Map - Semarang (Kota Semarang)

Semarang (ꦏꦸꦛꦯꦼꦩꦫꦁ, Pegon: سماراڠ) is the capital and largest city of Central Java province in Indonesia. It was a major port during the Dutch colonial era, and is still an important regional center and port today. The city has been named as the cleanest tourist destination in Southeast Asia by the ASEAN Clean Tourist City Standard (ACTCS) for 2020–2022.

It has an area of 373.78 km2 and is located at -6.96667°N, 110.41667°W. The population of the city was 1,555,984 at the 2010 census and 1,653,524 at the 2020 census, making it Indonesia's ninth most populous city after Jakarta, Surabaya, Bekasi, Bandung, Medan, Depok, Tangerang and Palembang. The built-up urban area had 3,183,516 inhabitants at the 2010 census spread over two cities and 26 districts. The Semarang metropolitan area (a.k.a. Kedungsepur) has a population of over 6 million in 2020 (see Greater Semarang section). The population of the city is predominantly Javanese with significant Chinese presence.

The history of Semarang goes back to the 9th century, when it was known as Bergota. At the end of the 15th century, an Arab named Kyai Pandan Arang founded a village and an Islamic school in this fishing village. On 2 May 1547, Sultan Hadiwijaya of Pajang Kyai declared Pandan Arang the first bupati (mayor) of Semarang, thus creating Semarang administratively and politically.

In 1678, Sunan Amangkurat II promised to give control of Semarang to the Dutch East India Company (VOC) as a part of a debt payment. In 1682, the Semarang state was founded by the Dutch colonial power. On 5 October 1705 after years of occupations, Semarang officially became a VOC city when Susuhunan Pakubuwono I made a deal to give extensive trade rights to the VOC in exchange of wiping out Mataram's debt. The VOC, and later, the Dutch East Indies government, established tobacco plantations in the region and built roads and railroads, making Semarang an important colonial trading centre.

The historic presence of a large Indo (Eurasian) community in the area of Semarang is also reflected by the fact a creole mix language called Javindo existed there.