Indonesia's located in southeast Asia. It's an island country. With more than 17 thousand of them, it's the largest island country on the planet. Many of the islands don't have an official population.
The island with the largest population is Java. It's the most populous island in the world. Jakarta, Indonesia's capital, is found on Java. But the country could be in for a change and the president suggests moving it.
Indonesia's president wants to move the capital
Climate change brought a series of problems to Jakarta. Notably, it started sinking. According to Euronews, roughly 40 percent of the population now reside below sea level. Sea walls are being constructed that are expected to help, but only so much. The city also has problems with pollution and overcrowding.
Jakarta isn't the only Asian capital facing these types of problems. The Philippines moved many of its government operations from the coastal city of Manila.
President Joko Widodo has proposed a bold move. He wants to change the country's capital.
By 2024, the government operations will start being moved to Kalimantan. Kalimantan is located on the island of Borneo. Notably, Indonesia doesn't have sole claim to Borneo. Instead, it's divided into three territories. One is Kalimantan. The other territories belong to Brunei and Malaysia.
Jakarta is a massive metropolis. It's a crucial diplomatic and financial hub. Little, if any of this, is likely to change, even if it's no longer Indonesia's capital. Bloomberg compares the possible move to what happened in Brazil and Myanmar.
Brazil's capital was moved from Rio de Janeiro to Brasilia in the early 1960s. But Rio de Janeiro has remained the country's metropolitan center. Similar can be said about Myanmar, where the capital moved from Yangon to Naypyidaw in 2006.
The situation in Myanmar is so far presented as something of a cautionary tale. It had been thought that there would be a mass migration to Naypyidaw once it became the capital. But well over a decade in, this has not yet happened.
Widodo has major connections to Jakarta
Even if it doesn't have much practical effect, a move could come as a blow to Jakarta. If for no other reason, at least for the sake of pride. And it would come at the hands of someone very familiar to the region.
Widodo has been the Indonesian president since 2014. Prior to that, he was the governor of Jakarta from 2012 to 2014. Widodo introduced a number of major policies during his tenure. He also oversaw the completion of two major rapid transit systems.
He was also the mayor of nearby Surakarta from 2005 to 2012. Before going into politics, Widodo was an entrepreneur in the furniture business.