Batam, officially the City of Batam (, not to be confused with ''Batam Kota'', a

district 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 county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

within this city), is the largest

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

in the Indonesian province of

Riau Islands The Riau Islands () is a provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia consisting of a group of islands located in the western part of the country. It was established in 2002 after being separated from the neighboring Riau Province. The capit ...

. The city administrative area covers three main islands of Batam,

Rempang Rempang Island () is an Indonesian island, located 2.5 km southeast of the neighbouring Batam Island, with the total land mass size of 165.83 km2. Rempang Island belongs to the three- interconnected islands group of Riau Archipelago kno ...

and Galang (collectively called

Barelang Barelang Bridge () is a chain of 6 bridges of various types built in 1997 that connect the Rempang- Galang island group in the Riau Archipelago with the principal island of Batam to its north. The smaller islands of Tonton, Nipah, and Setotok (con ...

), as well as Bulang to the west and several smaller islands. Batam Island is the core urban and industrial zone, while both Rempang Island and Galang Island maintain their rural character and low-density

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

; they are connected to Batam Island by short bridges. Bulang Island and the islands to its north forming Belakang Padang District lie to the west of Batam Island but are also administratively within the city. Batam is an industrial

boomtown A boomtown is a community that undergoes sudden and rapid population and economic growth, or that is started from scratch. The growth is normally attributed to the nearby discovery of a precious resource such as gold, silver, or oil, although t ...

, an emerging transport hub and part of a

free trade zone A free-trade zone (FTZ) is a class of special economic zone. It is a geographic area where goods may be imported, stored, handled, manufactured, or reconfigured and re- exported under specific customs regulation and generally not subject t ...

in the Indonesia–Malaysia–Singapore Growth Triangle, located off

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

's south coast. According to

Statistics Indonesia Statistics Indonesia (), is a non-departmental government institute of Indonesia that is responsible for conducting statistical surveys. Its main customer is the government, but statistical data is also available to the public. Annual surveys c ...

's 2020 census, Batam had a municipal population of 1,196,396,Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2021. making it the third largest city in the region of

Sumatra Sumatra () is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the list of islands by area, sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km2 (182,812 mi. ...

, after

Medan Medan ( , ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of the Indonesian Provinces of Indonesia, province of North Sumatra. The nearby Strait of Malacca, Port of Belawan, and Kualanamu International Airport make Medan a regional hub and multi ...

and

Palembang Palembang (, Palembang: ''Pelémbang'', Mandarin: 巨港 (Jùgǎng), Hokkien: 舊港 (Kū-káng), Jawi: ) is the capital city of the Indonesian province of South Sumatra. The city proper covers on both banks of the Musi River in the ea ...

. It is the closest part of

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

, at a minimum distance of 5.8 km across the

Singapore Strait The Singapore Strait is a , strait between the Strait of Malacca in the west and the South China Sea in the east. Singapore is on the north of the channel, and the Indonesian Riau Islands are on the south. The two countries share a maritime ...

. Batam was the fastest-growing municipality in

during the decade prior to 2010, with a

growth rate of 11% per year; however, there were setbacks during the subsequent decade. In 2017, the island suffered severe job losses; some 300,000 workers were laid off. The official estimated population as of mid-2024 was 1,276,930.Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 28 February 2025, ''Kota Batam Dalam Angka 2025'' (Katalog-BPS 1102001.2171)

History

COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Havengezicht met olietanks van de Shell op Poelau Samboe TMnr 10018445

The first recorded inhabitants at Batam Island are Malays known as

Orang Laut The Orang Laut are several seafaring ethnic groups and tribes living around Singapore, Peninsular Malaysia and the Indonesian Riau Islands. The Orang Laut are commonly identified as the Orang Seletar from the Straits of Johor, but the term may a ...

, from the year 231 AD. The island group once served as the field of struggle of Admiral Hang Nadim, against Portuguese invaders in the 16th century, and was utilised by the Indonesian government in the 1960s, who maintained a petroleum logistics base on Sambu Island, one of the minor islands in the Batam group of islands. In the 1970s, according to Presidential Decree No. 41/1973,

Batam Island Batam, officially the City of Batam (, not to be confused with ''Batam Kota'', a kecamatan, district within this city), is the largest List of regencies and cities of Indonesia, city in the Indonesian province of Riau Islands. The city administra ...

was designated as a working environment of an industrial area supported by ''Batam Island Industrial Development Authority'' or better known as ''Batam Authority Board'' (''BOB'', now ''Batam Development Board'' ( or ''BP Batam'') as the driving force for the development of Batam, with the initial aim of making Batam the "Indonesian version of Singapore". With the rapid development of the island, based on Government Regulation No. 34/1983, the Batam District (which is part of Riau Islands Regency) was upgraded to municipality status which has the duties to run government administration and society and support the development of ''BP Batam''. In the Indonesian Reformation era in the late 1990s, with Act No. 53/1999, the Batam administrative municipality changed its status to an autonomous region, namely Batam City

Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

to carry out governmental and developmental functions by involving ''BP Batam''.

Geography

Batam is a roughly oval island with many bays, islets, and peninsulas, located west of

Bintan Island Bintan Island or ''Negeri Segantang Lada'' is an island in the Riau archipelago of Indonesia. It is part of the Riau Islands province, the capital of which, Tanjung Pinang, lies in the island's south and is the island's main community. Bintan's ...

, south of Singapore, north of Rempang Island and Galang Island, and east of Bulang Island. The

separates

and Batam, while the Riau Strait separates Batam and Bintan island. Batam Municipality covers 3,869 km², of which 1,034.73 km² is land, a figure which includes some

land reclamation Land reclamation, often known as reclamation, and also known as land fill (not to be confused with a waste landfill), is the process of creating new Terrestrial ecoregion, land from oceans, list of seas, seas, Stream bed, riverbeds or lake ...

. However, ''

Island'' (not actually one but three, see above) covers roughly 715 km² of that 1,034.73 km², and Batam island itself covers only about 410 km² out of the total. The bulk of the municipal population resides on Batam Island.

Climate

Batam has a

tropical rainforest climate A tropical rainforest 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 southeast Florida, United States ...

(Af) with heavy rainfall year-round.

Governance

Mayor

The Batam city government takes care of all

administration and civil registration as well as human resources. The current mayor is Muhammad Rudi who has served since 2016, accompanied by Amsakar Ahmad as deputy mayor.

Batam Development Board (BP)

The Agency for

Free Trade Zone A free-trade zone (FTZ) is a class of special economic zone. It is a geographic area where goods may be imported, stored, handled, manufactured, or reconfigured and re- exported under specific customs regulation and generally not subject t ...

and

Free Port A free-trade zone (FTZ) is a class of special economic zone. It is a geographic area where goods may be imported, stored, handled, manufactured, or reconfigured and re-exported under specific customs regulation and generally not subject to ...

of Batam, often abbreviated as BP Batam, is a government nonstructural body under the Chairmanship of the Board of Regions (DK) Batam Central Government, which is chaired by a Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs. BP Batam plays a role in land governance and investment in the

Special Economic Zone A special economic zone (SEZ) is an area in which the business and trade laws are different from the rest of the country. SEZs are located within a country's national borders, and their aims include increasing trade balance, employment, increas ...

(SEZ) of Batam.

Administrative divisions

Batam city is divided into twelve

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 ...

(''kecamatan'') – which include several adjacent islands such as Bulang to the west, and

and Galang to the south, as well as Batam Island itself. Batam Island is connected by bridges to

and Galang, and this group is thus often known by the abbreviation of ''

''. The districts are tabulated below with their areas, 2010 census populationsBiro Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2011. and 2020 census populations, together with the official estimates as at mid 2024.Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 28 February 2025, ''Kota Batam Dalam Angka 2025'' (Katalog-BPS 1102001.2171) The table also includes the number of administrative villages within each

, all classed as urban ''kelurahan'',Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 28 February 2024, ''Kota Batam Dalam Angka 2024'' (Katalog-BPS 1102001.2171) and its postal codes. Notes: * (a) comprises 116 islands to the west of Batam Island, including Kepala Jeri Island, Lumba Island, Pemping Island and Belakang Padang. * (b) comprises 70 islands to the southwest of Batam Island, including Bulang Island. * (c) comprises 82 islands to the south of Batam Island, including

Galang Island Galang (Indonesian: Pulau Galang) is an island of 80 km2 located 25 mi (40 km) southeast of Batam, belonging to a group of three islands called Barelang (an abbreviation of Batam-Rempang-Galang). Part of the Riau Archipelago, Indon ...

and

Island. * (d) comprises the east part of Batam Island, but also includes 23

islands This is a list of the lists of islands in the world grouped by country, by continent, by body of water, and by other classifications. For rank-order lists, see the #Other lists of islands, other lists of islands below. Lists of islands by count ...

off the north-eastern shore. * (e) includes 14 islands off the north coast of Batam Island.

Demographics

At the 2020 census, Batam had a

of 1,196,396 inhabitants. The

was increasing rapidly, with a

growth rate of more than 8% per year between 2001 and 2012, but the increase has subsequently slowed.

Ethnicity

Today, Batam is inhabited by a heterogeneous mixture of people due to labor migration and desire to be close to

; it is very diverse, two-thirds of the population are migrants. The predominant ethnicities are Malays, Javanese,

Batak Batak is a collective term used to identify a number of closely related Austronesian peoples, Austronesian ethnic groups predominantly found in North Sumatra, Indonesia, who speak Batak languages. The term is used to include the Karo people ( ...

, Minangkabau and Chinese. As a municipality it exemplifies the national motto of "

Bhinneka Tunggal Ika ''Bhinneka Tunggal Ika'' is the official national motto of Indonesia. It is inscribed in the national emblem of Indonesia, the Garuda Pancasila, written on the scroll gripped by the Garuda's claws. The phrase comes from Old Javanese, meanin ...

" (Unity in Diversity). The location of Batam, which is close to

, is conducive to the development of

economic An economy is an area of the Production (economics), production, Distribution (economics), distribution and trade, as well as Consumption (economics), consumption of Goods (economics), goods and Service (economics), services. In general, it is ...

sociopolitical Political sociology is an interdisciplinary field of study concerned with exploring how governance and society interact and influence one another at the micro to macro levels of analysis. Interested in the social causes and consequences of how p ...

, and

cultural Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, Attitude (psychology), attitudes ...

aspects of the

local community A local community has been defined as a group of interacting people living in a common location. The word is often used to refer to a group that is organized around common values and is attributed with social cohesion within a shared geographical l ...

Religion

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

is the majority religion in Batam, followed by

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

and

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...

. Most of those who follow

are Javanese, Malays and Minangkabaus. The Great Mosque of Batam, located in the city center adjacent to the main square, the mayor's office and the provincial Parliament, is an important symbol of Islamic religious life in Batam. Christianity is also widely embraced by the people of Batam, especially those from the

and

Nias Nias (, Nias: ''Tanö Niha'') is an island located off the western coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. Nias is also the name of the archipelago () of which the island is the centre, but also includes the Batu Islands to the southeast and the small ...

people of North Sumatra (Protestantism) and migrants from

Flores Flores is one of the Lesser Sunda Islands, a group of islands in the eastern half of Indonesia. Administratively, it forms the largest island in the East Nusa Tenggara Province. The area is 14,250 km2. Including Komodo and Rinca islands ...

island in

Nusa Tenggara Timur East Nusa Tenggara (; ) is the southernmost province of Indonesia. It comprises the eastern portion of the Lesser Sunda Islands, facing the Indian Ocean in the south and the Flores Sea in the north, with a total land area of 47,238.07 km2. It cons ...

province, East Indonesia (Roman Catholicism) as well as Javanese Catholics from

Yogyakarta Yogyakarta is the capital city of the Special Region of Yogyakarta in Indonesia, in the south-central part of the island of Java. As the only Indonesian royal city still ruled by Hamengkubuwono, a monarchy, Yogyakarta is regarded as an importan ...

and

Central Java Central Java (, ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia, located in the middle of the island of Java. Its administrative capital is Semarang. It is bordered by West Java in the west, the Indian Ocean and the Special Region of Yogya ...

who emigrated to this province along with a minority of Chinese Indonesians and internal migrant

Indian Indonesians Indian Indonesians are Indonesians whose ancestors originally came from the Indian subcontinent. Therefore, this term can be regarded as a blanket term for not only Indonesian Indians but also Indonesians with other South Asian ancestries (e.g. ...

from Medan,

North Sumatra North Sumatra () is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia located in the northern part of the island of Sumatra. Its capital and largest city is Medan on the east coast of the island. It borders Aceh to the northwest, Riau to the sou ...

. The majority of the Chinese population practises

. A number of Viharas are located in Batam, of which Vihara Duta Maitreya is one of the most frequented, and is the largest Vihara in

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

with an area of 4.5 hectares. In addition, Hinduism in practiced by a quarter of its small ethnic Indian Indonesian minority as well as by its Balinese emigrant minority ethnic populace who migrated from the tourist island of

Bali Bali (English:; Balinese language, Balinese: ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller o ...

and are resident for business purposes in this city.

Language

Indonesian is the common lingua franca of Batam in daily use. Other languages such as local Malay (similar to the Malaysian standard as spoken in neighbouring

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

and

) since both varieties coexist with each other as the former is the official and national language widely spoken and used like in the rest of Indonesia whilst the latter is a trade language and widely spoken by

Malaysian Malay Malaysian Malay () or Malaysian ()endonymically known as Standard Malay () or simply Malay (, abbreviated to BM)is a standardized form of the Malay language used in Malaysia and also used in Singapore and Brunei (as opposed to the variety (l ...

expatriates from

Johor Johor, also spelled Johore,'' is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia in the south of the Malay Peninsula. It borders with Pahang, Malacca and Negeri Sembilan to the north. Johor has maritime borders with Singapore ...

as well as

Malay Singaporeans Malay Singaporeans () are Singaporeans of Malay ancestry, including those from the Malay Archipelago. They constitute approximately 13.5% of the country's residents, making them the second largest ethnic group in Singapore. Under the Constit ...

from Singapore who reside for business purposes and also for historical purposes. Other ethnic minority languages such as Minangkabau,

, Javanese and Chinese ethnic dialects like

Hokkien Hokkien ( , ) is a Varieties of Chinese, variety of the Southern Min group of Chinese language, Chinese languages. Native to and originating from the Minnan region in the southeastern part of Fujian in southeastern China, it is also referred ...

Cantonese Cantonese is the traditional prestige variety of Yue Chinese, a Sinitic language belonging to the Sino-Tibetan language family. It originated in the city of Guangzhou (formerly known as Canton) and its surrounding Pearl River Delta. While th ...

, Teochew and

Hainanese Hainanese ( Hainan Romanised: ''Hái-nâm-oe'', Hainanese Pinyin: ''Hhai3 nam2 ue1'', ), also known as Qiongwen (), Qiongyu () or Hainan Min () is a group of Min Chinese varieties spoken in the far southern Chinese island province of Hain ...

are also widely used owing to the city's ethnolinguistic diversity in addition to the dominant ethnic Malay populace. The usage of

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

and English are trending due to

Singaporean Singaporeans are the citizens and nationals of the sovereign island city-state of Singapore. Singapore is home to a people of a variety of ethno-racial-religious origins, with the city-state itself being a multi-racial, multi-cultural, m ...

influence, especially by expatriates living in Batam.

Economy

Based on Presidential Decree No. 41/1973, the Batam Industrial Development Authority (BP Batam) was established to manage 415 square kilometers of industrial complex in Batam City for heavy industry. Previously only

Pertamina PT Pertamina (Persero) is an Indonesian state-owned oil and natural gas corporation, headquartered in Jakarta. It was created in August 1968 by the merger of ''Pertamin'' (established 1961) and ''Permina'' (established in 1957). In 2020, the ...

, the Indonesian state oil company, settled there with only 6,000 inhabitants. Shipbuilding and electronics manufacturing are important industries on the island. Being located close to the ports of Singapore, the speed of goods shipping and product distribution is increased, benefiting the island's

economy An economy is an area of the Production (economics), production, Distribution (economics), distribution and trade, as well as Consumption (economics), consumption of Goods (economics), goods and Service (economics), services. In general, it is ...

. With lower labor costs and special government incentives, it is the site of many factories operated by foreign companies. Under a framework signed in June 2006, Batam, along with parts of neighbouring Bintan and Karimun, are a part of a

with

; this zone eliminates

tariff A tariff or import tax is a duty (tax), duty imposed by a national Government, government, customs territory, or supranational union on imports of goods and is paid by the importer. Exceptionally, an export tax may be levied on exports of goods ...

s and

value-added tax A value-added tax (VAT or goods and services tax (GST), general consumption tax (GCT)) is a consumption tax that is levied on the value added at each stage of a product's production and distribution. VAT is similar to, and is often compared wi ...

es for goods shipped between Batam and

. In 2007, Law No. 44 was enacted to supplement Law No. 36/2000 in establishing Batam as a free trade zone for 70 years. BP Batam still manages the industrial complex. And in 2016, the responsibility of industrial complex changed from the governor of

Province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

to the Office of the Coordinating Economic Minister as per Presidential Decree No. 8/2016.

Tourism

Over 1.5 million tourists visited the city in 2015. Batam is the third-busiest entry port to

next to

and

Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...

. In 2014, around 58.8% of foreign tourists came from

, 12.8% from

and 4.2% from

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

. Popular tourism spots in Batam include the Maha Vihara Duta Maitreya Temple,

shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a large indoor shopping center, usually Anchor tenant, anchored by department stores. The term ''mall'' originally meant pedestrian zone, a pedestrian promenade with shops along it, but in the late 1960s, i ...

s (including Grand Batam Mall, Mega Mall Batam Centre, Nagoya Hill Shopping Centre, etc), Jabal Arafah Mosque and the

Barelang Bridge Barelang Bridge () is a chain of 6 bridges of various types built in 1997 that connect the Rempang- Galang island group in the Riau Archipelago with the principal island of Batam to its north. The smaller islands of Tonton, Nipah, and Setotok (con ...

Foreign Investment

In the first semester of 2023, the value of foreign investment reached US$1.2 billion, while domestic investment was recorded at US$168 million. Most of the foreign investment came from

. Foreigners are allowed to buy apartments with limited leases but not landed homes in

. In 2021, a group of

Singaporeans Singaporeans are the citizens and nationals of the sovereign island city-state of Singapore. Singapore is home to a people of a variety of ethno-racial-religious origins, with the city-state itself being a multi-racial, multi-cultural, m ...

were forcibly evicted after their 30-year property leases expired in Sekupang.

Transport

Ferry

Ferries A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus. ...

connect Batam to

, Bintan, and

Johor Bahru Johor Bahru, abbreviated as JB, is the capital city of the Malaysian state of Johor. It is the core city of Johor Bahru District, Malaysia's second-largest district by population and the second-largest district economy. Covering an area of ...

(

). Five ferry terminals are on the

island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

: Batam Harbour Bay Ferry Terminal, Nongsapura Ferry Terminal, Sekupang, Waterfront City and Batam Center Ferry Terminal. Connections to

are by way of

Harbourfront HarbourFront is a waterfront district situated in southern Singapore. Whilst HarbourFront's boundaries are ambiguous, its location is roughly represented on the URA's Master Plan as a subzone called Maritime Square, located within the Bukit Me ...

and Tanah Merah Ferry Terminals run by

Singapore Cruise Centre The Singapore Cruise Centre ( abbrev: SCC; Chinese: 新加坡邮轮中心) is a cruise terminal located in the south of Singapore next to HarbourFront Centre in the vicinity of HarbourFront and in Keppel Harbour, near HarbourFront MRT s ...

(SCC). The most recent incident happened on 29 November 2015 when a ferry, 'Sea Prince', hit floating object(s) while en route to

from Batam and began leaking. A total of 97 passengers were rescued on life rafts. Harbour Bay Ferry terminal

Signs showing a picture of a raised finger over a pair of lips have been placed in August 2014 at the Batam Centre International Ferry Terminal to request silence while queuing for

immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as Permanent residency, permanent residents. Commuting, Commuter ...

to hear names being called and clearly hear instructions given by the immigration officer. Some visitors have been sent back immediately on the first ferry available for flouting this rule. The signs are also applicable at other terminals, but are not strictly enforced.

Trans Batam

Trans Batam is the most reliable and the cheapest public transportation in Batam. It began to operate in 2005. Trans Batam is the second BRT system in

, after Jakarta's

TransJakarta Transjakarta (stylised in all-lowercase, often erroneously called Busway, sometimes shortened as TJ and branded as TiJe) or Jakarta BRT is a bus rapid transit (BRT) system in Jakarta, Indonesia. The first BRT system in Southeast Asia, it commenc ...

. The price for one ride is Rp2,000 for students and Rp4,000 for the public. Trans Batam operates from 05:30 to 19:00. Trans Batam serves nine corridors of route:

Taxi

Taxis in Batam are available almost anywhere at ferry terminals, the

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...

s, etc. More than 3000 taxis are in Batam. In the early 2000s, Batam commonly had

Toyota Corolla The is a series of compact cars (formerly Subcompact car, subcompact) manufactured and marketed globally by the Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corporation. Introduced in 1966, the Corolla was the best-selling car worldwide by 1974 and has bee ...

taxis. Starting in late 2013, more than 95% of taxis are brand new using the

Toyota Limo The Toyota Limo is an automobile offered by Toyota in Southeast Asian markets designed for taxicab use, primarily in Indonesia, Thailand and Taxis of Vietnam, Vietnam. It is a robust low cost, low maintenance variant designed specifically for ...

and Chevrolet Lova.

Airport

Hang Nadim International Airport Hang Nadim International Airport is an international airport located in Batam, Riau Islands, Indonesia. It is named after Laksamana Hang Nadim Pahlawan Kechik, a legendary Malay warrior from the region. The airport is the primary method of tr ...

is Batam island's main

, and has the longest

runway In aviation, a runway is an elongated, rectangular surface designed for the landing and takeoff of an aircraft. Runways may be a human-made surface (often asphalt concrete, asphalt, concrete, or a mixture of both) or a natural surface (sod, ...

of all

s in

. The

was the largest

in the Sumatra region from 1995 to 2012 with a capacity of six million passengers annually, and is now the second-largest in the Sumatra region after Kuala Namu International Airport in

, which has a capacity of eight million passengers. The

has 4 paired jetbridges and 2 single jetbridges.

is a hub for Lion Air,

Batik Air PT Batik Air Indonesia, operating as Batik Air, is an Indonesian scheduled airline headquartered at Soekarno–Hatta International Airport in Jakarta. Established in 2012 as the full-service division of the Lion Air Group, Batik Air conducted it ...

and

Citilink PT Citilink Indonesia, operating as Citilink, is an Indonesian low-cost airline headquartered in Jakarta. Established in July 2001 as a low-cost brand of Garuda Indonesia, it operates services to domestic and regional destinations. Since 30 Jul ...

. BP Batam, which operates

, will build a new terminal with a capacity of eight million passengers per year for each terminal (16 million passengers per year in total for two terminals) in late 2016. BP Batam intends to build eight paired jetbridges in the new terminal. Domestic destinations include

Pekanbaru Pekanbaru is the capital city of the Indonesian province of Riau, and a major economic center on the eastern side of Sumatra, Sumatra Island with its name derived from the Malay language, Malay (Indonesian language, Indonesian) word for 'new mar ...

Padang Padang () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Indonesian Provinces of Indonesia, province of West Sumatra. It had a population of 833,562 at the 2010 CensusBiro Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2011. and 909,040 at the 2020 Census;Bad ...

Surabaya Surabaya is the capital city of East Java Provinces of Indonesia, province and the List of Indonesian cities by population, second-largest city in Indonesia, after Jakarta. Located on the northeastern corner of Java island, on the Madura Strai ...

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Bandar Lampung Bandar Lampung ( Lampungese: ''Kutak Bandarlampung''; formerly Dutch: ''Oosthaven'', ) is the capital and largest city of the Indonesian province of Lampung. Located on the southern tip of Sumatra, Bandar Lampung was originally called Tanjungka ...

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, and many more.

International flight An international flight is a form of commercial flight within civil aviation where the Takeoff, departure and the arrival take place in different Country, countries. Regular international passenger air service began in August 1919 with a flight ...

s currently include Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (operated by Batik Air Malaysia).

Environment

Due to piling works for touristic activity, sand mining, and logging for charcoal business, only 4.2% of Batam Island is covered in

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows mainly in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. Mangroves grow in an equatorial climate, typically along coastlines and tidal rivers. They have particular adaptations to take in extra oxygen a ...

forests, a great decrease from 24% in 1970. Originally, Batam Island had 41,500 hectares of

forests.

Gallery

File:Batam Turi Beach Hotel.jpg, Turi Beach Resort File:Astaqa MTQ Batam.jpeg, The 2014 National MTQ Building in Dataran Engku Putri, Batam Centre File:Masjid Agung Batam.jpg, Great Mosque of Batam File:Pacific Palace.png, Pacific Palace Hotel File:Batam Center Area.jpg, Batam Centre File:Raja Haji Fisabililah Barelang.jpg, Barelang Bridge File:Baloi Batam.png, BCC Hotel Tower and iHotel Baloi File:Marriott Hotels Batam.jp
Batam Marriott Hotel Harbour Bay

References

External links

* *
Batam Ferry Terminal Official site

Statistics of Batam Municipality
{{Authority control Cities in the Riau Islands States and territories established in 1999 Special economic zones