Medan

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For other uses, see Medan (disambiguation).

Coordinates: 3°35′N 98°40′E
Medan
Location of Medan in Indonesia
Country	Indonesia
Province	North Sumatra
Founded	July 1, 1590
Area
- City	265.10 km² km²
Population
- City (2003)	2,392,922
Time zone	WIB (UTC+7)
Website: [1]

Medan is the capital city of North Sumatra province, Indonesia. It is the largest city in Sumatra. It is located in the north of the province, and has a nearby harbour, Belawan, and an international airport, Polonia International Airport.

Medan's official date of foundation is 1 July 1590.

1 History
2 Demography
3 Places
4 Transportation
5 External links

[edit] History

Kesawan in the 1920s

Tirtanadi Tower, Medan Icon

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 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 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 Sumatera Province, and officially a city in 1918.

[edit] Demography

The city is Indonesia's third most populous after Jakarta and Surabaya, with approximately 2.5 million people.

Medan means 'field' in Indonesian and Malay languages but the name actually originated from the Karonese word madan which means to 'get better' or 'healthy'.

The city has a mix of communities, reflecting its pre- and post-independence history. It is famous throughout Indonesia as the home of the Batak people, although the ancestral sites of these people are scattered throughout northern Sumatra. In addition, there is a large ethnic Javanese community, largely made up of the descendants of people shipped from Java in the last century as part of the government's transmigration policy, an attempt to relieve the chronic overcrowding on Java.

A highly visible component of Medan's population is the large number of ethnic Chinese, who control much of the business sector. Finally, the city has a sizeable community of Tamil descent, the people known as keling. A well-known Tamil market, is the Kampung Keling. In addition to Indonesian, Javanese, Hokkien, Tamil and English are spoken.

[edit] Places

Medan's Great Mosque

There are many older 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, and the Great Mosque (Masjid Raya) of Medan built in 1906.

The newest food court in the center of Medan is Merdeka Square, opened in 2005 and Kesawan Square, a street which is closed to vehicles after sunset. Many kinds of Indonesian, Western and Chinese cuisine are available, as well as stalls selling various items and a large Karaoke screen. It is very busy on Friday and Saturday nights. While several malls are also opening in recent years like Sun Plaza, Medan Fair Mall, Grand Palladium and Yang Lim Plaza

[edit] Transportation

The unique shaped tricycle (becak) from Medan

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. 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 investor for implementing it.