PONTIANAK – Equator City
PONTIANAK, West Kalimantan (Borneo), Indonesia (South-East Asia)
Pontianak or Khuntîen in Hakka is the capital of the Indonesian province of West Kalimantan. It is a large trading port on the island of Borneo, occupying an area of 107.82 km² in the delta of the Kapuas River. It is located almost precisely on the equator, hence it is widely known as Kota Khatulistiwa (Equator City). The city center is actually less than 3 kilometres (2 mi) south of the equator.
History
The city was formerly the capital of the independent Sultanate of Pontianak and was founded on 23 October 1771 around an old trading station on the Borneo coast. It is built on swampy ground that is subjected to regular flooding by the river, requiring buildings to be constructed on piles to keep them off the ground. Its name refers to a story about the founder, who saw a pontianak (a vampiric female ghost) at the palace building site, which he fought to save the people. The Japanese massacred much of the Malay and Chinese elite of Pontianak and other sultanates on Kalimantan in the Pontianak incidents.
(Source: Wiki)
