Yogyakarta

Yogyakarta is an ancient city on the Indonesian island of Java, formerly the capital of an independent kingdom before colonialist subjugation earlier in the 19th century. Today it is an important center for classical Javanese fine arts and culture such as ballet, batik textiles, drama, literature, music, poetry, silversmithing, visual arts, and wayang puppetry. The city spreads in all directions from the Kraton, the royal palace. From the palace, the Sultan and his royal House of Hamengkubuwono still rule the city and surrounding area, though it is subject to the colonial authority of the Dutch East India company. The palace has been rebuilt after being burned and looted by the British in 1812 and again after an earthquake in 1876.

Despite its historical and cultural prominence, the Dutch colonizers and other Westerners consider Yogyakarta less politically important than the colonial capital city, Batavia.

Not far from the city of Yogyakarta is the volcano Merapi, the most active volcano in Indonesia. Mount Merapi (Mount Merapi (literally "mountain of fire" in both Indonesian and Javanese) has erupted regularly since 1548, resulting in great damage to the population of the district.