BATAVIA, a city and sea-port, on the north-east coast of Java, the capital of the Dutch East Indies. Population (193o), excluding Meester Cornelis, 435,184, composed of 31,130 Euro peans and Eurasians, 325,978 natives, and 77,076 foreign Asiatics, including Chinese. The average mean temperature is 79° and average rainfall 72.31 with 136 rainy days. There are three di visions of the city: the port, Tanjong Priok, at the head of a capacious bay on the northern coast of the extreme western end of the island of Java; the old city of Batavia, a little distance in land, on level and swampy ground, on both sides of the river Jacatra, or Chiliwong; and the modern town of Weltevreden, yet further inland, directly south of Batavia, and merging into Meester Cornelis, to the south again. Even in the old town, the streets are mostly straight and regular, some quite broad, with the exception of the Chinese quarter, which, with its old quaintly-built houses and many canals, is like an Eastern Venice. Here are to be seen old buildings of the days when the Dutch built in the East as they built in Holland—very picturesque, with their brown-tiled roofs, diamond-paned windows, generally shuttered, and pleasing style of architecture, quite unsuited, however, to Eastern require ments. Much of this original city has disappeared, but fragments remain, and, though the fortifications exist no longer, near the old Town Hall (a fine building dating from 1710, now the Resident's Office) on an open square known as Kasteel Plein, is the ancient Penang Gate, with its two grotesque "Gog" and "Magog" figures, once part of the city walls. Other buildings include the grand old house of Governor-General van Riebeeck (1708), with entrance hall of old tiles, depicting stories from the Bible; and the Portu guese Church (1693) . The extraordinary old cannon, known as "Miriam Besar" (meriam, Malay for cannon), lies half-buried in the ground near the Penang Gate, and is held in great veneration by the native populace as an emblem of fertility. Old Batavia is inhabited to-day principally by Malays, Arabs, Chinese, Java nese, and some of the poorer Eurasians : it is the busy present in the day-time, the sleepy past at night. Its former shops are ware houses ; the town-houses of the old merchants are mercantile offices. The shops, residences of Europeans, better-class Eura sians and Orientals, hotels, clubs, theatres, hospitals, gov ernment offices, banks, and the newer mercantile buildings and churches, are in Weltevreden, and in the streets, leading to Ba tavia, of which Molenvliet is the most important. In Weltevreden proper, are two large open spaces; one the Waterloo Plein, with its white column commemorating the battle of Waterloo ; and the other Koningsplein, containing two sports clubs, a race-course, and Weltevreden station, on the line from Tanjong Priok. From these branch off the principal shopping and business thorough fares, fine broad streets, such as Rijswijk, Noordwijk, Gunung Sahari, and Tanah Abang. In this quarter, too, are the principal government offices, the High Courts of Justice, the leading clubs, the large hotels, and restaurants, the Masonic Lodge, the theatre, and various public buildings and churches. The old Prins Hendrik Fort stands in pretty grounds nearly surrounded by water, between the Waterloo and Koningsplein. Near by, at the end of Willems land, is the monument of General Michiels, killed in Bali in The newer parts of Weltevreden, south of .Koningsplein extend to Meester Cornelis, and here, on both sides of the river, set in grass and trees, are hundreds of beautiful bungalows with wide, tree-lined roads. At Meester Cornelis are the barracks and a military school.
The Batavian society of arts and sciences, now the "Royal Society," was founded in 1778. Eventually it was compelled to restrict its sphere to archaeology (a government department lends its aid), history, languages, and Archipelagian researches. In 1850, the "Royal Natural History Society" was founded. The former Society has a museum and the latter an excellent library. Their Transactions form a great contribution to the scientific and literary history of the Malay Archipelago. The Dutch Indies Astronomical Society, which founded the first observatory in the tropics, has an observatory in Weltevreden.
Educational facilities are afforded by medical schools for Europeans and natives, law schools, schools for training native officials, who later enter the civil service college, training schools for teachers, and a good high school, the Queen Wilhelmina and Prins-Hendrik School. There is also a Museum, and a Public Library. Several daily and weekly papers are published. An official tourist bureau is maintained at Weltevreden.
The so-styled "European" inhabitants, numbering 28,753, in clude people of mixed blood, i.e., native, or coloured, with Euro pean, and with full-blooded Japanese. The greater number of pure Europeans are Dutch. The Chinese form a very numerous and industrious section of the population.
Batavia has a very fine up-to-date port in Tanjong Priok. The original harbour (18 7 7-83) has been much improved within recent years. The outer harbour is enclosed by two long stone Break-Waters running north and south, converging at the sea end, where the entrance is about 5 2 5 f t. wide. The outer harbour channel, which has a depth of Soft. at low water, leads to three inner harbours, of which the first is about 3,5oof t. long and 600ft. wide, the second 3,3oof t. long and 5oof t. wide, and the third 3,3ooft. long and 72oft. wide. The first inner harbour is suitable for ships drawing up to 2 7f t., the second for those of 3oft. draught, and the third has been designed for vessels drawing up to 4oft., whilst it is hoped that by dredging, the northern part of the second harbour will be made available for vessels of 4oft. draught. There are ample fully-equipped quays with warehouses belong ing to the port authority, and to private companies. There are two dry docks, a coal storage wharf and a flying station. The port is connected with Batavia by a good road, a double rail track and canals (the Chiliwong is canalized), and lighters can sail thither along the chief shipping canal.
Batavia has good modern transport arrangements. It is con nected by rail with every place of importance in Java. One line goes westwards to Bantam; two go eastwards, one along the north coast, and the other via Buitenzorg and Preanger, to Ban joemas, where they meet, and then with a branch to Semarang proceed to Surabaya and Banjuwangi, with branches to Pasuruan, Kediri, etc. Tanjong Priok has abundant communication by sea with all parts of the world and Batavia connects by telephone, cable, and wireless with the general world systems and all parts of the archipelago.
The exports from Batavia to the other islands of the Archi pelago, to ports in India, the Malay Peninsula, Siam, Indo-China, China and Japan, are rice, sago, sugar, salt, coffee, Java cloths, teak, tobacco and arrack. It is also a clearing-house for the produce of the Archipelago—rubber, spices, vanilla, pepper, rattans, hides, coffee, palm-oil, copra, gum copal, damar, dye-woods, benzoin, camphor, beeswax, bird-skins, mother-of-pearl, tortoise-shell, tre pang, edible bird-nests, plaited hats, sago, tapioca, cassava, ground nuts, sisal, gambier, ebony, tin, copper ore, iodine, wolframite, manganese ore, sulphur, gold, silver, diamonds and petroleum, to which it adds its own special products—rice, tea, sugar, kapok, and quinine. The principal imports, which it distributes through out the Archipelago, are textiles, iron and steel goods, rice, cigars and cigarettes, manures, cement, earthenware, paint, paper, yarns, haberdashery, and provisions from Europe ; and opium, and va rious drugs, tea, cottons, silks, from India, China, Japan, and other Eastern countries, together with many kinds of foods and domestic articles for the large Chinese population of the Dutch East Indies, The total value of imports into Tanjong Priok in 1922 was 133,673,00o gulders, and exports, 120,129,000. The tonnage of vessels clearing the port in that year was 3,918,022 tons. The only local industries are the distillation of arrack (by Chinese), the burning of lime and bricks, and the making of pottery. The Java Bank, in the profit of which the government shares, is the principal bank, but there are at least ten other im portant banking concerns.
Batavia owes its origin to the Dutch Governor-General Pieter Both who, in 161o, established a factory at Jacatra on the ruins of Sunda Calappa; and to his successor, Jan Pietersz Coen, who founded the present city. In 1699, Batavia suffered from a severe earthquake. The rivers about it were choked with mud from the volcano Salak and flooded the surrounding country. As a con sequence, Batavia became notorious for its unhealthiness and was in danger of being abandoned. In 22 years, from 173o to 1752, 1,100,00o deaths are said to have been recorded: the death rate now fluctuates between 4o% and 6o% and amongst Europeans only .18%. Marshal Daendels (Governor 1808-1811), destroyed the ramparts of the old city, and began the nucleus of the new one at Weltevreden. In 181 1 a British force was sent against the Dutch settlements in Java which had been incorporated by France, and to this force, after an engagement at Meester Cor nelis, Batavia surrendered. It was restored to Holland by the treaty of 1814. (E. E. L.)