Bogor (Sundanese: ᮘᮧᮌᮧᮁ, Dutch: Buitenzorg) is a city in the West Java province, Indonesia. Located around 60 kilometers (37 mi) south of the national capital of Jakarta, Bogor is the 6th largest city in the Jakarta metropolitan area and the 14th overall nationwide. The city covers an area of 111.39 km2, and it had a population of 950,334 in the 2010 Census and 1,043,070 in the 2020 Census. The official estimate as at the end of 2023 was 1,127,408. Bogor is an important economic, scientific, cultural, and tourist center, as well as a mountain resort.
During the Middle Ages, the city served as the capital of the Sunda Kingdom (Sundanese: Karajaan Sunda) and was called Pakuan Pajajaran or Dayeuh Pakuan. During the Dutch colonial era, it was named Buitenzorg ("without worries" in Dutch) and served as the summer residence of the Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies.
With several hundred thousand people living on an area of about 20 km2 (7.7 sq mi), the central part of Bogor is one of the world's most densely populated areas. The city has a presidential palace and a botanical garden (Indonesian: Kebun Raya Bogor) – one of the oldest and largest in the world. It bears the nickname "Rainy City" (Kota Hujan), because of frequent rain showers, even during the dry season.
A half side open tourist minibus with capacity of 25 persons is called UNCAL or Unforgettable City Tour at Lovable City run a circle of Botanical Garden in one way direction for free. Start and finish at Botani Square.
Bogor's local specialities include pickles (asinan) and grilled bean sprouts (tauge goreng).
Indomart, Alfamart, and Circle K convenient stores are selling beer, and you can find one on almost every street. The sale of spirits of any kind in a retail establishment is against the law. Circle K is your best bet for a cold beer, and you may have to ask at the counter at Alfamart, which has been known to hide them on shelves in the stock room.
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There are many pleasant traffic-free walks in Bogor, alongside rivers and canals.
The traffic in Bogor is chaotic. There is a daily traffic jam in Bogor from early in the morning to late in the afternoon. On weekend and holiday, people from Jakarta often go to Bogor with their cars.
Some 60 km south of Jakarta, Bogor is the "bo" of the massive Jabotabek conurbation. The city has a population close to 1,1 million (2018) people, and the regency that surrounds it has a population close to 5.1 million people (2014). The town was the capital of Indonesia during the brief British occupation, and under the name Buitenzorg was also the summer capital of the Dutch in the hot dry season. Located 290 meters above sea level, Bogor is noticeably cooler than the torrid lowlands, and the place where many of the Indonesian elite have their villas. Once a place of beauty, rapid development has turned central Bogor into the same congested mess as every other Indonesian city, but there are still rivers, canals, red-roofed houses, mosques, churches, trees, flowers and views of nearby Mount Salak.
