New Capital of Indonesia
- January 19, 2022
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN Topics
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New Capital of Indonesia
Subject – IR
Context – Rising sea levels prompt Indonesia to relocate capital
Concept –
- Indonesia passed a bill replacing its capital Jakarta with East Kalimantan, situated to the east of Borneo Island. The new capital city of the country will be called Nusantara.
- Nusantara is an old Javanese term that means ‘archipelago’.
- Jakarta has been Indonesia’s capital since the country became independent in 1949. The city has become overcrowded and extremely polluted for the last few decades.
Where is East Kalimantan?
- East Kalimantan is 2,300 kilometres from Jakarta on the eastern side of Borneo island, shared by Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei.
- The new capital will be located in the North PenajamPaser and KutaiKartanegara regions.
- East Kalimantan is an area with immense water resources and habitable terrain.
- East Kalimantan is rich in flora and fauna. Many environmentalists and activists have warned that moving the capital to East Kalimantan would lead to massive deforestation and put the habitat of these animals and trees in danger and damage the ecosystem.
What are the other countries that have changed capitals?
- Indonesia is not the first country to change its capital city. There has been a long list of countries that have changed their capitals for various reasons.
- Brazil changed its capital city from Rio De Janerio to Brasilia, a more centrally-located city, in 1960.
- In 1991, Nigeria hanged the country’s capital from Lagos to Abuja.
- Kazakhstan moved its capital city from Almaty, which is still its commercial centre, to Nur-Sultan in 1997.
- Myanmar changed its capital from Rangoon to Naypyidaw in 2005.