Medan

Skyline of Medan

Medan is the capital of the province of North Sumatra, Indonesia. Located in the northern part of the province along the coast, Medan is the fourth largest city in Indonesia.The city is bordered by Deli Serdang Regency to the east, south and west, and the Strait of Malacca to the north.
The city has a mix of communities, reflecting its history. It is famous throughout Indonesia as the home of the Batak people, although, traditionally it is a Melayu Kampung. More recently more and more of the Batak ethnic minority have come to the city to make what was once a minority become a fairly sized community. However, Batak homelands are found throughout North Sumatra. In addition, there is a large ethnic Javanese community, largely made up of the descendants of people transported from Java in the last century as part of the government's transmigration policy, an attempt to relieve the chronic overcrowding of Java. ... read more

Maimoon Palace (1880-1890)

Medan is the fourth largest city in Indonesia after Jakarta and Surabaya and Bandung. With a population of about 2 million people it is the largest city outside of Java. There is no single ethnic group forming a majority; the largest ethnic groups are the Chinese, Javanese, Toba-Batak, Minangkabau, Mandailing Batak, Karo Batak, Southern Indians , Northern Indians, and many more ethnic minorities.
Overall, Medan isn't really a tourist destination, but it's a convenient stepping stone to other places like the 'weekend getaway' Brastagi, the island of Penang, Malaysia and, of course the ever popular, beautiful crater lake Lake Toba. ... read more