Indonesia has a large territory, but why are the capitals Jakarta and Surabaya on Java Island?

Indonesia's land area is 1904569 square kilometers, ranking 15 among more than 200 countries and regions in the world. With a population of 264 million, Indonesia is the fourth most populous country in the world, next to China, India and the United States. In addition, Indonesia's territorial sea area is 3 166000 square kilometers, and there are about 17508 islands, so it is called the country of thousands of islands.

Java is a small island in Indonesia with a prosperous economy and a dense population. The territory of Java only accounts for about 7% of Indonesia, but its GDP accounts for more than half and its population accounts for more than half.

Compared with other areas such as New Guinea, Java Island is small in size, but it often has obvious advantages. Even the capital was once located on this island. It was not until August 26th, 20 19 that the capital was moved from Jakarta to East Kalimantan. In addition to the capital Jakarta, there is also a big city Surabaya on this island.

Why should India focus on developing this small island when such a large area is not needed?

Geographical factor

Java has a tropical monsoon climate and is most suitable for people to live in. The air is warm and not humid, and the annual precipitation is moderate. People are not easy to get sick in this environment and live a very moist life.

However, the climate in other parts of Indonesia is far less comfortable than the tropical monsoon climate, and many places belong to the tropical rainforest climate.

Tropical rain forest climate has two characteristics:

First: the weather is hot;

Second: the air is humid;

In this climate, people get sick easily, and the washed clothes are hung outside, and sometimes they get wet after a long time in the sun. Moreover, in this climate, food is easily moldy and very unsuitable for living. So some people in other places moved to Java for a better life.

Another geographical advantage of Java Island is that there were many volcanoes in the past, and volcanic ash would fall to the ground after volcanic eruption. Volcanic ash mixed with local soil, making the soil extremely fertile. Crops planted in this soil have larger particles and higher yield. Moreover, the fruits grown here taste better, and because this place is close to the sea, people can eat seafood very conveniently.

Other places are not so lucky. Other places belong to tropical rain forests, and the climate is hot, which is not suitable for planting a variety of crops. Moreover, the tropical rain forest is mountainous and forested, and it is difficult to cultivate. Therefore, Indonesia has not invested much energy in reclamation for many years, and many lands are barren and barren.

From 0 10 to 10 10, the largest dynasty in Southeast Asia was established on ancient Java Island, which was called the Manchu Boyi Empire. The empire first developed and expanded in Surabaya on this island.

With the prosperity of the empire, Surabaya is also under construction. Over time, the port trade business in this place is very good, and the economy has developed accordingly. Rich people from all over the world slowly gathered in this place, and the economy further developed.

However, Jakarta was originally developed by the Dutch. Holland is a maritime country with many colonies. In order to get rich profits overseas, the Netherlands established the East India Company.

The East India Company originally settled in Jakarta. After the East India Company settled in Jakarta, it developed its trade rapidly and made a lot of money by doing business with many countries in the world. After becoming rich, the East India Company also established a foothold in Jakarta.

At first, there were modern ports and facilities in the world. Although the Netherlands is not so powerful now, and it no longer directly manages Indonesia, the original ports and buildings have been preserved for the benefit of future generations.

According to these two historical reasons, we know that Jakarta and Surabaya developed not in modern times, but in ancient times. Historically, Surabaya and Jakarta were the development centers of the Dutch Empire and the economic centers of East India. Natural development is rapid and the foundation is deep, so it is difficult for some surrounding areas to surpass these two cities.

Historical reasons

Although Java Island is well developed, Indonesia is a country, not an island, so all resources cannot be used to develop an island. Has Indonesia ever thought about developing other places? Like the United States, which develops the west, shouldn't Indonesia develop some backward places?

In fact, many people in Indonesia have put forward and tried this idea, but the final effect is not ideal.

The first reason is the climate: people prefer to live in a comfortable environment rather than go to some hot or cold places.

Indonesia rarely has such a pleasant climate except Java, so people from other places have moved to Java in order to get a better quality of life.

There is a strange phenomenon in Indonesia, that is, if one lives outside Java. Then this person will try his best to move to Java. Even if he used to be a landlord, he would rather give up the landlord and go to Java as an office worker than go back to his former place. Java has become a sacred place for many Indonesians.

It costs a lot of money to reclaim other land. Located in the tropical rain forest, except the hot climate is not suitable for crop growth and the land is barren. If you want to reclaim land from the sea, you need to invest a lot of money, and Indonesia is a developing country after all, so there is great pressure for such a large-scale development.

Over the years, Indonesia's development is still extremely uneven. Java accounts for half of the country's population and more than half of the country's economy, and the development of other places can't keep up.

In fact, there are still many countries with uneven development. Take China as an example, Shanghai's economy is particularly prosperous, but some remote mountainous areas are extremely backward, even without cars.

In the short run, this is a very special social phenomenon, but in the long run, the most important thing for a country to become a developed country is balanced development. Only in this way can we be in an invincible position in future international competition.

The above is just my personal opinion, and there are many opinions. Please leave a message in the comment area to discuss!