Surakarta is a lowland lying on flat terrain 105 m above sea level (in the city center about 95 m above sea level), with an area of 44.1 km2 (0.14% of the area of Central Java). It is approximately 65 km (40 mi) northeast of Yogyakarta and 100 km (62 mi) southeast of Semarang. The eastern part of the town is bordered by Bengawan Solo River, the longest river on Java. The river is the inspiration for the song "Bengawan Solo", a 1940s composition by Gesang Martohartono which became famous throughout much of Asia. The city's soil is fertile because of the river and its tributaries.

The city is surrounded by Merbabu and Mount Merapi (3,151 m high) to the west and Mount Lawu (3265 m high) to the east. The Sewu Mountain Range lies further south.

 

The water sources for Surakarta are in the valley of Merapi, a total of 19 locations, with a capacity of 3,404 l/second. The average source water height is 800–1,200 m above sea level. In 1890–1927 there were only 12 wells in Surakarta. Today, underground water wells in 23 locations produce about 45 l/second.[5]

In March 2006, Surakarta's state water company (PDAM) had a production capacity of 865.02 l/second: from Cokrotulung, Klaten, 27 km from Solo, 387 l/s; and from 26 deep wells, with a total capacity of 478,02 l/second. The total reservoir capacity is 9,140 m3 and can serve 55,22% of the population.

The soil in Solo is fertile, partly because of the volcanic activity of Mounts Merapi and Lawu. Combined with abundant water source, makes the hinterland good for planting vegetables, food and cash crops. But in the last 20 years, manufacturing industry and tourism have been booming and agriculture declining.

 

 

 

CLIMATE

 

Under the Köppen climate classification, Surakarta features a tropical monsoon climate. The city has a lengthy wet season spanning from October through June, and a relatively short dry season covering the remaining three months (July through September). On average Surakarta receives just under 2200 mm of rainfall annually, with its wettest months being December, January, and February. As is common in areas featuring a tropical monsoon climate, temperatures are relatively consistent throughout the year. Surakarta's average temperature is roughly 30 degrees Celsius every month.

 

 

 

BORDER

 

Surakarta borders the Karanganyar and Boyolali Regency in the west and north, Karanganyar and Sukoharjo Regency in the east, and Sukoharjo Regency in the south. At each of the city borders stands agapura kraton or Javanese entrance monument, erected in 1931–32 during the reign of Pakubuwono X in Kasunanan Surakarta. Each of them serves as a border and an entry point to the capital of Kraton Surakarta with the neighboring territories. The gapuras were built not only on highways but also on the riverside of Bengawan Solo. Bengawan Solo used to be a port and crossing point (in Mojo/Silir).

The gapuras were built in two sizes, large and small. Large gapuras were built on major roadways. They can be seen in Grogol (south), Kerten and Jurug (east). Small gapuras can be seen near Dr. Oen Hospital (north), on the road to Baki in Solo Baru (south), Makamhaji (west), and in Mojo/Silir. Each of the large gapuras also has a stele that contains the name of the reigning monarch and the year that it was built.

 

 

 

ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISION

 

Surakarta City Hall

Surakarta City and its surrounding regencies, Karanganyar, Sragen, Wonogiri, Sukoharjo, Klaten, and Boyolali, are collectively called the ex-Surakarta Residency (Dutch: Residentie Soerakarta). After Surakarta became a city, it was divided into five districts (kecamatan), each led by a camat, and subdivided into 51 kelurahan, each led by a lurah. The districts of Surakarta are:

 

Kecamatan Pasar Kliwon (Postal code: 57110): 9 kelurahan

Kecamatan Jebres (Postal code: 57120): 11 kelurahan

Kecamatan Banjarsari (Postal code: 57130): 13 kelurahan

Kecamatan Laweyan (also spelled Lawiyan, Postal code: 57140): 11 kelurahan

Kecamatan Serengan (Postal code: 57150): 7 kelurahan

 

 

Greater Surakarta

Surakarta as a dense core city in Central Java, and its second city, spills considerably into neighboring regencies. Though a traffic study quotes the population as 1,158,000 as of 2008,[10] this reflects only the very core, 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 as the city and 6 surrounding regencies, though obviously not a core metropolitan area as some of its regencies are not particularly suburbanized, it reflects a broader planning region. Both the metropolitan area and extended areas border Yogyakarta's metropolitan area, while only the extended metropolitan area borders Kedungsapur or Greater Semarang. 

 

Administrative divisionArea (km²) Population (2010 Census) Population density (/km²)

 

Surakarta Municipality (44.03499,33711,340)

Sukoharjo Regency (466.66824,2381,766)

Klaten Regency (655.561,130,0471,723)

Boyolali Regency (1,015.1930,531916)

Sragen Regency (946.49858,266906)

Karanganyar Regency (800.28813,1961,016)

Wonogiri Regency (1,822.37928,904509)

Greater Surakarta (Subosukawonosraten) (5,750.495,984,5191,040)

 

 

 

GOVERNMENT

 

In the current Indonesian context, Surakarta is a city within the province of Central Java. Previous to the Indonesian nation being formed, it was an autonomous kingdom ruled by the Sunan and a principality ruled by the Mangkunegaran.

During Dutch occupation Yogyakarta and Surakarta were known as the Vorstenland or principalities. Rivalry between the two has been endemic since their founding in the 18th century and was a deliberate ploy by the Dutch to distract attention from the presence of the Dutch colonial power.

The hereditary ruler of the kraton or main court within the city bears the title of Pakubuwono, the present king being Pakubuwono XIII. Like Yogyakarta, Solo also has a junior court, born of another civil war: the Mangkunegaran, a small principality inside Kasunanan, of which Mangkunegara IX is the present monarch. Neither holds any political power and according to Indonesian law, both only have civilian status.

 

 

 

MAYOR

 

The current mayor of Surakarta is F.X. Hadi Rudyatmo. The pair replaced Joko Widodo in 2012 after being elected at Jakarta Governor Election 2012.

Under Joko Widodo's mayorship, the city has experienced a marked improvement. He rebranded and promoted Solo as "The Spirit of Java," a Javanese culture and heritage center, batik capital, and tourist-friendly city.

Juridically, the City of Surakarta was formed based on Government Regulation No. 16/SD 1946, announced at July 15, 1946. Based on several historical factors, June 16, 1946 is set as the anniversary of the Government of Surakarta. The city anniversary itself is celebrated every February 16, based on the date of the moving of the palace from Kartasura to Surakarta in 1745. On February 16, 2011, the city celebrated its 256th anniversary. But as Joko Widodo is being choose as the Jakarta Governor 2012-2017, the current mayor Joko Widodo is being change to F.X. Hadi Rudyatmo until 2015, with the vice mayor TBD.

 

 

 

DEMOGRAPHY

 

One of the earliest censuses held in Surakarta Residency (Residentie Soerakarta) was in 1885. At that time, with an area of about 5,677 km², there were 1,053,985 people in Surakarta Residency, including 2,694 Europeans and 7,543 Indonesian-Chinese. The area, 130 times the current area of Surakarta, had a population density of 186 people/km². The capital of the residency itself (roughly the size of the City of Solo proper) in 1880 had 124,041 people living in it..

According to the 2009 census, there were 245,043 males and 283,159 females (a sex ratio of 86.54) in Surakarta.[14] 119,951 of the population were 14 years or younger, 376,180 were between 15 and 64, and 32,071 were above 65. The number of households was 142,627 and the average number of household members was 3.7. The population growth in the last 10 years was about 0.565% per year.

Compared to other cities in Indonesia, Surakarta is the most densely populated city in Central Java, the eighth most densely populated city in Indonesia, the 13th smallest city in Indonesia, and the 22nd most populous of 93 autonomous cities and 5 administrative cities in Indonesia.

The labor force of Solo in 2009 was 275,546, of whom 246,768 were working, while 28,778 were seeking work. Another 148,254 people aged 15 and above were not in the labor force. Based on employment numbers, the most common work in Solo was worker/paid employee (112,336), followed by self-employee (56,112), self-employee assisted by temporary employee (32,769), unpaid employee (20,193), self-employee assisted by permanent employee (14,880), freelance employee in non-agricultural work (10,241), and freelance employee in agricultural work (237). Based on the industry, most people in Solo worked in trade (106,426), services (59,780), manufacturing (42,065), communication (16,815), construction (9,217), financing (9,157), or agriculture (2,608), and the rest in mining, electricity, gas, and water companies (700).

The mean working week in Solo was 47.04 hours (47.74 for men and 46.13 for women), and 212,262 people worked more than 35 hours per week compared to 34,506 who worked less than that.

 

 

Source: Wikipedia