Yogyakarta Special Region (Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta) is officially one of Indonesia's 33 provinces. It is located in the center of the Island of Java, bordered on the south by Indonesian Ocean, and to the north by a chain of volcanoes of which meeting Merapi, some 27 kms away, can be seen as a dramatic background to the city skyline. Yogyakarta is geographically located almost equidistant from Indonesia's two most important international gateway, about 600 kms from Jakarta and 1000 kms from Bali. Yogyakarta also has excellent transport connections by bus, train or plane to the rest of Java, Sumatra, Bali and Lombok.
The average daily temperature range between 26
As of 2000, the total population of Yogyakarta amounted to 3,311,812. The majority of residents of Yogyakarta are Javanese, whose language derives from ancient Sanscrit. However, as Yogyakarta is considered to be 'Indonesia's Academic City' due to the numerous centers for higher learning, mani of the inhabitants are student who come from all over Indonesia to study.
The area of the city of Yogyakarta is 32.5 sq kms, while the city spreads in all directions from the kraton (the Sultan's Palace), the core of the modern city is to the north, centring arround 'Dutch Colonial Era' buildings and the commercial district 'Jalan Malioboro', with rows of the pavement vendors and nearby market and malls, is the primary shopping street for tourist in the city, while 'Jalan Solo', further north, is a shopping district more frequented by locals. At the southern end of Malioboro, on the east side is the large local market of Beringharjo, not far from 'Fort Vredeburg' a restored Dutch fort.
At Yogyakarta's center is the kraton, or Sultan's Palace. Surrounding the kraton is a densely populated residential neighbourhood that occupies land that was formerly the Sultan's sole domain. Evidence of this former use remains in the form of old walls and the ruined 'Taman Sari', built in 1758 as a pleasure garden. No longer used by the Sultan, the garden had been largely abandoned. For a time, it was used for housing by palace employees and descendants. Reconstruction effort began in 2004, and an effort to renew the neighbourhood arround the kraton has begun. The site is a developing tourist attraction.Nearby to the city of Yogyakarta is Mount Merapi. The northern outskirts of the city run up to the southern slopes of the mountain is Sleman Regency (Kabupaten Sleman). Mount Merapi is an active stratovolcano located on the border between Central Java and Yogyakarta. It is the most active volcano in Indonesia and has erupted regularly since 1548. The volcano last erupted in November 2010.
In the southern part of Yogyakarta, you will find many beaches. The most famous beach is Parangtritis with it's legendary figure of Nyi Roro Kidul (Queen of the South), but Yogyakarta has also many natural beautiful beaches in Gunung Kidul. You can see the Sadeng Beach which is an ancient estuary of Bengawan Solo River before the powerful forces lifted the surface of the southern part of Java Island so that the flow of the river turned to the north like today. You can also visit Siung Beach which has 250 channel of rock climbing, Sundak Beach and many more.