Pangkal Pinang is the largest town on the Indonesia

Indonesia

Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

n island of Bangka

Bangka Island

Bangka is an island lying east of Sumatra, Indonesia. Population 626,955. Area: c.4,600 sq mi .There is an additional small island named Pulau Bangka in northern Sulawesi, Indonesia.-Geography:...

 and the capital of the province of Bangka-Belitung

Bangka-Belitung

Bangka–Belitung Islands is a province of Indonesia. The province includes two main islands, Bangka and Belitung, and several smaller ones that lie east of the Sumatran mainland and northeast of South Sumatra province. The Bangka Strait separates Sumatra and Bangka, and the Gaspar Strait separates...

. It is located on Bangka's eastern coast at 2°8′S 106°7′E.

Landmarks in the city include the Timah Museum, a Chinese temple, and the Pasir Padi beach.

History

In order to control rich tin mines deposit on eastern Bangka

Bangka Island

Bangka is an island lying east of Sumatra, Indonesia. Population 626,955. Area: c.4,600 sq mi .There is an additional small island named Pulau Bangka in northern Sulawesi, Indonesia.-Geography:...

 , Dutch colonial move the capital of Bangka Belitung resident from Muntok

Muntok

Muntok or, more commonly, Mentok is a town in the Indonesian province of Bangka-Belitung, Indonesia. Muntok is the capital of the West Bangka Regency...

 to Pangkal Pinang in 1913.

Demographics

Pangkal Pinang's population was 108,411 in 1990 and has risen to 134,082 in 2005. The population is mainly Malay, and a big portion of the population consists of Indonesian Chinese, who originally immigrated from Guangdong

Guangdong

Guangdong is a province on the South China Sea coast of the People's Republic of China. The province was previously often written with the alternative English name Kwangtung Province...

 province of southern China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

. They are called 'Peranakan' ("Children of the Indies") locally, and they speak a Hakka dialect. But in conversation with another Chinese, they call themselves Thong Ngin (Tang People) and Fan Ngin for local Malay.

Economics

Pangkal Pinang is one of the major ports on the Java Sea

Java Sea

The Java Sea is a large shallow sea on the Sunda Shelf. It was formed as sea levels rose at the end of the last ice age. The Java Sea lies between the Indonesian islands of Borneo to the north, Java to the south; Sumatra to the west, and Sulawesi to the east...

, and tin

Tin

Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn and atomic number 50. It is a main group metal in group 14 of the periodic table. Tin shows chemical similarity to both neighboring group 14 elements, germanium and lead and has two possible oxidation states, +2 and the slightly more stable +4...

, pepper

Black pepper

Black pepper is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit, known as a peppercorn when dried, is approximately in diameter, dark red when fully mature, and, like all drupes, contains a single seed...

, fish

Fish

Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...

, and copra

Copra

Copra is the dried meat, or kernel, of the coconut. Coconut oil extracted from it has made copra an important agricultural commodity for many coconut-producing countries. It also yields coconut cake which is mainly used as feed for livestock.-Production:...

 are exported from here. There is a producing industry of coastal vessels here, and deep-sea fishing in the Java Sea is important for the town.

The town has an airport 2.350 M length and 9 Boeing 737 flight from Jakarta

Jakarta

Jakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Officially known as the Special Capital Territory of Jakarta, it is located on the northwest coast of Java, has an area of , and a population of 9,580,000. Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre...

 and Palembang

Palembang

Palembang is the capital city of the South Sumatra province in Indonesia. Palembang is one of the oldest cities in Indonesia, and has a history of being a capital of a maritime empire. Located on the Musi River banks on the east coast of southern Sumatra island, it has an area of 400.61 square...

, and is connected by paved asphalt treated roads to other towns on the island.

There is important household manufacturing weaving, plating, metal-work, carving and basket making.

External links

• Satellite picture by Google Maps