Country Indonesia district Cipanas Time zone WIB (UTC+7) Province West Java Postal code 43253 | Regency Cianjur Established 1740 Elevation 1,080 m Population 15,435 (2010) Area code 0255 | |
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Sekilas kota cipanas
Cipanas ( [tʃipanas] ) is the administrative village of Cipanas District, in the northern part of the Cianjur Regency, West Java, Indonesia. It is situated in the valley of Mount Gede, 86 kilometres (53 mi) south-east of the Indonesian capital city of Jakarta. The name of the village means "hot water" or "hot spring" in Sundanese (ci, water, panas, hot), due to the presence of sulphuric hot springs in the area.
Contents
- Sekilas kota cipanas
- Map of Cipanas Cianjur Regency West Java Indonesia
- History
- Climate and ecology
- Demographics
- References
Map of Cipanas, Cianjur Regency, West Java, Indonesia
The village had a population of 15,435 at the 2010 Census (the district held a population of 103,911). It is best known by the Istana Cipanas complex, a residence for former Dutch Governor Generals of the Dutch East Indies, and also a country retreat of former President Sukarno at Istana Cipanas. Since the Dutch colonial rule, and before the Enhanced Indonesian Spelling System was established, the village name was spelled Tjipanas.
History
The area already had a history of village dwellers since Sunda Kingdom and Banten Sultanate, long before the time the Presidential Palace was erected by a Dutch landlord named Van Heots in 1740. Out of interest in the local hot springs, during the administration of Dutch East India Company Governor General Gustaaf Willem van Imhoff (1743-1750), a health building was constructed near a hot spring. The reputation of the area for clean, fresh and cool mountain air led to the building being made into a resort for the Dutch Governor Generals.
From 1744 to 1761 a Buitenhospitaal (outdoor hospital or villa-hospital) existed in Cipanas. It was a kind of Spa that served as a health-resort. The wooden hospital was built on a hillside surrounded by woods and valleys. It was staffed by a chief surgeon (opper-chirurgijn) and a second in charge surgeon (onder-chirurgijn). The building had two floors, a covered walkway, a bathhouse and a pharmacy and was in demand by many sick people, or inmates of the hospital. However to arrive in the mountains people took a difficult and strenuous journey of 4 days and the capacity of the hospital was too small to become a relief for patients. By Resolution of 30 June 1761, the resort-hospital was then closed.
The palace was used by Commissioner-General Leonard Pietr Josef du Bus de Gisignies, his secretary Carel Sirardus Willem Graaf van Hogendorp (1820-1841), Herman Willem Daendels (1808-1811) and Stamford Raffles, who would later become the founder of colonial Singapore. During their terms, they employed hundreds of workers in plantations around the palace.
Climate and ecology
Cipanas has a tropical rainforest climate. Throughout the year the humidity is high due to the significant annual precipitation of around 4013 mm. Due to its relatively high elevation, the average annual high temperature in Cipanas is around 78.75 °F (25.97 °C) and the annual low temperature is 64.08 °F (17.82 °C).
Locally present fauna include the silvery gibbon, Javan surili and Sunda thrush, and flora include Elaeocarpus macrocerus, Alstonia spathulata, Mangifera gedebe (a member of the mango family), Stemonurus secundiflorus, and Thoracostachyrum sumatrana (a large sedge).
The Taman Bunga Nusantara (Nusantara Flower Garden) within the area is a popular tourist attraction. The garden, extending over 23 hectares (0.23 km2), hosts a wide variety of worldwide flora, and possesses a maze, giant clock and tower. Close to Cipanas, in Cibodas in the Pacet district, is the Kebun Raya Cibodas (Cibodas Botanical Garden), an extension of the Kebun Raya Bogor (Bogor Botanical Gardens) in Bogor.
Demographics
The ethnic makeup of Cipanas is mostly Sundanese people. The majority of the residents are Muslim, with the total Muslim population as of 2013 being 99,657 (93.8%), Catholic Christians 881 (0.83%), Protestant Christians 603 (0.567%) and others 5,117 (4.8%).