Medan

Medan is the capital city of the Sumatera Utara (North Sumatra) province of Indonesia. It is located in the north of the province and has a nearby harbour, Belawan, and international airport.

Officially Medan's birthdate is the 1st July 1590.

Demographic

The city is Indonesia's third most populous after Surabaya and Jakarta, with approximately 2.5 million people. Compared to Jakarta, the city might seem a little provincial, as it lacks most of the glossy Western skyscrapers and shops.

History

Medan's embryo was a village called Kampung Medan (Medan Village). Kampung Medan was founded by Guru Patimpus around the 1590s. Because Kampung Medan sits on Tanah Deli (Land of Deli), Kampung Medan is also referred as Medan-Deli. The original location of Kampung Medan is an area where the River of Deli meets River Babura.

The first inhabitants of Medan came from the Batak Karo community. It was not until the King of Aceh, Sultan Iskandar Muda, sent his warlord, Gocah Pahlawan Laksamana Khoja Bintan, to be the Kingdom of Aceh's representative in Tanah Deli, that the Kingdom of Deli started to grow. This growth stimulated growth in both the population and culture of Medan.

Medan did not enjoy vast development until the 1860s, when the Dutch colonialists began clearing the land for tobacco plantations. Medan quickly became a centre of government and commercial activity, dominating development of Indonesia's western region.

The Dutch governed Tanah Deli from 1658, after Sultan Ismail, ruler of Kingdom of Siak Sri Indrapura, yielded some of his once ruled land, Deli, Langkat, and Serdang. In 1915 Medan officially became the capital of North Sumatera Province, and officially a city at 1918.

Places

There are many older buildings in Medan that still retain their Dutch architecture. Some buildings are: the old City Hall, Post Office Center, Water Tower which has been Medan City's icon, and Titi Gantung - a bridge over railway.

There are several historic places such as Maimun Palace and the Great Mosque of Medan.

Transportation

An uniqueness of Medan is its motorized becaks found almost everywhere in Medan. Unlike traditional becaks, a motorized becak can take its passenger to anywhere in the city. There are also more common tranports like taxis and transport cars.

Railroad tracks connect Medan to Tanjungpura to the northwest, to port of Belawan to the north, and to Binjai, Tebing Tinggi and Pematang Siantar to the southeast.

The seaport of Belawan is about 20 Kms to the north. The International airport of Polonia is located in the heart of the city.

A tollroad connects Medan to Belawan and Tanjungmorawa. Medan-Lubuk Pakam and Medan-Binjai are being planned.