Important Facts For Prelims
Indonesia’s New Capital
- 02 Sep 2019
- 1 min read
Recently, Indonesia's President has announced that the country's capital (currently Jakarta) will be relocated to East Kalimantan province on Borneo island.
- Jakarta is the largest Indonesian city with a population of 1 crore people and is located on the North West coast of the most populous island in the world, Java.
- Reasons for Relocation:
- Jakarta was built on a marsh, (already a few meters below sea level), thereby prone to be submerged.
- Due to climate change, the water levels in the Java Sea are rising and weather events are becoming more extreme.
- Jakarta is among the world’s fastest sinking city.
- Moreover, the Jakarta is the centre for administration, governance, finance and trade, it has inevitably led to relentless construction in the city, due to which the water is not able to seep into the ground in many areas, leading to increased run-off.
- Site of Relocation
- East Kalimantan is located over 1,400 km from Jakarta, on the island of Borneo.
- Mineral-rich East Kalimantan was once almost completely covered by rainforests.
