Книга: Bandung: History of Bandung, Indonesian architecture, List of radio stations in Bandung, Indonesia, West Java, Indonesia, Bandung Metropolitan Area, Above mean sea level, List of cities in Indonesia

Bandung is the capital of West Java province in Indonesia, and the country's fourth largest city, and 2nd largest metropolitan area, with 7.4 million in 2007. Located 768 m above sea level, Bandung has relatively year-around cooler temperature than most other Indonesian cities. The city lies on a river basin and surrounded by volcanic mountains. This topography provides the city with a good natural defense system, which was the primary reason of Dutch East Indies government's plan to move the colony capital from Batavia to Bandung. It has an area of 167.27 km? and 2,290,464 people in 2005, with a density of 13,693 people/km?. For the Hasil Survei Sosial Ekonomi Daerah 2007, 2,364,312 was the population, making it the fourth most populous city in Indonesia, after Jakarta, Surabaya and Medan. The Dutch colonials first opened tea plantations around the mountains in the eighteenth century, followed by a road construction connecting the plantation area to the capital. The European inhabitants of the city demanded the establishment of a municipality, which was granted in 1906 and Bandung gradually developed itself into a resort city for the plantation owners.