Bekasi  is a city in West Java, Indonesia, located on the eastern border of Jakarta within the Jabodetabek metropolitan region, as such it serves as a dormitory and factory city for Jakarta. The borders for this city are Bekasi Regency at the north, Bogor Regency and Depok City at the south, at the west is East Jakarta, at the east is Bekasi Regency. It is Indonesia’s most populated incorporated city, and one of the most populated worldwide, but still trails the likes of Incheon and Yokohama. The large number of multinational companies, has apparently attracted a lot of expatriates (mainly Japanese and Korean) to settle in Bekasi.

It has an area of 210.49 square kilometres (81.27 sq mi) and had 2,663,011 people in 2014. The 2010 population was 2,378,211, making it Indonesia’s fourth largest city, and second in West Java only to Bandung.

Many middle-up satellite cities have been developed in Bekasi, complete with their own shopping malls, schools, club houses, water park, and shuttle bus services to central Jakarta. Substantial urban areas surround the city. It serves as a commuter city for Jakarta, although it has notable trade, business and processing industries. These are primarily clustered in the area of Cikarang.

Bekasi is one of the oldest cities in Indonesia, and has a history of being the capital city of the Kingdom of Tarumanagara. At that time, the name of Bekasi was Dayeuh Sundasembawa. The earliest evidence of its existence dates from the 5th century according to the Tugu inscription.

Population: 2,663,011 people in 2014

Language: Indonesian

Currency

The currency used in Bekasi is the Indonesian Rupiah (Rp)

Transportation

Road and highway

Bekasi is connected by the Trans-Java Highway, the main road across Java. There are two highway connections from the Jabodetabek urban area. The first is the Jakarta–Cikampek Toll Road, which has four exits in Bekasi. The other is the Jakarta Outer Ring Road, which provides access to Tangerang, Jakarta, and Bogor.

Owing to its location as a satellite city of Jakarta, heavy rush hour traffic jams have become common on the roads between East Jakarta and Bekasi. Efforts have been made to overcome these problems, mainly by widening the roads between Sumber Arta and Bekasi Cyber Park along the Kalimalang river. The most recent traffic project is the constructing Becakayu toll road, which will be an alternate to the Jakarta-Cikampek Toll Road. Its route will be West Bekasi-Cawang-Kampung Melayu.

Railway

Commuter train, KRL Jabotabek, serves from Bekasi to Jatinegara – Manggarai – Jakarta Kota vice versa. The government is currently constructing a double track railway connecting Manggarai to Cikarang, which would be finished around 2017. The government proposed to build a 17.9 km light rail transit line connecting East Bekasi-Cawang-Dukuh Atas across Greater Jakarta.

Public transport

The Transjakarta serves commutter from Harapan Indah as well as feeder buses from Kemang Pratama and Grand Galaxy City. The Central Government decided to give fund for 6 Bekasi’s feeders of TransJakarta. All the routes will end at Kampung Rambutan Terminal, East Jakarta from Kebon Paya Ampera (2 routes), Bulak Kapal, Bekasi Trade Center (2 routes) and Joyo Martono street.

Damri shuttle bus service is available from the Soekarno-Hatta Airport to Kayuringin, Harapan Indah, and Summarecon Bekasi. Taxis are widely available. The primary means of public transportation is by minibus, called Koasi. They serve certain routes throughout the city.

The main bus terminal is Terminal Bekasi (located in East Bekasi). The other terminal are Pondok Gede and Kayuringin.