Surakarta, known colloquially as Solo, is a major city in Central Java, Indonesia. The 46.72 km2 city adjoins Karanganyar Regency and Boyolali Regency to the north, Karanganyar Regency and Sukoharjo Regency to the east and west, and Sukoharjo Regency to the south. On the eastern side of Solo lies Solo River. Its metropolitan area, consisting of Surakarta City and the surrounding six regencies, was home to 6,837,753 inhabitants according to the official estimates for mid 2023, 526,870 of whom reside in the city proper.
Image: Kori Kamandungan Karaton Surakarta
Image: Slamet Riyadi Statue in Surakarta
Image: Bank Indonesia Solo by Bennylin 03
Image: Gate of Sriwedari Park
Javanese is a Malayo-Polynesian language spoken by the Javanese people from the central and eastern parts of the island of Java, Indonesia. There are also pockets of Javanese speakers on the northern coast of western Java. It is the native language of more than 68 million people.
Madurese in Javanese script
A Javanese noble lady (left) would address her servant with one vocabulary, and be answered with another. (Studio portrait of painter Raden Saleh's wife and a servant, colonial Batavia, 1860–1872.)
Susuhunan Pakubuwono X of Surakarta. Surakarta has been a center of Javanese culture, and its dialect is regarded as the most "refined".
A modern bilingual text in Portuguese and Javanese in Yogyakarta