Surabaja

Surabaya Soerabaja Brussel van Java
City
From top left, clockwise: Sura and Baya statue in Surabaya Zoo, Suramadu Bridge, Heroes Monument, Tunjungan Plaza
Seal
Nickname(s): City of Heroes
Motto: Sparkling Surabaya
Location of Surabaya in East Java
Coordinates: 7°15′55″S 112°44′33″E / 7.26528°S 112.74250°E / -7.26528; 112.74250Coordinates: 7°15′55″S 112°44′33″E / 7.26528°S 112.74250°E / -7.26528; 112.74250
Country	Indonesia
Province	East Java
Settled	31 May 1293
Government
• Mayor	Tri Rismaharini (PDI-P)
• Vice Mayor	Wisnu Sakti Buana
Area
• City	350.5 km2 (135.3 sq mi)
• Metro	2,787 km2 (1,076 sq mi)
Elevation	5 m (16 ft)
Population (2016 census )
• City	3,457,404
• Density	9,900/km2 (26,000/sq mi)
• Metro	6,484,206
• Metro density	2,300/km2 (6,000/sq mi)
Demonym(s)	Suroboyoan
Demographics
• Ethnic groups	Javanese Chinese Indian Madurese Sundanese Minangkabau Batak Banjar Balinese Bugis
• Religion	Islam 77.25% Christianity 15.61% Catholic 4.60% Hinduism 1.30% Buddhism 1.15% Confucianism 0.07%
Area code(s)	+62 31
Vehicle registration	L
Website	surabaya.go.id

Surabaya (Indonesian pronunciation: [suraˈbaja]) (formerly Dutch: Soerabaja/Soerabaia), is the capital of Jawa Timur (East Java) province of Indonesia. It is one of the earliest port cities in Southeast Asia. During 18th and 19th centuries, Surabaya was the largest city in Dutch East Indies and the center of trading in the nation, larger than Batavia (at present Jakarta). It was then a competitor of Shanghai and Hong Kong. Today the city remains one of the important financial hubs of the Indonesian archipelago, arguably second only to Jakarta, and the Port of Tanjung Perak is Indonesia's second busiest seaport. Located on northeastern Java on the Madura Strait, it is the second-largest-city in Indonesia. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population over 2.8 million, approximately 6 million in the metropolitan area, and an 'extended metropolitan area' (Gerbangkertosusila) with more than 9 million inhabitants.

Surabaya (Suroboyo) is locally believed to derive its name from the words "suro" (shark) and "boyo" (crocodile), two creatures which, in a local myth, fought each other in order to gain the title of "the strongest and most powerful animal" in the area. It was said that the two powerful animals agreed a truce and set boundaries: the shark's domain would be the sea while the crocodile's domain would be the land. However one day the shark swam into the river estuary to hunt. This angered the crocodile, who declared it his territory. The shark argued that the river was a water realm which meant that it was shark territory, while the crocodile argued that the river flowed deep inland, so it was therefore crocodile territory. A ferocious fight resumed as the two animals bit each other. Finally the shark was badly bitten and fled to the open sea, and the crocodile finally ruled the estuarine area that today is the city.