About Solo/Surakarta City

Solo is one of the cities that were in the region of the central part of Java island, with is the island of Java also part of one of the biggest islands in the country of Indonesia.

Surakarta (often called Solo and less commonly Sala) is a city in Central Java. The 46 km2 city adjoins Karanganyar Regency and Boyolali Regency to the north, Karanganyar Regency and Sukoharjo Regency to the east and west, and Sukoharjo Regency to the south. On the eastern side of Solo lies Solo River (Bengawan Solo). Its built-up (or metro) area made of Surakarta Municipality and 59 districts spread on 7 regencies was home to 3,649,254 inhabitants as of 2010 census.

Surakarta is the birthplace of the current President of Indonesia, Joko Widodo. He served as Mayor of Surakarta from 2005 to 2012.

The water sources for Surakarta are in the valley of Merapi, a total of 19 locations, with a capacity of 3,404 l/second. The average source water height is 800–1,200 m above sea level. In 1890–1927 there were only 12 wells in Surakarta. Today, underground water wells in 23 locations produce about 45 l/second.

In March 2006, Surakarta's state water company (PDAM) had a production capacity of 865.02 l/second: from Cokrotulung, Klaten, 27 km from Solo, 387 l/s; and from 26 deep wells, with a total capacity of 478,02 l/second. The total reservoir capacity is 9,140 m3 and can serve 55,22% of the population.

One main tourist attraction of Surakarta is the Keraton Surakarta, the palace of Susuhunan Pakubuwono, also the Princely Javanese court of Mangkunegaran. Pasar Gede market is often visited by tourists, mostly for its unique architecture and fame as the biggest traditional market in the Solo area. The Pasar Klewer is famous for its batiks in all prices and qualities, while the Pasar Triwindhu located near Mangkunegaran palace specialises in antiques. 

Within Surakarta tourists can also use the Jaladara old steam train which was launched on in September 2009 for 5.6 km connecting Purwosari Station and City (Sangkrah) Station. In 2011 there were 60 trips and in 2012 will be 80 trips.

Taman Sriwedari is a popular local entertainment park featuring a children's playground, dangdut music performance and Wayang Wong traditional Javanese dance performance almost every night. Near the park is Radyapustaka Museum, one of the oldest museums in Indonesia, with a collection of Javanese cultural artefacts. The traditional batik village of Laweyan and Kampung Batik Kauman, located in the southwest part of the city and the city centre respectively, are famous for producing fine quality Javanese batik.