Greater Jakarta

Greater Jakarta (Indonesian: Jakarta Raya) is a generic term for the urban agglomeration surrounding Jakarta, Indonesia, the capital and largest city in the country, home to over 30 million people (2014). Being a generic term, there are multiple definitions for differing purposes, yet all rank Greater Jakarta among the largest urban agglomerations on the planet. These definitions do not necessarily need to be defined by the government, they can be defined by an organization or study, such as Demographia, a development bank, a university, etc.

Greater Jakarta is an immigration magnet and home to people from all over Indonesia and Southeast Asia, as well as a sizeable expatriate population. Greater Jakarta has significant numbers of Sundanese, Javanese, Betawi as well as Bataks from the rest of the island.

The administrative definition, Jabodetabek, formerly Jabotabek, has for decades been the basis for all metropolitan area definitions, however urbanization does not conform to administrative lines, there are considerable built-up areas with commuting patterns into Jakarta or its adjacent independent cities (kota), and complex geography such as huge volcanoes, rice paddies, and swampland that make it a messy definition to properly define the agglomerated built-up area. There have been numerous studies and attempts to redefine Greater Jakarta, some advocated by former President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono during his term, however resistance against changing norms has generally blocked progress and have had limited success. As Jabodetabek is an acronym, the re-definitions also have tended to tack on abbreviations to the end in the acronym form.

Issues leading to the administrative definition revision attempts include:

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