Batu, officially the City of Batu ( id, Kota Batu, jv, ꦏꦸꦛꦧꦠꦸ), is a landlocked
city
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
in the
East Java
East Java ( id, Jawa Timur) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia located in the easternmost hemisphere of Java island. It has a land border only with the province of Central Java to the west; the Java Sea and the Indian Ocean bord ...
Province of
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
. It is about 20 km to the northwest of
Malang
Malang (; ) is a landlocked List of regencies and cities of Indonesia, city in the Indonesian Provinces of Indonesia, province of East Java. It has a history dating back to the age of Singhasari, Singhasari Kingdom. It is the second most popul ...
. Formerly, it was a part of
Malang Regency
The Malang Regency is a regency in East Java, Indonesia. Malang Regency is the second largest regency in East Java after Banyuwangi Regency, with a total area of 3,530.65 km2. Malang is rich in potential for agriculture, medicinal plants and ...
; but in 2001, Batu became an independent city legalized by Act No. 11 of 2001, when it became an independent municipal city with its own
mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...
and
council
A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...
.
With a population of 213,046 people at the 2020 Census, it lies on the southern slopes of
Mount Arjuno-Welirang. Its population largely consists of
Javanese. The town used to be a recreation place for the
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
colonial officers in the Dutch colonial area (before 1945). ''Batu'' means "rock" in
Indonesian
Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to:
* Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia
** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago
** Indonesian ...
.
History
Since the 10th century, the area of Batu and its surroundings has been known as a resting place for the royal family, because the region is a mountainous area with comfortable air, also supported by the beauty of natural scenery as a characteristic of mountainous regions.
During the reign of Mataram Kingdom under King Sindok, a royal official named Mpu Supo was ordered by the King to build a royal family resting place in the mountains with nearby water springs. With a hard effort, finally Mpu Supo discovered an area which is now better known as the tourist area of Songgoriti. With the approval of King Sindok, Mpu Supo began to build the Songgoriti area as a royal family retreat and built a temple named Supo Temple.
From some local community leaders, it has been told that the title Batu comes from the name of a cleric follower of
Prince Diponegoro
Prince Diponegoro ( jv, ꦢꦶꦥꦤꦼꦒꦫ; born Bendara Raden Mas Mustahar, ; later Bendara Raden Mas Antawirya ; 11 November 1785 – 8 January 1855), also known as Dipanegara, was a Javanese people, Javanese prince who opposed the Dutch Colo ...
named Abu Ghonaim or referred to as the Kyai Gubug Angin which later the local community was familiar with calling it ''Mbah Wastu''. From Javanese cultural habits that often shorten and shorten the designation of someone's name which is considered too long, also to make it shorter and faster when calling someone, finally Mbah Wastu is called ''Mbah Tu'' to be ''Mbatu'' or ''Batu'' as a term used for a mild climate city in East Java.
The history of Abu Ghonaim's existence as a forerunner and person known as a community leader who started the babad alas and was used as inspiration from the designation of the Batu region, in fact Abu Ghonaim himself was from the Central Java region. Abu Ghonaim as a loyal follower of Prince Diponegoro, intentionally left his native area of Central Java and moved to the hillside of
Mount Panderman to avoid the pursuit and arrest of the
Dutch soldiers (''Kompeni''). Abu Ghonaim or Mbah Wastu who started his new life together with the surrounding community. Finally, many residents and surrounding communities and other communities came around the residence of Mbah Wastu. Initially they lived in a group (community) in the Bumiaji, Sisir and Temas.
Geography
The city of Batu lies on the slopes of several mountains. The most prominent are Mount Anjasmoro (2,277 m),
Mount Arjuno
Mount Arjuno-Welirang is a stratovolcano in the province of East Java on Java, Indonesia. Mount Arjuno-Welirang lies about 50 kilometers (31 mi) south of Surabaya, and 20 kilometers (12 mi) north of Malang. It is a twin volcano, with the 'twins' ...
(3,339 m),
Mount Welirang
Mount Arjuno-Welirang is a stratovolcano in the province of East Java on Java, Indonesia. Mount Arjuno-Welirang lies about 50 kilometers (31 mi) south of Surabaya, and 20 kilometers (12 mi) north of Malang. It is a twin volcano, with the 'twin ...
(3,156 m), Mount Banyak (1,306 m),
Mount Kawi
Mount Kawi or Gunung Kawi is a stratovolcano in East Java on Java island, Indonesia. It is a massive volcano, adjacent to Mount Butak. There is no historical record of its eruptions.
See also
* List of volcanoes in Indonesia
The geog ...
(2,551 m), Mount Panderman (2,045 m),
Mount Semeru
The Semeru ( jv, ꦱꦼꦩꦺꦫꦸ), or Mount Semeru ( jv, ꦒꦸꦤꦸꦁꦱꦼꦩꦺꦫꦸ (Pegon:, Gunung Semeru), is an active volcano located in East Java, Indonesia. It is located in a subduction zone, where the Indo-Australian plate ...
(3.676 m), and Mount Wukir (335 m).
In the 19th century, the
Dutch East Indies
The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...
government developed Batu as a mountain resort. Villas and resort facilities were built in Batu during the period. Most of the topography of Batu city is dominated by highland and hilly terrain with valleys running down mountain slopes. In northern Batu, there is a dense forest, Raden Soerjo Forest Park, which is a protected forest area.
Most soils in Batu city are
andosols
Andosols are soils found in volcano, volcanic areas formed in tephra, volcanic tephra. In some cases Andosols can also be found outside active volcanic areas. Andosols cover an estimated 1–2% of earth's ice-free land surface. Andosols are a Ref ...
, sequentially present with
cambisol
A Cambisol in the World Reference Base for Soil Resources (WRB) is a soil in the beginning of soil formation. The horizon differentiation is weak. This is evident from weak, mostly brownish discolouration and/or structure formation in the soil pr ...
,
latosol and
alluvial
Alluvium (from Latin ''alluvius'', from ''alluere'' 'to wash against') is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. Alluv ...
. These form mechanical soils which contain substantial amounts of minerals coming from volcanic eruptions. These soils tend to be very fertile.
Batu is a near-exact antipode (or polar opposite) to the city of
San Fernando de Apure
San Fernando de Apure () is a city in Apure State in Venezuela. The population of the municipality area is 165,135 (2011 census). The 18th century exports included heron feathers (for pens) and animal hides.
The “Maria Nieves” bridge across ...
, Venezuela.
Climate
The climate in Batu city at lower elevation (700-900 meters) features
tropical monsoon climate
An area of tropical monsoon climate (occasionally known as a sub-equatorial, tropical wet climate or a tropical monsoon and trade-wind littoral climate) is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification category ...
(''Am''), and at higher elevation (900-1800 meters), the city's climate is classified by
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer
* Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan
* Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...
as
subtropical highland climate
An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ( ...
(''Cwb''). The driest month is August with precipitation total 35 mm, while the wettest month is January with precipitation total 406 mm. The temperature is moderated by the altitude, as the city is located at average 953 meters above sea level. The hottest month is October with average 22.2 °C, while the coolest month is August with average 11.4 °C.
Administration
The city is divided into three
districts
A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...
(''kecamatan''), tabulated below with their areas and their populations at the 2010 Census and 2020 Census.
[Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2021.]
The districts are further subdivided into 24
urban villages (''kelurahan''). The names of the urban villages are:
;Batu District
# Ngaglik
# Oro-Oro Ombo (Rombo)
# Pesanggrahan
# Sidomulyo
# Sisir
# Songgokerto
# Sumberejo
# Temas
;Bumiaji district
# Bulukerto
# Bumiaji
# Giripurno
# Gunungsari
# Pandanrejo
# Punten
# Sumberbrantas
# Sumbergondo
# Tulungrejo
;Junrejo district
# Beji
# Dadaprejo
# Junrejo
# Mojorejo
# Pendem
# Tlekung
# Torongrejo
Economy
The economy of Batu City is highly dependent on tourism and agriculture. The location of Batu City which is in the mountainous region and rapid tourism development makes most of the GDP growth in Batu depended by this sector. In agriculture, Batu is one of the largest apple-producing regions in Indonesia, which makes it dubbed "The City of Apples".
Apple
An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...
agriculture in Batu has four
varieties
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
, there are "Manalagi", "Rome Beauty", "Anna", and "Wangling". Also the city produces a lot of vegetables, and garlic. Besides that, Batu is also an artist city where there are many painting and art galleries in this city.
Batu has several
shopping centers
A shopping center (American English) or shopping centre (Commonwealth English), also called a shopping complex, shopping arcade, shopping plaza or galleria, is a group of shops built together, sometimes under one roof.
The first known collec ...
ranging from modern shopping centers to modern and traditional markets. Among the most famous modern shopping centers are Lippo Plaza Batu and Plaza Batu, while the famous traditional market in Batu is Pasar Batu. In addition, there is also a
floating market
A floating market is a market where goods are sold from boats. Originating in times and places where water transport played an important role in daily life, most floating markets operating today mainly serve as tourist attractions, and are chie ...
in Batu called the Nusantara Floating Market which makes it the first floating market in East Java. The Nusantara Floating Market Complex is a unit of the Museum Angkut tourism complex in Batu.
Tourism
Batu is well known for its tourism sites. Some are:
* Cuban Rondo Waterfall
*
Jatim Park (Jawa Timur Park): a place for learning and playing.
*
Jatim Park 2
*
Jatim Park 3
* Selecta Pool and Hotel
* BNS: Batu Night Spectacular
* Alun-Alun Batu
* Eco-Green Park
*
Museum Angkut
* Pasar Parkiran
* Paralayang Gunung Banyak
* Coban Pitu
There is a historic colonial-style hotel, the
Kartika Wijaya. It was founded in 1891 by the
Sarkies Brothers
The Sarkies Brothers, Martin (1852–1912), Tigran (1861–1912), Aviet (1862–1923), and Arshak (1868–1931), were a group of brothers of Armenian ethnicity best known for founding a chain of luxury hotels throughout Southeast Asia. The brothe ...
, prominent Armenian immigrants best known for founding a chain of luxury hotels throughout Southeast Asia, especially the Dutch East Indies. Originally built as a vacation villa for the Sarkies family, it was later turned into a hotel.
File:East Java Park, Batu, Malang.jpg, Jawa Timur Park
Jawa Timur Park, commonly known as Jatim Park, East Java Park, Eastern Java Park, or JTP, is a complex of recreational and learning parks located in Batu, East Java, Indonesia. The complex has 3 parks, Jatim Park 1, Jatim Park 2, and Jatim Park 3. ...
File:Batu Secret Zoo entrance pavilion.jpg, Batu Secret Zoo
File:Alun-alun Batu.jpg, Alun-alun
An ''alun-alun'' ( Javanese, correctly hyphenated but occurs occasionally without hyphen; also found as ''aloen-aloen'', ''aloon aloon'', and erroneously ''alon-alon'') is a large, central, open lawn square common to villages, towns and cities ...
Batu
File:Coban Rondo Waterfall.jpg, Rondo Waterfall (''Coban Rondo'')
File:MS 02.jpg, Batu Zoological Museum (''Museum Satwa Batu'')
File:Inside Museum Angkut (Transport Museum), Batu, Malang Indonesia 01.jpg, Batu Transport Museum ('' Museum Angkut'')
File:Paralayang.jpg, Batu para gliding Banyak Mountain
References
External links
*
*
BPS
Populated places in East Java
{{Authority control