Jepara

Jepara is a small town in the province of Central Java, Indonesia. Jepara is on the north coast of Java, north-east of Semarang, not far from Mount Muria. It is also the main town of the district of Jepara, which has a population of about 1 million.

History

In the sixteenth century, Jepara was an important port; in early 1513, its king, Yunnus led an attack against Portuguese Malacca. His force is said to have been made up of one hundred ships and 5000 men from Jepara and Palembang but was defeated. Between 1518 and 1521 he apparently ruled over Demak. The rule of Ratu ('Queen') Kalinyamat in the latter sixteenth century was, however, Jepara's most influential. Jepara again attacked Malacca in 1551 this time with Johor but was defeated, and in 1574 besieged Malacca for three months.cite book | last =Ricklefs | first =M.C. | authorlink = | coauthors = | title =A History of Modern Indonesia since c.1300, 2nd Edition | publisher =MacMillan | date =1991 | location =London | pages =p.38 | url = | doi = | id = ISBN 0-333-57689-6]

It was the site of an English Fort in the 1600s.Fact|date=February 2007 It is the birthplace of Indonesian national heroine Kartini.

Contemporary Jepara

The population is almost entirely Javanese and over 95% Muslim. In the 16th century, it was an independent kingdom, and was twice burned by the Dutch. As a "pesisir" ('coastal') area many traders from around the world landed in Jepara centuries ago. As a result, some of Jepara's resident have at part European, Chinese, Arabs, Malay or Bugis ancestry.Fact|date=February 2007

The town is renowned its furniture industry. The production of teak furniture, employs approximately 80,000 people in the town, working in a large number of mainly small workshops.Fact|date=February 2007 The trade has brought considerable prosperity to Jepara, well above the average for Central Java. Since there is a large export trade, the fall in the value of the rupiah against the U.S. dollar and other currencies has probably led to an increase in income for the [furniture makers] .Fact|date=February 2007

Jepara is also well known for a distinct fruit named Durian Petruk.Fact|date=February 2007

References

*cite book
last =Witton | first =Patrick | authorlink = | coauthors = | title =Indonesia (7th edition) | publisher =Lonely Planet | date =2003 | location =Melbourne | pages =pages 259-260 | id = ISBN 1-74059-154-2

External links

* [http://www.insideindonesia.org/edit63/jepara1.htm Jim Schiller's Inside Indonesia article]