SUROCKBOYO

Surabaya (Indonesian pronunciation: [surəˈbaja]) (formerly Soerabaja, Soerabaia or Surabaja) is Indonesia's second-largest city with a population of over 2.7 million (5.6 million in the metropolitan area), and the capital of the province of East Java. It is located on the northern shore of eastern Java at the mouth of the Mas River and along the edge of the Madura Strait.

To Indonesians, it is known as "the city of heroes" due to the importance of the Battle of Surabaya in galvanizing Indonesian and international support for Indonesian independence during the Indonesian National Revolution.Contents [hide]
1 Etymology
2 History
3 The City
4 Cityscape
5 Climate
6 Transport
7 Suramadu Bridge
8 Economy
9 Demographics
9.1 Ethnicity
9.2 Language
9.3 Time
9.4 Religion
10 Sports
11 Education
12 Sister Cities
13 References
14 External links

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Etymology

Surabaya is locally believed to derive its name from the words "sura" or "suro" (shark) and "baya" or "boyo" (crocodile), two creatures which, in a local myth, fought each other in order to gain the title of "the strongest and most powerful animal" in the area according to a Jayabaya prophecy. This prophecy tells of a fight between a giant white shark and a giant white crocodile, which sometimes interpreted as a conflict between Mongol forces and Raden Wijaya's Majapahit forces. Now the two animals are used as the city's logo, the two facing each other while circling, as depicted in a statue appropriately located near the entrance to the city zoo. This folk etymology, though embraced enthusiastically by city leaders, is unverifiable.

Alternate derivations proliferate: from the Javanese "sura ing baya", meaning "bravely facing danger"; or from the use of "surya" to refer to the sun. Some people consider this Jayabaya prophecy as a great war between Surabaya native people and invaders in 1945, while another story is about two heroes that fought each other in order to be the king of the city. The two heroes were Sura and Baya.
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History

View of the Mas River, Surabaya, circa 1900.

Map of Surabaya from an 1897 English travel-guide

The earliest record of Surabaya was in a 1225 book written by Chau Ju-Kua, in which it was called Jung-ya-lu,[2] the ancient name of Surabaya. Ma Huan documented the early fifteenth-century visit of Zheng He's Treasure ship in his 1433 book Ying-yai Sheng-lan: "after traveling south for more than twenty li, the ship reached Sulumayi, whose foreign name is Surabaya. At the estuary, the outflowing water is fresh".[3]

In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, Surabaya was a sultanate and a major political and military power in eastern Java. It entered a conflict with, and was later captured by, the more powerful Sultanate of Mataram in 1625 under Sultan Agung. It was one of Mataram's fiercest campaigns, in which they had to conquer Surabaya's allies, Sukadana and Madura, and to lay siege to the city before capturing it. With this conquest, Mataram then controlled almost the whole of Java, with the exception of the Sultanate of Banten and the Dutch settlement of Batavia.

Handelstraat, Surabaya in the 1930s: subsequently the Jembatan Merah area.

The expanding East Indies Companies took the city over from a weakened Mataram in November 1743. Surabaya became a major trading center under the Dutch colonial government, and hosted the largest naval base in the colony. In 1917, a revolt occurred among the soldiers and sailors of Surabaya, led by the Indies Social Democratic Association. The revolt was firmly crushed and the insurgents given harsh sentences.

Japan occupied the city in 1942, as part of the occupation of Indonesia, and it was bombed by the Allies in 1944. After that it was seized by Indonesian nationalists. However, the young nation was soon put into conflict with the British, who were caretakers of the Dutch colony after the surrender of the Japanese.

The Battle of Surabaya, one of the most important battles of the Indonesian revolution, started after the killing of the British Brigadier Mallaby on October 30, 1945 near Jembatan Merah (the "Red Bridge"), allegedly by a stray bullet. The Allies gave an ultimatum to the republicans inside the city to surrender, but they refused. The ensuing battle, which cost thousands of lives, took place on November 10, which Indonesians subsequently celebrate as Heroes' Day (Hari Pahlawan). The incident of the red-white flag (the Dutch national red-white-and-blue flag at the top of Yamato Hotel's tower that was torn into the Indonesian red-white flag) by Bung Tomo is also recorded as a heroic feat during the struggle of this city.
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The City

As the main seaport and commercial center in the eastern region of Indonesia, Surabaya has become one of the largest cities in Southeast Asia. Today, Surabaya's population is around three million, and the surrounding rural area houses at least 7 million. The areas surrounding Surabaya include: Lamongan to the northwest, Gresik to the west, Bangkalan to the northeast, Sidoarjo to the south, and Mojokerto and Jombang to the southwest. Gresik, Bangkalan, Mojokerto, Surabaya, Sidoarjo and Lamongan as an area is called as Gerbangkertosusila.

On Wednesday, 10 June 2009 the Suramadu Bridge, between Surabaya and the island of Madura, was completed, and it is currently the longest bridge in the country. Madura can also be accessed by a ferry service that operates regularly from Surabaya's port, Tanjung Perak (which literally means: "Silver Cape" in Indonesian).

The Adhiwangsa, Taman Beverly, and Water Place Residences are three of the tallest skyscrapers in Surabaya.

Plaza Tunjungan, Ciputra World Surabaya, Grand City, Galaxy Mall, City Of Tomorrow, Supermal Pakuwon IndahBG Junction, Pakuwon Trade Center, Surabaya Town Square, Lenmarc, Royal Plaza Surabaya, East Coast[disambiguation needed], Surabaya Plaza, Kapas Krampung Plaza, and Jembatan Merah Plaza are the famous shopping center while Hi-Tech Mall, WTC, and Plasa Marina are the computers and mobile-phones shops center in Surabaya. Surabaya is home to the Eastern Fleet, one of two in the Indonesian Navy. Its strong maritime heritage is also reflected with the Submarine Monument, a real retired Russian submarine, called Pasopati, that was converted into a museum ship in the city center. Flooding is common in many areas of the city during the rainy season, mostly caused by clogged sewers and inept bureaucracy. The fact that Surabaya is located in a river delta and has a flat and relatively low elevation also increases flooding.

Surabaya is the location of the only synagogue in Indonesia, but it rarely obtains a minyan. There is also a Jewish cemetery in the city.[4][5]

Cheng Hoo Mosque, Surabaya

House of Sampoerna, a famous cigarette museum owned by Sampoerna Group

Surabaya's zoo, opened in 1916, was the first in the world to have successfully bred orangutans in captivity. Other points of interest include:
Grand Mosque of Surabaya or Al-Akbar Mosque, the largest mosque in East Java.
Cheng Ho Mosque, a recently built mosque, the first in Indonesia with Chinese-style architecture
Jales Veva Jaya Mahe Monument, a large, admiral-like statue which commemorates the Indonesian Navy.
Mpu Tantular Museum, has a large collection of ancient Javanese artifacts.
Monkasel, abbreviated from Monumen Kapal Selam (English: Submarine Monument) [1]
A Soviet-built submarine display (named KRI Pasopati (410)), which proudly served in the Indonesian Navy since 1962. Launched in 1952 and since her decommissioning in 1990, now preserved as a monument. It is open as a tourist attraction. The body/hull was slightly cut for stairs and a door for easier public entrance or viewing. Right beside the monument, there is a building where a short movie about the history of the submarine itself can be watched.
Heroic Monument is the main symbol and one of the attractive tourist destinations in Surabaya and Southeast Asia
Museum Nahdlatul Ulama is a Nahdlatul Ulama museum, as the location of the establishment of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), Surabaya apparently keeps a record of the history of community-based organizations (CBOs) in Indonesia's largest religions. To dismantle the historical record does not seem difficult, because there is an NU Museum in East Gayungsari region, Surabaya.
House of Sampoerna is a cigarette museum, and also one of the factory of Sampoerna brand cigarette. It also provides a City Sightseeing bus for free (Surabaya Heritage Track) which operates daily with the particular schedule. It also provides an English tour guide for the sightseeing.

Surabaya CBD skyline at night

Surabaya has 31 subdistricts. They are: Genteng, Bubutan, Tegalsari, Simokerto, Tambaksari, Gubeng, Krembangan, Semampir, Pabean Cantikan, Wonokromo, Sawahan, Tandes, Karang Pilang, Wonocolo, Rungkut, Sukolilo, Kenjeran, Benowo, Lakarsantri, Mulyorejo, Tenggilis Mejoyo, Gunung Anyar, Jambangan, Gayungan, Wiyung, Dukuh Pakis, Asem Rowo, Sukomanunggal, Bulak, Pakal and Sambikerep.[6]

Surabaya contains three townships. In West Surabaya, Citraland by the Ciputra Group and Graha Family which consists of residences an apartment complex, a golf course and a climbing gym. East Surabaya, Pakuwon City by the Pakuwon Group. Pakuwon City has its own dining out spot, called Food Festival, and it is developing more facilities, such as the East Coast Center. Surabaya consists of 163 villages.[6]

In June 2011, Surabaya got the Adipura Kencana Award as number one among 20 cities in Indonesia. Surabaya today has many wide sidewalks and parks as a miniature of Singapore being clean and green said one reporter from Singapore.[7]
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Cityscape

The Skyline of Surabaya CBD.

Suramadu Bridge at Night

West Surabaya Skyline
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Climate

Surabaya features a tropical wet and dry climate, with distinct wet and dry seasons. The city's wet season runs from November through June, while the dry season covers the remaining five months. Unlike a number of cities and regions with a tropical wet and dry climate, average high and low temperatures are very consistent throughout the course of the year, with an average high temperature of around 31 degrees Celsius and average low temperatures of around 26 degrees Celsius.[hide]
Climate data for Surabaya
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Average high °C (°F) 31.8