Medan

Medan (/mɛˈdɑːn/ meh-DAHN, Indonesian: [ˈmɛdan] ^ⓘ) is the capital and largest city of the Indonesian province of North Sumatra. The nearby Strait of Malacca, Port of Belawan, and Kualanamu International Airport make Medan a regional hub and multicultural metropolis, acting as a financial centre for Sumatra and a gateway to the western part of Indonesia. About 60% of the economy in North Sumatra is backed by trading, agriculture, and processing industries, including exports from its 4 million acres of palm oil plantations. The National Development Planning Agency listed Medan as one of the four main central cities in Indonesia, alongside Jakarta, Surabaya, and Makassar. In terms of population, it is the most populous city in Indonesia outside of the island of Java. Its population as of 2023 is approximately equal to the country of Moldova.

As of the 2020 Census, Medan had a population of 2,435,252 within its city limits; the official population estimate as of mid 2023 was 2,474,166 - comprising 1,231,673 males and 1,242,493 females. When the surrounding urban area is included, the population is over 3.4 million, making it the fourth largest urban area in Indonesia. The Medan metropolitan area—which includes neighbouring Binjai, Deli Serdang Regency, and a part of Karo Regency—is the largest metropolitan area outside of Java, with 4,744,323 residents counted in the 2020 Census.

The city was founded at the confluence of the Deli River and the Babura river by a Karonese man named Guru Patimpus. Then called Kampung Medan Putri, it became part of the Deli Sultanate, established in 1632. In the late 19th century, colonial Dutch seeking new plantation areas chose Medan and Deli as plantation hubs to found the Deli Company. Within a few years, the Dutch tobacco trade transformed Medan into an economic hub, earning it the nickname Het Land Dollar ("the land of the money"). The Deli Railway, established to ship tobacco, rubber, tea, timber, palm oil, and sugar from Medan to the Port of Belawan for worldwide export, brought further rapid development to Medan. The city became first the capital of the State of East Sumatra, and then the provincial capital of North Sumatra.