Pontianak is the capital of the Indonesian province of West Kalimantan. It is a
medium-size industrial city on the island of Borneo. Pontianak occupies
an area of 107.82 km² in the delta
of the Kapuas River.
It is located precisely on the equator,
hence it is widely known as Kota Khatulistiwa (Equator City).
History
The city was formerly the capital of the independent Sultanate of Pontianak and was founded in 1772 around an old trading
station on the Borneo coast. It is built on swampy ground that is subjected to
regular flooding by the river, requiring buildings to be constructed on piles
to keep them off the ground. It has its name due to the story that the founder
had seen an appearance of Kuntilanak ghost at the place to be built for the
palace, which he fought to save the people.
Economy
Pontianak is renowned for its food and regional
produce. The main industries are shipbuilding and the production of rubber,
palm oil, sugar, pepper, rice and tobacco. It was formerly Borneo's main centre
for gold extraction. Pontianak is also recognised for being a trade hub between
overseas cities and other cities in West Kalimantan province.
It has also strong trade link with the city of Kuching, Malaysia. Trading
activities are centred along the Kapuas River, which range
from the easternmost part of West Kalimantan province to the South China Sea.
Education
There are colleges and universities operated by both
state institutions as well as private and religious institutions. The
University of Tanjung Pura, a state university, was established in Pontianak in 1963. In addition to this,
there are other universities maintained by private institutions: Muhammadiyah
University, University of Widya Dharma, University of Panca Bhakti, STMIK (Sekolah
tinggi Manajemen Informatika dan Komputer), University of Panca Bhakti,
State Islamic collage (STAIN), POLNEP (Politeknik Negeri Pontianak),
etc.
Demographics
The 2000 census put Pontianak's population at about
472,220.
with an intercensal estimate in 2006 of 509,804.
Pontianak is a multicultural city. It has a large population of Chinese
alongside the native Malay and Dayak local ethnic groups, living alongside
Javanese, Bugis, Batak, Minang, Madurese, Sundanese, Balinese, Ambonese and
Papuan migrating from all over the country. In fact, Chinese form the largest
single ethnic group in the city. Most Chinese are of either Teochew
or Hakka
extraction. These Chinese people trace their origins to the Chaosan Region in the Guangdong province of China. Native Indonesians
are mainly Malay and Dayak People. Madurese and
Javanese are also significant minorities.
Language
The Teochew dialect of Min Nan is the lingua
franca used amongst the Chinese people in Pontianak. This dialect is closely
related to the Teochew used in Singapore
and Peninsular Malaysia. Most citizens of Pontianak use Malay accent of Indonesian,
which is somewhat similar to that used in Malaysia.
Transportation
The most popular form of transport are motorcycles.
Public transport includes minivans (local: opelet) and human-powered becaks
(three-wheel pedicabs). There are some city buses serving certain routes only.
Inter city buses take passengers to other nearby cities (2, 3, to 10 or more
hours of travel), even to Kuching, a city in Malaysia. Road transportation to
Malaysia is possible via the Trans-Kalimantan Highway (Jalan Lintas
Kalimantan) to Tebedu
in Sarawak.
Transportation to other parts of Indonesia is mainly
via Supadio Airport. There are more than 10 flights every day connecting
Pontianak and Jakarta. There is also sea transport connecting Pontianak to
Jakarta, Semarang, Cirebon and some other cities, including regional cities
such as Ketapang in southern part of West Kalimantan.
Climate
Pontianak features a tropical rainforest climate under the Koppen climate classification. The city
sees a copious amount of rain throughout the year, averaging 3210 mm of
precipitation annually. Only in the month of July does the average monthly
precipitation fall below 200 mm. Temperatures are consistent throughout
the course of the year, with average high temperatures of 30 degrees celsius
and average low temperatures of 23 degrees celsius.
Subdivision
Pontianak has six subdivisons, they are East Pontianak - North Pontianak - Pontianak City - South Pontianak - South East Pontianak - West Pontianak.
< cited from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontianak,_Indonesia >
Posted by : Rista Devi Nurcahyo
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