Indonesian President Names New Capital ‘Nusantara’ as Parliament Approves Relocation

Indonesian President Joko Widodo delivers a speech after taking his oath during his presidential inauguration for the second term, at the House of Representatives building in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Oct. 20, 2019. Adi Weda/Pool via Reuters

Indonesia’s new capital city will be named “Nusantara,” which translates as “archipelago,” with Parliament’s approval of a bill to relocate the capital from Jakarta to a remote site on Borneo island, a senior government official said on Tuesday.

Indonesia’s House of Representatives approved a bill on Tuesday to relocate the country’s capital to a remote region of Kalimantan, where the government already owns approximately 180,000 hectares of land.