Cirebon

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Cirebon (formerly Cheribon) is a city on north coast of the Indonesian island of Java. It is located in West Java province, approximately 297 km east of Jakarta, at 6°43′S 108°34′E.

Its name derived from the words "Cai" (means "water") and "Rebon" (means "shrimp"). Indeed this city supplied a large amount of fresh and cheap fish / shrimps and well known as a large economic city transits in the past. Currently it is the biggest seaport between Jakarta and Semarang, and still receives timber from Kalimantan on old sailships.

It has a population of 223,776. Like many of the coastal cities of Java, the city has a large ethnic Chinese population, as a result of long-term immigration from China that began before Dutch colonization in the seventeenth century.

There are two major influence from Javanese and Sundanese, but Cirebon also have its own language (Cirebon language). Cirebon is known as Grage in Cirebon language.

History of this city is closely related to Wali Songo. There are two famous temples, and a cave system built by two Chinese architects around 1880s, both with characteristic insets of Chinese and Western porcelain in the walls. Trusmi village, about five kilometers outside of Cirebon, is famous for batik production, and tourists come to watch the ancient craft, as well as for shopping.

The City of Cirebon is divided into 5 subdistricts: Harjamukti, Kejaksan, Kesambi, Lemahwungkuk, and Pekalipan.

A major event in Cirebon's colonial history was the massive famine of 1844, apparently triggered by a combination of drought and the shift from subsistence agriculture to cash crops, particularly indigo and sugarcane, that had begun as a result of Dutch colonial policy in the 1830s.

Cirebon is known for foods such as nasi lengko (rice mixed with bean sprouts, fried tofu and fermented soybean cake), nasi jamblang (rice of various side dishes), empal gentong ( a kind of curry ), tahu gejrot (fried tofu with red sugar topping), tahu tek-tek (fried tofu topped with peanut sauce and mixed with vegetables) and ayam panggang (barbeque chicken). Local transportation is dominated by becak and angkot ("public cars").