Serang ( id, Kota Serang, ,

Sundanese Sundanese may refer to: * Sundanese people * Sundanese language * Sundanese script Standard Sundanese script (''Aksara Sunda Baku'', ) is a writing system which is used by the Sundanese people. It is built based on Old Sundanese script (' ...

: ) is a city and the capital of

Banten province Banten ( id, Banten; Sundanese: , romanized ''Banten'') is the westernmost province on the island of Java, Indonesia. Its capital city is Serang. The province borders West Java and the Special Capital Region of Jakarta on the east, the Java Se ...

and was formerly also the administrative center of

Serang Regency Serang Regency (Sundanese language, Sundanese: ) is a Regencies of Indonesia, regency of Banten province, Indonesia. It is located in the northwest corner of the island of Java. The administrative center of the regency is at Ciruas, while the capit ...

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 ...

(the Regency's capital is now at Baros). The city is located towards the north of Banten province, on the island of

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...

. Before Banten province was formed in 2000 Serang was part of

West Java West Java ( id, Jawa Barat, su, ᮏᮝ ᮊᮥᮜᮧᮔ᮪, romanized ''Jawa Kulon'') is a province of Indonesia on the western part of the island of Java, with its provincial capital in Bandung. West Java is bordered by the province of Banten ...

province. Serang has a

tropical rainforest climate A tropical rainforest climate, humid tropical climate or equatorial climate is a tropical climate sub-type usually found within 10 to 15 degrees latitude of the equator. There are some other areas at higher latitudes, such as the coast of southea ...

, with no

dry season The dry season is a yearly period of low rainfall, especially in the tropics. The weather in the tropics is dominated by the tropical rain belt, which moves from the northern to the southern tropics and back over the course of the year. The te ...

month. It faces the

Java Sea The Java Sea ( id, Laut Jawa, jv, Segara Jawa) is an extensive shallow sea on the Sunda Shelf, between the Indonesian islands of Borneo to the north, Java to the south, Sumatra to the west, and Sulawesi to the east. Karimata Strait to its nort ...

, which is home to

Thousand Islands The Thousand Islands (french: Mille-Îles) constitute a North American archipelago of 1,864 islands that straddles the Canada–US border in the Saint Lawrence River as it emerges from the northeast corner of Lake Ontario. They stretch for abo ...

. Serang had a population of 576,961 in the 2010 census, making it the third most populous city in the province of Banten. The 2020 Census gave a total of 692,101. Serang is located approximately 15 km from the border of

Jabodetabek The Jakarta metropolitan area or Greater Jakarta, known locally as Jabodetabek (an acronym of Jakarta–Bogor–Depok–Tangerang–Bekasi), and sometimes extended to Jabodetabekjur (with the acronym extended to include part of Cianjur Regency) ...

and sometimes considered as amalgamated with the

Greater Jakarta The Jakarta metropolitan area or Greater Jakarta, known locally as Jabodetabek (an acronym of Jakarta–Bogor–Depok–Tangerang–Bekasi), and sometimes extended to Jabodetabekjur (with the acronym extended to include part of Cianjur Regency) ...

Culture

Religion

The majority of people in Serang and Banten Province embrace Islam, but other religions coexist peacefully. Serang is often known as "''

kota santri ''Kota santri'' ("city of santri" or "city of pious people") is an epithet used in Indonesia, predominantly in Java, given to a region historically important in the context of Islamic education. The term ''santri'' generally means a Muslim student ...

''" or the "city of pious people", due to the history as a traditional center of Islamic learning.Mencari Kota Santri
''Times Indonesia''. Retrieved April 2, 2021. The city hosts two of the major

congregational mosque A congregational mosque or Friday mosque (, ''masjid jāmi‘'', or simply: , ''jāmi‘''; ), or sometimes great mosque or grand mosque (, ''jāmi‘ kabir''; ), is a mosque for hosting the Friday noon prayers known as ''jumu'ah''.* * * * * * * ...

s in Banten province,

Ats-Tsauroh Great Mosque of Serang Ats-Tsauroh Great Mosque of Serang is a congregational mosque in the city of Serang, Banten, Indonesia. Founded in 1870, it is one of the oldest mosques in Banten province. History The mosque was formerly known as Pegantungan Mosque and the Musl ...

and

Al-Bantani Grand Mosque Al-Bantani Grand Mosque is a congregational mosque in the city of Serang, Banten, Indonesia. With the capacity of 10,000 pilgrims, it is the second largest mosque in Banten province after the Al-Azhom Grand Mosque. History The groundbreaking of ...

, which hold the capacity of 2,500 and 10,000 worshippers respectively.Masjid Agung Ats Tsauroh
''Dunia Masjid''. Retrieved April 29, 2021.MASJID AL-BANTANI
''Sistem Informasi Masjid''. Retrieved April 30, 2021.

Language

Compared with the majority in Banten Province who speak the

Sundanese language Sundanese (: , ; Sundanese script: ) is a Malayo-Polynesian language spoken by the Sundanese. It has approximately 40 million native speakers in the western third of Java; they represent about 15% of Indonesia's total population. Classifica ...

, in addition to Sundanese language. Some residents local people in Serang speak the

Javanese language Javanese (, , ; , Aksara Jawa: , Pegon: , IPA: ) is a Malayo-Polynesian language spoken by the Javanese people from the central and eastern parts of the island of Java, Indonesia. There are also pockets of Javanese speakers on the northe ...

with a dialect similar to the

Cirebon Cirebon (, formerly rendered Cheribon or Chirebon in English) is a port city on the northern coast of the Indonesian island of Java. It is the only coastal city of West Java, located about 40 km west of the provincial border with Central Java ...

dialect of Javanese. The reason for this is that many Javanese migrants arrived in early 1527 to build the

Banten Sultanate The Banten Sultanate (كسلطانن بنتن) was a Bantenese Islamic trading kingdom founded in the 16th century and centred in Banten, a port city on the northwest coast of Java; the contemporary English name of both was Bantam. It is said ...

, and remained to form the base of today's population.

Transportation

The city is served by station, operated by Indonesia's rail operator PT

Kereta Api Indonesia PT Kereta Api Indonesia (Persero) (English: Indonesian Railways Company, abbreviated as PT KAI or simply KAI) is the sole operator of public railways in Indonesia. It is completely state-owned and pays track access charges to the government. ...

. The

Tangerang–Merak Toll Road The Tangerang–Merak Toll Road (shortened to Tamer Toll Road), also known as the Banten Highway, is a toll road that connects Tangerang with the Port of Merak in the province of Banten, Indonesia. Being a part of the Jakarta–Merak Toll Road, ...

, part of the Trans-Java toll road, passes through the city of Serang. The road to the proposed

Sunda Strait Bridge The Sunda Strait Bridge ( id, Jembatan Selat Sunda, ''JSS'', ''Jembatan Selsun'', sometimes referred to in English-language reports as the ''SSB'', Sundanese: ') was a planned road and railway megaproject between the two large Indonesian island ...

would start in Serang, pass through Merak in neighboring

Cilegon Cilegon (Indonesian: ''Kota Cilegon'', Sundanese: ) is a major coastal industrial city in Banten province, Indonesia, covering . It is located on the island of Java. The city had a population of 374,464 at the 2010 Census and 434,896 at the 2020 Ce ...

city to cross over the Sunda Strait to Sumatra.

Administrative districts

Serang was formerly a part of Serang Regency. On 2 November 2007, the status of Serang was changed into a municipality (''kota madya'') independent of the Regency. Since that time, Serang City becomes a

semi-enclave An enclave is a territory (or a small territory apart of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is sometimes used improperly to deno ...

within Serang Regency, as the city borders the regency in the south, east, and west, while it borders with

in the north. The City of Serang is divided into six

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 CensusBiro Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2011. and the 2020 Census. The table also includes the number of administrative villages (urban ''kelurahan'') in each district, and its postal codes.

Climate

Serang has a

(Af) with heavy rainfall year-round. Rain gets noticeably heavier from December to March.

Emblem

The emblem of Serang consists of * A hexagon with an image of the ''gerbang Kaibon'' and a star. * The streamer at the foot of the emblem contains the motto of Serang city, ''Kota Serang Madani'' ("Self-reliant Serang").

References

External links

* * *(in Indonesian
List of Tours in Serang City, Banten
{{Authority control Populated places in Banten Provincial capitals in Indonesia