Jayapura, Administrative city in Papua, Indonesia
Jayapura is an administrative city in Papua, Indonesia, that spreads across valleys, hills and plateaus between the coast and the slopes of Mount Cycloop. The built-up areas range from denser neighborhoods near the water to more scattered settlements on the hillsides overlooking Yos Sudarso Bay.
Dutch colonists founded a small settlement in 1910 and named it Hollandia, which served mainly as a post for officials and traders. During World War II General Douglas MacArthur turned the site into a major supply port for Allied forces in the Pacific from 1944.
The name Jayapura combines a Sanskrit word for victory with the Indonesian term for city, reflecting national hopes at the time of independence. Today Papuan communities live alongside families from Java, Sulawesi and the Moluccas, who celebrate festivals from their home islands with their own traditions.
Flights from Sentani International Airport connect travelers to Jakarta, Surabaya and other major Indonesian cities. Inside the city small buses and shared taxis called angkot run on fixed routes and can be hailed from the roadside.
The city recorded the highest growth rate among Indonesian cities between 2010 and 2020, with the population increasing by more than half. This surge reshaped the urban landscape and pushed housing areas further into the hills.
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