader planning region, though not a core metropolitan area as some of its regencies are not particularly suburbanized. Both the metropolitan area and extended areas border Yogyakarta's metropolitan area, while only the extended metropolitan area borders Kedungsapur or Greater Semarang.

Economy The per capita GDP of Surakarta in 2009 was 16,813,058.62 IDR, the fourth highest in Central Java after Kudus, Cilacap, and Semarang. The living standard in 2009 was 723,000 IDR. The Consumer price index in January 2011 was 119.44.

Tourist Industry 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 specialises 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 artefacts. The traditional batik village of Laweyan and Kampung Batik Kauman, located in the south-west part of the city and the city centre respectively, are famous for producing fine quality Javanese batik.

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 Solo Kota Station. In 2011 there were 60 trips and in 2012 will be 80 trips.

Sport 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 Liga 1 Indonesia. Other than Persis, several clubs have existed in Solo: Arseto, Pelita Solo, Persijatim Solo FC, and lastly Solo FC played in the Indonesian Premier League in 2011. Both clubs that still exist, Persis and Solo FC, have made Manahan Stadium their home ground. Manahan Stadium is one of the best sports 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.

Surakarta is also home to the West Bandits Solo of the Indonesian Basketball League. They play their home games in the Sritex Arena.

Disabled sports Surakarta is the first to host National Paralympic Week in 1957 and hosted several of the subsequent games. As a result, Surakarta has sport facilities sufficient for holding international disabled sports games.

In 1986, Surakarta hosted the 4th FESPIC Games, making the games the first in Indonesian para-sport history in which international disabled sports games were held. The city is also the host city of the 2011 ASEAN Para Games, instead of Jakarta and Palembang, where the main games were held, as well as the 2022 ASEAN Para Games where the original host, Vietnam, only held the 2021 Southeast Asian Games due to COVID-19 crisis.

Transport: Air Adisumarmo International Airport (IATA code: SOC) has direct flights to Kuala Lumpur by Malaysia Airlines and during the hajj season, Saudi Arabia, as well as regular flights to Jakarta by Garuda Indonesia, Sriwijaya Air, Lion Air and Citilink. The airport is located 14 km (8.7 mi) north of the city. In 2009 Adisumarmo had 2,060 outbound domestic flights and 616 outbound international flights.

Transport: Rail 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, Ngawi and Malang. For regional traffic, a commuter train KRL Commuterline Yogyakarta–Solo connects Surakarta and Yogyakarta.

On 26 July 2011 the Bathara Kresna Rail Bus has been launched to serve Purwosari–Wonogiri route, but for the moment only Purwosari-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).

In 2019, Adisumarmo Airport Rail Link began operation, linking Solo Balapan Station to a station inside Adisumarmo International Airport complex.

Transport: Road 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). Semarang–Solo Toll Road connects the city with provincial capital Semarang. 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 service named Batik Solo Trans (BST), which resembles TransJakarta bus rapid transit service. As of 2017, it has only three routes. A single trip costs Rp.3000, Rp.1500 for students. A special ticket for the trip from or to the airport costs Rp.7000.