Bandung

City Introduction

Bandung is the capital city of West Java Province. Surrounded by green fertile mountains, Bandung is Indonesia’s center for learning and creativity. Today, Bandung is one of Indonesia’s most prestigious university towns. Well known for its friendly climate, Bandung soon grew into a town for wealthy planters who owned the miles and miles of tea, coffee and cinchona plantations, fruit orchards and vegetable gardens in the cool and fertile hills of West Java. This city offers trendy fashion wear at reasonable prices at its many factory outlets, a wide range of delicious local and international cuisines, and a distinct colonial European-style atmosphere combined with captivating traditional arts.

History and Culture

It was originally named Bandoeng. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the Dutch East Indies Company established plantations in the Bandung area.

Beginning in the early 1920s, the Dutch East Indies government made plans to move their capital from Batavia to Bandung. Accordingly, during this decade, the Dutch colonial government commenced construction of military barracks, the central government building (Gouvernments Bedrijven, the present-day Gedung Sate) and other government buildings. However, this plan, was cut short by World War II, after which the Dutch were not able to re-establish their colony due to the Indonesian Declaration of Independence. After the Indonesian Independence in 1945, Bandung was designated the capital of West Java province.

In 1955, the first Asian-African Conference - also known as the Bandung Conference - was hosted in Bandung, and attended by the heads of states representing twenty-nine independent countries from Asia and Africa.

Natural Environment

Bandung’s elevation is 768 m above sea level. The Bandung Basin is an important source of water for potable water, irrigation and fisheries. The northern section of Bandung is hillier than other parts of the city, and the Tangkuban Perahu volcano can be seen from the city to the north. Long-term volcanic activity has created fertile andisol soil in the north, suitable for intensive rice, fruit, tea, tobacco and coffee plantations. In the south and east, alluvial soils deposited by the Cikapundung river predominate.

Climate Change

The city of Bandung has a tropical highland rainforest climate. Due to its elevation, the climate in Bandung is cooler than most Indonesian cities; the average temperature is 23.6 ℃ throughout the year. The average annual rainfall ranges from 1,000 mm in the central and southeast regions to 3,500 mm in the north of the city. The wet season conforms with other Indonesian regions, around November to April.