Medan

Medan
View of central Medan
Seal
Medan Location of Medan in Indonesia
Coordinates: 3°35′N 98°40′E / 3.583°N 98.667°E / 3.583; 98.667
Country	Indonesia
Province	North Sumatra
Founded	July 1, 1590
Area
- Total	265.10 km2 (102.4 sq mi)
Population (2003)
- Total	2,392,922
- Density	9,026/km2 (23,377.2/sq mi)
Time zone	WIB (UTC+7)
Website	www.pemkomedan.go.id

Medan is the capital of the province of North Sumatra, Indonesia. Located in the northern part of the province along the coast, Medan is the third largest city in Indonesia. The city is bordered by Deli Serdang Regency to the east, south, and west, and the Strait of Malacca to the north.

History

Medan started as 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 Deli River meets Babura River.

Based on the diary of the Portuguese merchant in early 16th century, it stated that the name of Medan was actually derived from Medina which is actually a holy city in the western of Saudi Arabia. However, other source indicated that the name of Medan actually came from Indian language "Meiden". One of the Karo-Indonesia dictionary written by Darwin Prinst SH published in 2002 wrote that Medan could also be defined as "recover" or "be better".

The first inhabitants of Medan came from the Batak Karo community. It was not until the Sultan of Aceh, Sultan Iskandar Muda, sent his warlord, Gocah Pahlawan Laksamana Khoja Bintan, to be the Sultanate of Aceh's representative in Tanah Deli, that the Sultanate of Deli started to grow. This growth stimulated growth in both the population and culture of Medan. In the second year reign of Sultan Deli (between 1669-1698), there was a cavalry battle in Medan.

Kesawan in the 1920s

Tirtanadi Tower, Medan Icon

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

The Dutch governed Tanah Deli from 1658, after Sultan Ismail, ruler of the 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 Sumatra Province, and officially a city in 1918.

Medan is governed by a mayor, Drs. H. Abdillah Ak, MBA (period 2005-2010). Medan is divided into 21 districts (kecamatan) and 151 subdistricts (kelurahan).

Demography

The city is Indonesia's fourth most populous after Jakarta, Surabaya, and Bandung, with an official intercensal estimated 2007 population of 2,083,156.^[1] It also has a significant portion of its population outside of the city limits, especially in Deli Serdang Regency.

The city has a mix of communities, reflecting its history. It is famous throughout Indonesia as the home of the Batak people, although, traditionally it is a Melayu Kampung. More recently more and more of the Batak ethnic minority have come to the city to make what was once a minority become a fairly sized community. However, Batak homelands are found throughout North Sumatra. In addition, there is a large ethnic Javanese community, largely made up of the descendants of people transported from Java in the last century as part of the government's transmigration policy, an attempt to relieve the chronic overcrowding of Java.

A highly visible component of Medan's population is the large number of Chinese, who are very active in the business sector, and unlike the ethnic Chinese in many other parts of Indonesia continue to speak Hokkien. Finally, the city has a sizable community of Tamil descent who are commonly known as keling. A well-known Tamil neighbourhood is Kampung Keling. In addition to Indonesian, Batak Simalungun, Batak Karo, Batak Mandailing, Batak Pak-Pak, Batak Angkola, Batak Toba, Deli Malay, Javanese, Hokkien (Min Nan), Tamil, Acehnese, Minangkabau and English are spoken.

Landmarks

Medan's Great Mosque

There are many old buildings in Medan that still retain their Dutch architecture. These include the old City Hall, the central Post Office, the Water Tower, which is Medan City's icon, and Titi Gantung (a bridge over the railway).

There are several historic places such as Maimun Palace (Istana Maimun), where the Sultan of Deli still lives (the Medan Sultan does not have anymore an official power), and the Great Mosque (Masjid Raya) of Medan built in 1906.

Maimoon Palace, Palace of the Sultan in Medan

Medan's new Catholic temple Graha Maria

Since 2005, a catholic temple, in Indo-Mogul style, devoted to Graha Maria Annai Velangkanni (Our Lady of Good Health), is built in Medan. This particular Saint knows its origin with an apparition in the 17th century in India. The temple is an imposant building, of two storeys and a small tower of seven storeys in Indonesian style, that already attracts attention from the main road (it is situated in the small road Jl. Sakura III besides Jl. Simatupang). It is already the second most important pilgrimage place in Asia.

Transportation

The tricycle ricksaw (becak)

One of the unique features of Medan are the motorized becaks that are found almost everywhere. Unlike traditional becaks, a motorized becak can take its passenger anywhere in the city. The fare of riding a 'becak' is relatively cheap and is usually negotiated beforehand.

There are also more common transport like taxis and minibuses, known as sudako.

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

The seaport of Belawan is about 20 km to the north. Polonia International Airport is located in the heart of the city. Kuala Namu International Airport is a new airport under construction and is due to replace Polonia in 2009.

A toll highway connects Medan to Belawan and Tanjungmorawa. A plan for the extension of this highway to Tebing Tinggi and to Binjai has been completed, and the central government is currently seeking investors to build the extension.

Education

Medan is home to a significant number of universities, colleges, and schools. The city government of Medan lists a total of 827 elementary schools, 337 junior high schools, 288 senior high schools, and 72 universities and other institutions of higher learning ^[2].

State universities

Private universities

Media

The TVRI Medan (state-owned) and Deli TV (private) are the only two local TV stations in Medan. Several local newspapers are running in the city with Harian Analisa as the oldest one. Other popular newspapers include Harian Waspada, Harian Global, Harian SIB^{[citation needed]}

Sport

Football is a favorite sport game with two local clubs: PSMS Medan and Medan Jaya.

Sister cities

• Ichikawa, Japan
• George Town, Malaysia
• Chengdu, China
• Gwangju, South Korea

References

External links

Indonesia portal

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Medan

• Official website medan FREE Hotel,Food and Travel Guide (English)
• Official website (Indonesian)
• Medan Heritage
• Medan Tourism Medan Tourism
• Medanese Forum - The Largest Medanese Community
• Medan travel guide from Wikitravel
• Medan Archives - Tourist Information Pictures Videos
• Medan photo gallery
• Website of Annai Maria Velangkanni, the Medan Shrine

v • d • e Regencies and cities of North Sumatra, Indonesia Capital Medan Regencies Asahan · Batubara · Dairi · Deli Serdang · Humbang Hasundutan · Karo · Labuhan Batu · South Labuhan Batu · North Labuhan Batu · Langkat · Mandailing Natal · Nias · West Nias · South Nias · North Nias · Padang Lawas · North Padang Lawas · Pakpak Bharat · Samosir · Serdang Bedagai · Simalungun · South Tapanuli · Central Tapanuli · North Tapanuli · Toba Samosir Cities Binjai · Gunung Sitoli · Medan · Padang Sidempuan · Pematangsiantar · Sibolga · Tanjung Balai · Tebing Tinggi See also: List of regencies and cities of Indonesia