Nusantara-Indonesia New Capital

January 19, 2022

The Indonesians are moving to a new capital. It is East Kalimantan. It is now called ‘Nusantara’. Earlier, Jakarta was the capital of Indonesia.

Nusantara

East Kalimantan or Jakarta is located in the Borneo island. The plan to shift the capital here was announced in 2019. It was announced by President Joko Widodo.

Reasons for moving out of Jakarta

Jakarta has been the capital of Indonesia since 1949. Jakarta is facing environmental and financial issues. Pollution is increasing in Jakarta. It has been consistently ranked as one of the most polluted cities in the world. Jakarta is in Java island. And Nusantara is in Borneo island. The size of Borneo island is larger than Java island. Currently, Jakarta is densely populated. This is adding to the burden borne by the Indonesian Government. Also, Jakarta is sinking. By 2050, most of the Jakarta is expected to go under water. This is mainly because Jakarta is surrounded by several rivers. These rivers are prone to frequent floods. Between 2019 and 2020 many cities in Jakarta sank up to 10.7 cm.

What is the plan?

All the government institutions, presidential palace, international organization buildings and foreign embassy buildings are to be moved to Nusantara. It is to cost 33 billion USD to execute the plan. Around 2,56,142 hectares of land has been allocated to build the capital city.

Nusantara: Name reason

Nusantara means archipelago. It represents philosophical, sociological and historical aspects.

Concerns

Nusantara is rich in biodiversity. According to the environmentalists, moving the capital to Nusantara will lead to massive deforestation. Also, it will put the trees and animals in the region at danger.

Other countries

The other countries that recently changed its capital are as follows:

Brazil changed from Rio De Janeiro to Brasilia. Brasilia is more centrally located. The country changed in 1960.
In 1991, Nigeria changed its capital from Lagos to Abuja.
Kazakhstan changed its capital from Alamty to Nur – sultan.
In 2005, Myanmar changed its capital from Rangoon to Naypyidaw.

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