Halo dan Selamat Natal^^
Today’s post is about nicknames (‘julukan’) we Indonesians give to other countries or places. For example, internationally the nickname ‘The Switzerland of Asia’ can refer to Singapore due to their financial power or to Bhutan due to their nature. Indonesia also gives nicknames to other countries, and some cities or places within Indonesia also receive their own nicknames.
Let’s start first with nickname for other countries! Do note that the word ‘negara’ and ‘negeri’ both means ‘country’ in this case, and that some nicknames may not be exclusively used in Indonesia.
Anak benua (‘child of continent’) = India
Mutiara Afrika (‘pearl of Africa’) = Uganda
Naga kecil Asia (‘Asia’s small dragon’) = Taiwan
Negara kincir angin (‘country of windmill’) = Netherlands
Negara minyak (‘oil country’) = Saudi Arabia
Negara Paman Sam (‘country of Uncle Sam’) = United States of America
Negeri atap dunia (‘country of world’s roof’) = Tibet
Negeri Firaun (‘country of pharaoh’) = Egypt
Negeri gajah putih (‘country of white elephant’) = Thailand
Negeri ginseng (‘country of ginseng’) = South Korea
Negeri jiran (‘neighbouring country’) = Malaysia, more because Malaysia is deemed territorially closest to Indonesia
Negeri kanguru (‘kangaroo country’) = Australia
Negeri lumbung padi (‘country of granary’) = Philippines
Negeri matador (‘country of matador’) = Spain
Negeri matahari terbit (‘country (land) of the rising sun’) = Japan
Negeri para dewa (‘country of the Gods’) = Greece
Negeri Petro Dollar (‘country of petrol and dollar’) = Brunei Darussalam
Negeri samba (‘country of samba’) = Brazil
Negeri seribu kuil (‘country of one hundred temples’) = Nepal
Negeri seribu satu malam (‘country of one thousand and one nights’) = Iraq
Negeri singa (‘lion country’) = Singapore (some also jokingly call Singapore as the country of one thousand and one prohibition (negeri seribu satu larangan) due to the large number of uncommon laws there)
Negeri tango (‘country of tango’) = Argentina
Negeri tirai bambu (‘country of bamboo curtain’) = China
Zamrud Khatulistiwa (‘emerald of the equator’) = Indonesia (I will neither deny nor confirm any question of whether we’re narcissistic or not)
Most nicknames were derived from the most popular product or icon of each country, though some are not. I also don’t really know why some uses ‘negara’ whilst other uses ‘negeri’, though they are synonyms so I don’t think there’s much of a problem there.
Next, we’re moving domestically! Here are the nicknames for some cities (and an island) in Indonesia. Again, note that the term ‘kota’ means ‘city’, whilst ‘pulau’ means ‘island’.
Kota apel (‘city of apples’) = Malang
Kota belimbing (‘city of starfruit’) = Depok
Kota Daeng (‘city of Daeng’) = Makassar (with ‘daeng’ being a polite way to refer to someone older or a stranger in their dialect)
Kota hujan (‘city of rain’) = Bogor
Kota Jam Gadang (‘city of Gadang Clock’) = Bukittinggi
Kota Khatulistiwa (‘city of the equator’) = Pontianak (the city is located almost at the 0-degree latitude)
Kota kembang (‘city of flowers’) = Bandung, sometimes also called as the Paris of Java (‘Paris van Java’)
Kota lumpia (‘city of spring rolls’) = Semarang
Kota Melayu Deli (‘city of Deli Malay’) = Medan
Kota metropolitan (‘metropolitan city’) = Jakarta
Kota pahlawan (‘city of heroes’) = Surabaya
Kota pelajar (‘city of students’) = Yogyakarta
Kota pempek (‘city of pempek’) = Palembang (pempek is a type of food, quite delicious if I may say so myself)
Kota Serambi Mekkah (‘veranda of mecca city’) = Banda Aceh
Kota seribu benteng (‘city of one thousand fortresses’) = Sabang
Kota seribu pinang (‘city of one thousand betel nut’) = Jayapura
Kota tahu (‘city of tofu’) = Kediri
Kota udang (‘city of shrimps’) = Cirebon
Pulau Dewata (‘island of Gods’) = Bali
Similar to our nicknames for other countries, nicknames for Indonesian cities also came from either their most popular food item/produce, their history, or their unique characteristic. We also have islands like the ones called pulau bidadari (‘angel island’) and pulau komodo (‘komodo island’) whose name are literally poetic enough that they can be nicknames, but are actually their own name.
Whilst compiling this list, I feel that many of the nickname for Indonesian cities are derived from food….
To be truthful, there are still many nicknames Indonesian uses when referring to countries or cities, but there are too many and I’m not familiar with them, so I just wrote down the ones I know. A nickname can also be given to several different cities, so if you’re ever unclear, just ask them to clarify which place do they mean. Some places also have their own local nickname, which you might not know unless you’re a local or have some knowledge (for example, though this is not necessarily a good example, there is a place in Surabaya called dolly which ‘was’ the red-light district of the city (as it was not a ‘good’ place, the nickname is ‘hidden in plain sight’)).
Right, that’s all for today’s post. Thank you for reading~
Merry Christmas~
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