The imaginary line of Yogyakarta

Relevant to the philosophy and belief of local mystery, the imaginary axis also called as the macrocosm of yogyakarta both infamous and very dominant are the south sea ( parang tritis ) beach and mount merapi axis lie in one straight line with panggung krapyak kraton yogyakarta ( yogyakarta palace ) tugu pal putih. This simbolyse the miystical value of both poles, south sea as the palace of queen kidul and mount merapi as the home of gods. The straight line is therefore belived as the “Proccess line towards the perfection of life”

merapi mountain is a treasured mountain for Yogyakarta, both in factual ways and in symbolic ways as the lava of mount merapi gives fertility to the land of yogyakarta and its surronding areas.

The south sea is the symbol of the kingdom of the royal Highness of queen kidul that conquers supernatural creatures such as genies, ghosts, etc. Symbolically, the south sea characterizes Yoni and Merapi Mountain characterizes Lingga. This is one of oldest belief and has been with the people for ages. The marriage between Lingga and Yoni is the symbol of fertility.

The journey towards the marriage , by imagenatif way depart from the south sea accros panggung krapyak , kraton yogyakarta and the tugu pal putih and towards Mount Merapi. When the king is in the siti Minggil Kraton Yogyakarta, tugu pal putih and mount merapi will lie ahead. This is a symbol of contemplation/meditation towards the purity of direct contact with the creator.

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Cultural and historical overview

Yogya’s rich living culture today has its roots in the distant past. Habitation of the region dates back to Java Man ( pithecantropus ) whose remain have been found in the solo area, some 60 km away. Inded , the Yogyakarta – Solo plains, being extremely fertile thanks to their volcanic soil, have been cultivated since the dawn of history.

Hinduism and Buddhism arrived early in Java from India, brought by traders sometime around the 1st or 2st century AD, and were grafted onto the animistic beliefs of the indigenous population. Archaeological remains from the Hindu and Buddhist ( Majapahit ) kingdoms in Central Java are today a principal tourist attraction. These include the UNESCO designated World Heritage sites of Borobudur and Prambanan. Hindu and Buddhist cultural influences are still very important in modern javanese dialy life, especially in the performing arts.

The History of modern Yogyakarta can be formally dated to the officially founding of the city in 1755, after the kingdom of Mataram was divided in two under a treaty with the Ducth colonial rulers. The first Sultan was Hamengku Buwono X , the tenth in line. Islam arrived in the 15 century brought by Arab and Indian Traders , and rapidly spread from the coast inward. Today, the overwhelming majority of Yogyakartans are Muslims ( 90% ), with significant Christian and Buddhist minorities scattered throughout the province. Despite these official affiliations, traditional religious beliefs are still of great importance of the Javanese. Traditional Javanese mysticism continue to play an important role in the dialy lives of the people.

The Dutch ruled the area known then as the Ducth East Indies for 300 years, with Indonesia declaring independence on August 17th , 1945 . after a brief struggle, the state of Indonesian was formally recognized by the world in 1949. The Crucial role played by Yogya during the flight for independence (when it also acted as the temporary capital of the young republic ) , earned it the ‘special region’ status.

Today the province of Yogyakarta is the only independent sultanate in Indonesia, and it has an elected provincial assembly. With the progressive moves towards decentralization under a newly-elected reform goverment in Jakarta, the provincial goverment in taking over many of the economic decisions and public responbilities that were formally under the tight control of the central goverment

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Population Profile

Yogyakarta has about 3,2 milion inhabitants in an area of 3,185 km2, making it one of the most densely populated provinces in Indonesia, with an average of 1,000 inhabitants per sequare kilometer. The city itself and its suburban settle ments are home to some 600,000 people with a population density of almost 15,000 inhabitants per square kilometer.

The majority of Yogya’s inhabitants are native javanese. Only in the crowded center of Yogya are there significant numbers of Indonesians from other parts of the archipelago, mostly students. Yogya is known as Indonesia’s education city due to its pleathora of universities, research centers and higher education intitutes, which lend a perpetually youthfull air to the city. There is also a large number in the province ,mostly involved in business or trade, or studying Javanese culture and pervorming arts.

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Geography

The special province of yogyakarta ( Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta ) is the second smallest of the 26 provinces of Indonesia, with only the country’s capital area, Jakarta being smaller. Yogyakarta , or “Yogya” as it is familiarly known is located in the central southern part of java and is surrounded on three sides by Central Java and on the fourth by the indian Ocean with a 100-km long coast line. In the north Mount merapi (2968m) Indonesia’s most active volcano rises above the surronding plains, easialy visible from the city, some 27 km away. The city of Yogyakarta also serves as the provincial capital. Other districs include Bantul , Wates, Sleman and Wonosari . provincial administration is devided into five districs, with the city itself being a single administrative unit.

Yogyakarta is linked by road and rail to jakarta (600km), Surabaya (320km), Semarang(120km) and Solo (60km). There are also dialy domestic flights to Jakarta (50 minutes, 6 flights ) and Bali, Indonesia’s primary tourist destination ( 1 hour, 5 flights ) , as well as to other major Indonesian cities.

Lying only seven degrees south of equator, yogya enjoys a tropical climate similar to other parts of java, with year-round temperatures between 26C and 28C. Humidity averages 84%, altoughs this varies according to the season.

The rainy season last from october to march and the dry season from April util september, annual precipitation is 1,759 mm, and the wettest period is between january and march, when monthly rainfall can exceed 300mm. During the dry season , a pleasant dry wind blows from the south, resulting in less humidity and only 3 mm of precipitation.

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Economic Overview

The service sector dominates the local economy, contributing approximately 35% to the regional Gross Domestic Product ( GDP ). This include tourism, education , hotel and catering facilities. Agriculture accounts for a further 20% of GDP, and transport and communication services around 11% altough there has been a slight shift towards the secondary and tertiary sectors in recent years, the manufacturing industry still ranks at third, with 15% of the regional DDP. The contructions industry and the financing and property sector each account for 10%. Total GDP in 1998 ( at current prices ) was US$ 2.7 billion.

Yogyakarta is well known asa a center of traditional Javanese handicraft and leather producs , mostly produced by small enterprises at village level throughout the region. The emergence of modern tourism and education services center of national importance. With its highly skilled workforce and pool of university graduates, Yogya is now focusing on the light industry, software, telecomunications, medical and other high-tech sectors.

Yogya's regional economicdevelopment in the 1990s ( until the nationwide economic and political crisisof 1996-98 ) was an above average 7%. the most impressive growth figures were found in the utilitie, manufacturing , finance , and real estate , hotel , catering and service sectors. The building of educational instutions and hotels , finaced by private investors or goverment authorities, led to the growth of the construction industry during this period.

The effects of the severe political and economic crisis are still being felt in the province, which has had to endure two years of negative economic growth rates and a dearth of domestic and foreign investement, there also been a significant drop in tourist numbers, due in large part to negative international media publicity resulting from ethnic clashes occurring in the more remote parts of the archipelago.

Present predictions for economic recovery are more optimistic, with the Bank of Indonesia aiming for a 5-7% growth rate for the country as whole in 2000/2001, and an inflation rate of less than 10%.

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Foreign trade and investement

in 1998, the volume of foreign trade in Yogya amounted to US$ 120,5 million , an increase of nearly 5% over the previous year, the geographical distribution of Yogya's foreign trade has remained relativey stable.

In 1998 the province's main export were the United States ( US$ 44,5 million ) , Hong Kong ( US$ 32,6 million ) , Japan ( US$ 10 million ) , Italy ( US$ 4,4 million ) and the Netherlands ( US$ 4 million ). The main export producs were textiles and related producs ( US$ 36,5 million ), wood-craft and furniture ( US$ 16,6 million ) ready -made leather ( US$ 10,9 ), other craft items ( US$8,1 million) and foot producs ( US$ 6 million ).

the province's main import trading partners are the USA ( US$ 2,5 million ) , Australia ( US$ 2,5 milion ) , New Zealand ( US$ 0,5 million ) and South Korea ( US$ 0,3 million ) . other import markets include Singapore, Taiwan , the Netherlands and Germany , imported producs include raw matterials for textile

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