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50 free Jakarta trivia questions with answers — geography quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
This Jakarta trivia quiz covers Indonesia's giant capital from the port of Sunda Kelapa and Fatahillah's Jayakarta to Coen's Batavia, the 1740 massacre and Glodok, the Japanese renaming, the 1945 proclamation and Sukarno's monument-building for the 1962 Asian Games. It also takes in today's city — Monas and its golden flame, Istiqlal Mosque and its tunnel to the cathedral, Kota Tua and the pinisi at Sunda Kelapa, the Betawi people, soto betawi, kerak telor and ondel-ondel, the Thousand Islands, Gelora Bung Karno, Transjakarta and the MRT, Soekarno-Hatta airport, the Autograph Tower, land subsidence and the planned move of the capital to Nusantara. Questions run from easy to expert with the difficulty shown on each one. Every answer has been checked against a primary reference and each question carries its citation. Enjoy this one? Try our Indonesia and Bali quizzes next.
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Q 01Which of these cities gained province-level Special Capital Region status in 1964?
Jakarta
It sits on the north-west coast of Java; a new national capital, Nusantara, has been under construction on Borneo since 2022.
Q 02On which island does Jakarta lie?
Java
It faces the Java Sea to the north and borders the provinces of West Java and Banten.
Q 03Roughly how many people live in Greater Jakarta, the world's most populous urban area?
Over 40 million
The metro region is known locally as Jabodetabek, after Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang and Bekasi.
Q 04What name did the Dutch give the city they rebuilt in 1619?
Batavia
The VOC named it after the Batavi, the tribe the Dutch regarded as their ancestors.
Q 05What was the name of the old kingdom's port on the site of Jakarta?
Sunda Kelapa
Its name means 'Coconut of Sunda'; the Portuguese knew it as Calapa and traded there for pepper.
Q 06In which year did Fatahillah's Demak forces capture the port and rename it Jayakarta?
1527
The name has Sanskrit roots meaning 'victorious deed'; the city marks 22 June 1527 as its founding date.
Q 07Which VOC governor-general destroyed Jayakarta in 1619 and refounded the city?
Jan Pieterszoon Coen
Long a Dutch national hero, his reputation has been reassessed since the 19th century for his brutality.
Q 08Which organisation ran the colonial city as its Asian headquarters for centuries?
The Dutch East India Company (VOC)
It rebuilt the town as a walled canal city at the mouth of the Ciliwung, with predictable problems of flooding and disease.
Q 09What happened to the colonial city's Chinese community in 1740?
A massacre; survivors were barred from within the walls
In 1741 the VOC set aside a settlement south of the walls that became Glodok, still Jakarta's Chinatown.
Q 10Who renamed the city 'Jakarta' in 1942?
The Japanese occupation authorities
Dutch rule ended in March 1942; the republic kept the name after independence.
Q 11On what date was Indonesian independence proclaimed in Jakarta?
17 August 1945
The numbers 17, 8 and 45 were built into the design of the National Monument.
Q 12To which city did the republican leaders move their temporary capital in 1946?
Yogyakarta
They left after British troops entered Jakarta; sovereignty was transferred in 1949.
Q 13Which president's monument-building programme prepared Jakarta for the 1962 Asian Games?
Sukarno
It produced the National Monument, Hotel Indonesia, the Senayan sports complex and the Thamrin-Sudirman axis.
Q 21What kind of vessels still moor at Jakarta's old harbour in the Penjaringan district?
Pinisi wooden sailing ships
The traditional two-masted schooners still carry inter-island cargo.
Q 22At the mouth of which river did the Dutch lay out their canal city?
The Ciliwung
Thirteen rivers flow through the city toward Jakarta Bay, and seasonal flooding remains a serious problem.
Q 23What is Jakarta's native creole ethnic group, named after the colonial city, called?
Betawi
A creole group named for Batavia, they blend Malay, Chinese, Arab, Indian and European heritage; the city has no ethnic majority.
Q 14How tall is the National Monument (Monas) in Merdeka Square?
132 metres
The obelisk is topped by a flame covered in gold leaf, symbolising the burning spirit of the independence struggle.
Q 15What crowns the top of Monas?
A gold-leaf flame
Sukarno wanted a monument comparable to the Eiffel Tower and shaped as a linga and yoni; it opened in 1975.
Q 16In which year did Monas finally open to the public?
1975
Construction had begun under Sukarno in 1961; the architect Soedarsono worked the date 17-8-45 into the design.
Q 17What distinction does Jakarta's Istiqlal hold?
Largest mosque in Southeast Asia
Its name means 'independence'; Suharto opened it in 1978 after 17 years of building, with room for over 120,000.
Q 18What links Istiqlal with the Catholic cathedral across the road?
A 'Tunnel of Friendship'
The Terowongan Silaturahmi was built as a symbol of religious harmony.
Q 19What is the name of Jakarta's historic colonial quarter?
Kota Tua
The Old Town covers the former core of Batavia, with canals and warehouses, and reaches north to the Sunda Kelapa harbour.
Q 20What was the Jakarta History Museum building originally, when built in 1710?
Batavia's city hall
The Stadhuis on Fatahillah Square became a museum in 1974.
Q 24What is the signature soup dish of the city's native cuisine?
Beef and offal in a spiced coconut or cow's-milk broth
It is one of the best-known dishes of Betawi cuisine.
Q 25What is kerak telor, a traditional snack popular at the Jakarta Fair?
A spicy omelette of glutinous rice and egg
It is topped with fried shredded coconut, shallots and dried shrimp; the name means 'egg crust'.
Q 26Which giant puppet figures are a symbol of Jakarta's native performance culture?
Ondel-ondel
Other Betawi arts include tanjidor brass music, gambang kromong and lenong theatre.
Q 27Where is Nusantara, the capital city Indonesia began building in 2022?
East Kalimantan, on Borneo
Independence Day was celebrated there for the first time on 17 August 2024, ahead of the formal transfer of capital status from Jakarta.
Q 28Which of these urban problems helped prompt the decision to move the capital?
Land subsidence and flooding
Groundwater extraction is sinking the coastal city, worsening floods; congestion and pollution add to the case.
Q 29How many administrative cities make up Jakarta, alongside the Thousand Islands regency?
Five
Central, West, South, East and North Jakarta were created by decree in 1966 and have no legislatures of their own.
Q 30How many islands actually make up the Thousand Islands off Jakarta?
342
The chain stretches 45 km into the Java Sea and includes a marine national park.