Which capital city is located on the island of Java?

Jakarta is the capital city located on the island of Java. It sits on Java’s northwestern coast, along Jakarta Bay and the Java Sea, and forms the political and economic heart of Indonesia.

The city has a long history as a trading port. It was known as Sunda Kelapa under the Sunda Kingdom, Jayakarta after its conquest in 1527, and Batavia during Dutch colonial rule. After Indonesia became independent, Jakarta became the republic’s capital and resumed that role in 1950 after a brief wartime-era relocation to Yogyakarta.

Jakarta is often confused with Yogyakarta because Yogyakarta was Indonesia’s revolutionary capital from 1946 to 1949. Surabaya and Bandung are also major Indonesian cities on Java, but neither is the national capital. Indonesia is developing Nusantara on Borneo as a future political capital, while Jakarta remains the country’s functioning capital during the transition.