Medan


Medan is the capital and largest city of the Indonesian province of North Sumatra. The nearby Strait of Malacca, Port of Belawan, and Kualanamu International Airport make Medan a regional hub and multicultural metropolis, acting as a financial centre for Sumatra and a gateway to the western part of Indonesia. About 60% of the economy in North Sumatra is backed by trading, agriculture, and processing industries, including exports from its 4 million acres of palm oil plantations. The National Development Planning Agency listed Medan as one of the four main central cities in Indonesia, alongside Jakarta, Surabaya, and Makassar. In terms of population, it is the most populous city in Indonesia outside of the island of Java. Its population as of 2024 is approximately equal to the country of Moldova.
As of the 2020 Census, Medan had a population of 2,435,252 within its city limits; the official population estimate as of mid 2024 was 2,486,283 - comprising 1,237,602 males and 1,248,681 females - and projected to rise to 2,498,293 at mid 2025. When the surrounding urban area is included, the population is over 3.4 million, making it the fourth largest urban area in Indonesia. The Medan metropolitan area—which includes neighbouring Binjai, Deli Serdang Regency, and a part of Karo Regency—is the largest metropolitan area outside of Java, with 4,744,323 residents counted in the 2020 Census, rising to 4,944,979 in mid 2024.
The city was founded at the confluence of the Deli River and the Babura river by a Karonese man named Guru Patimpus. Then called Kampung Medan Putri, it became part of the Deli Sultanate, established in 1632. In the late 19th century, colonial Dutch seeking new plantation areas chose Medan and Deli as plantation hubs to found the Deli Company. Within a few years, the Dutch tobacco trade transformed Medan into an economic hub, earning it the nickname Het Land Dollar. The Deli Railway, established to ship tobacco, rubber, tea, timber, palm oil, and sugar from Medan to the Port of Belawan for worldwide export, brought further rapid development to Medan. The city became first the capital of the State of East Sumatra, and then the provincial capital of North Sumatra.

Etymology

The term medan might be derived from the Batak Karo word , which literally means 'healed', 'blessed', or 'recovered'. The term is associated with the historical Karo figure and founder of the city, traditional doctor. The oldest evidence of this term used to refer to the city dates back to 13th-15th century during the reign of Aru, the Karo monarch.
Another popular theory suggests that medan is of Malay origin, literally meaning 'field'. The term medan in Malay might be derived from the Malayalam word , which is cognate with the Tamil word , or from meidan, Persian term for "field" or "ground".

History

Medan is located in what was once the Kingdom of Aru, founded by the Karo people and flourishing between the 13th and 16th centuries. A number of archaeological sites survive near Medan, including Kota Rentang, a port settlement in the Hamparan Perak area; Kota Cina, an ancient trading site in Medan Marelan; and Benteng Putri Hijau, a fort ruin in Deli Tua.
In the sixteenth century, Guru Patimpus Sembiring Pelawi, a Karonese man from the Karo Regency, converted from Pemena to Islam. While traveling to study under Datuk Kota Bangun, Guru Patimpus met and married the Princess of. Accompanied by their two sons, Kolok and Kecik, the couple founded Medan village between the Deli and Babura Rivers.
In 1632, the Aceh Sultanate under Gocah Pahlawan expanded to include Medan. Perunggit succeeded his father in 1669, and declared the Deli Sultanate, including Medan, independent of the Aceh Sultanate.
Starting in the 1860s, Dutch authorities began to release new land for tobacco plantations. Said Abdullah Bilsagih, brother-in-law of the Deli Sultan Mahmud Perkasa Alam, persuaded Dutch tobacco merchant Jacob Nienhuys to move his business from Java to Deli. Dutch merchants Van der Falk and Elliot, and Chinese brothers Tjong Yong Hian and Tjong A Fie, were also pioneers of Deli's tobacco industry. In 1867, Nienhuys, Jannsen, P.W. Clemen, and Cremer founded De Deli Maatschappij; in 1869, they moved its head office from Labuhan Deli to Medan. This made Medan a centre of the tobacco trade, which continued to grow with the 1869 opening of the Suez Canal.
Sultan Ma'mun Al Rashid Perkasa Alamyah, who ruled from 1873 to 1924, moved the kingdom's capital to Medan. He became known as the builder of early Medan, finishing the construction of the Maimun Palace in 1888 and building the Great Mosque of Medan in 1907. In 1898, a Dutch businessman named Aeint Herman de Boer built Hotel de Boer to accommodate the cruise ships of European tourists which had begun to visit Medan.
During the 1942 Dutch East Indies campaign, the Japanese entered Medan on bicycles and occupied the city. The handover of power was chaotic, but through the use of the Kempetai. Locals of Medan were subjected to enforced Japanese language and worship. The Japanese were able to hold the city until their surrender in 1945. Following that, Medan came under the authority of the South East Asia Command led by British Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten. With the Proclamation of Indonesian Independence on 17 August, Medan became part of the newly-independent Republic of Indonesia, news announced in Medan on 30 September.
In October, Allied troops landed in Belawan and marched on Medan. The subsequent conflicts between the Allies and the Indonesian Army became known as the Battle of Medan. The Allies regained control of Medan in April 1946, and in December 1947 the Dutch established the State of East Sumatra with Medan as its capital. This became part of the United States of Indonesia in 1949, and was dissolved into the Republic of Indonesia in 1950.
Medan continued to grow as a centre of commerce during the reign of.
Developments of the 1970s, especially palm oil and rubber plantations, made Medan the busiest city outside Java, with the transmigration program bringing many Javanese and Batak migrants.
In May 1998, months of student demonstrations in Medan over the 1997 Asian financial crisis turned into riots when a student was killed in a clash with security forces. The next day, the mobs became bigger, and many shops and vehicles in the business district were burned and looted. As a result, a curfew was imposed for more than two weeks until peace returned.
On 5 September 2005, Mandala Airlines Flight 091 stalled a minute after taking off from Medan's old Polonia International Airport for a flight to Jakarta. The aircraft crashed into a heavily populated residential area along Djamin Ginting road in Padang Bulan. Of the 117 passengers and crews on board, only 17 survived, and an additional 49 civilians on the ground were killed. As a result, Kualanamu International Airport was built in Deli Serdang to replace the old airport, with construction finished in 2012. After the move to the new airport, height restriction laws in Medan were relaxed.

Geography

Medan is in the northeastern part of Sumatra island, in the province of North Sumatra. The city is a semi-enclave within Deli Serdang Regency, bordered by that regency on three sides and by the Strait of Malacca to the north. The natural harbor formed where the Deli and Babura rivers feed into the straits has contributed to Medan's growth as a trading port.
Medan's elevation varies between above sea level, with the Barisan Mountains to the south, and volcanoes such as Sibayak Mountain and Sinabung Mountain from the city.

Climate

Medan features a tropical rainforest climate with no real dry season. Its driest month on average sees about one-third the precipitation of its wettest month, with a total annual precipitation of about. Autumn is the rainiest season, and the temperature is still coolest in winter. Temperatures in the city average approximately throughout the year.

Government

Medan was governed by Abdillah from 2000 until 2008, when he and his vice mayor were caught by the Corruption Eradication Commission. Syamsul Arifin, the governor of North Sumatra Province, appointed as acting mayor, followed by Rahudman Harahap after Lubis's 2009 resignation. Harahap resigned in order to run for office in the 2010 mayoral election, leaving Arifin himself to become acting mayor. In 2013, Harahap was also arrested for corruption, and his deputy Dzulmi Eldin became acting mayor.
Dzulmi Eldin was elected mayor in 2016, and served until his arrest for corruption in 2019. He was replaced by his vice mayor, Akhyar Nasution, who served until the end of his term in 2021.
The current mayor of Medan is Bobby Nasution, with vice mayor.

Administrative divisions

Medan is divided into 21 districts, tabulated below with their areas and populations at the 2010 Census, and the 2020 Census, together with the official estimates as of mid-2024. The table also includes the number of urban villages/neighbourhoods in each district, and their postal codes.
Kode
Wilayah		Name of
District
Area
in
km2		Pop'n
Census
2010		Pop'n
Census
2020		Pop'n
Estimate
mid 2024		No.
of
villages		Postal
codes
12.71.07Medan Tuntungan25.1680,94297,249101,069920134-20141
12.71.11Medan Johor16.73123,851151,756155,854620142-20146
12.71.09Medan Amplas10.65113,143129,726132,403720147-20149,
20219 & 20229
12.71.04Medan Denai9.37141,395169,643172,581620226-20228
12.71.10Medan Area4.2496,544117,029118,3521220211-20217
12.71.01Medan Kota5.7572,58084,66684,7791220211-20219
12.71.15Medan Maimun3.0239,58149,23149,847620151-20159
12.71.16Medan Polonia8.7752,79459,91560,910520152-20157
12.71.17Medan Baru5.4339,51636,52236,066620153-20156
12.71.21Medan Selayang16.4598,317103,176104,428620131-20133
12.71.02Medan Sunggal13.26112,744129,063134,650620121-20128
12.71.03Medan Helvetia13.05144,257164,910169,363720123-20126
12.71.19Medan Petisah5.2861,74971,84472,599720112-20119
12.71.05Medan Barat6.3470,77188,60289,427620111-20117
12.71.20Medan Timur8.89108,633116,985117,0021120231-20239
12.71.18Medan Perjuangan4.5493,328103,813105,778920232-20237
12.71.14Medan Tembung7.85133,579146,534150,135720221-20225
12.71.06Medan Deli18.83166,793189,321192,476620241-20244
12.71.13Medan Labuhan35.09111,173133,765136,190620251-20254,
20524 & 20525
12.71.12Medan Marelan30.03140,414182,515191,765520250-20256
12.71.08Medan Kota Belawan33.2795,506108,987110,612620411-20415
Totals281.992,097,6102,435,2522,486,283151

The city centre consists of Medan Petisah, Medan Baru, Medan Polonia, Medan Maimun, Medan Kota, and Medan Barat. Medan Labuhan is one of the largest districts by area and lies in the northern part of the city. Medan Tuntungan serves as the gateway to Karo Regency, Medan Helvetia to Binjai City and Langkat, and Medan Amplas to Tebing Tinggi and Pematang Siantar.