Sukabumi

Sukabumi () is a landlocked city surrounded by the regency of the same name (within which it is an enclave) in the southern foothills of Mount Gede, in West Java, Indonesia, about south of the national capital, Jakarta. At an altitude of approximately , the city is a minor hill station resort, with a cooler climate than the surrounding lowlands. The area around Sukabumi is also a popular destination for whitewater rafting. Tea and Rubber production is a major industry in the area. The suburban area surrounding Sukabumi circling the mountain has grown tremendously in population, such that northern Sukabumi Regency, hugging the volcano, and bordering Greater Jakarta, is home to the bulk of the regency's population. The area of the city is 48.33 km2, and the population at the 2010 Census was 300,359, while the 2020 Census was 346,325; the official estimate as at mid 2022 was 356,410. However, some 1.8 million people, as of the 2010 census figures, live in the surrounding metropolitan area. The bulk of the metro area population is unusual in that it forms a narrow southwest ring around Mount Gede. The eastern portion of the ringed population belt continues on into Cianjur Regency. The area around Sukabumi was already inhabited at least in the 11th century. The first written record found in this area was the Sanghyang Tapak inscription in Cibadak, 20 km west of the city. Written in Kawi script, the stone tells about the prohibition of fishing activity in the nearby river by the authorities of the Sunda Kingdom. At the end of the 16th century, the area was captured by the Banten Sultanate, after the fall of the Sunda Kingdom. The area however became contested in the 1620s between Banten, the Mataram Sultanate in the east and the Batavia-based Dutch East India Company. After a series of military clashes between them, the area was included in a buffer zone territory between Banten and Mataram, although the area is considered de jure as a part of Mataram.