WELCOME TO SURABAYA

Surabaya is Indonesia’s second-largest city, and the capital of the province of East Java. It is located on the northern shore of eastern Java at the mouth of the Mas River and along the edge of the Madura Strait. As the main seaport and commercial center in the eastern region of Indonesia, Surabaya has become one of the largest cities in Southeast Asia. Today, Surabaya’s population is around three million, and the surrounding rural area houses at least 7 million. Surabaya officially established in 1293. Surabaya well known as Heroic City, the date was taken from the glory of Raden Wijaya, the first king of Majapahit who against China troops. Surabaya is a metropolitan city in which have religious nuances, the community had the feeling of the high solidarity and the spirit of heroism that never knew surrendered.
The areas surrounding Surabaya include Lamongan to the northwest, Gresik to the west, Bangkalan to the northeast, Sidoarjo to the south, and Mojokerto and Jombang to the southwest.
Surabaya is home to the Eastern Armada, one of two in the Indonesian Navy. Its strong maritime heritage is also reflected with the Submarine Monument, a real retired Russian submarine, called Pasopati, that was converted into a museum ship in the city centre.
Surabaya has some of interesting places to visit such as :
• Grand Mosque of Surabaya, the largest mosque in East Java.
• Cheng Ho Mosque, the first mosque in Indonesia built with Chinese-style architecture
• Jales Veva Jaya Mahe Monument, a large, admiral-like statue which commemorates the Indonesian Navy.
• Mpu Tantular Museum, has a large collection of ancient Javanese artifacts.
• Monkasel, abbreviated from Monumen Kapal Selam (English: Submarine Monument), an old submarine placed as a tourism attraction inside which people can wander. Right beside the monument there is a building where a short movie about the history of the submarine itself can be watched.
• Surabaya’s zoo, opened in 1916, was the first in the world to have successfully bred orangutans in captivity. Surabaya’s zoo is one of the famous zoos in the Southeast Asia.
• Heroic Monument is the main symbol and one of the attractive tourist destinations in Surabaya and Southeast Asia.
Surabaya city was also connected with the Independence Revolution of Indonesia. Since the domination of Dutch and Japan., Surabaya peoples (usually called: Arek Suroboyo) have hard struggling to fight for the freedom. Finally, in 10 November 1945 , Arek Suroboyo succesfully has dominated Oranye hotel (now called: Mojopahit Hotel) in which the hotel became the Colonialism Symbol now. Because of the struggling, Indonesia held Hari Pahlawan in every November 10.
Today, Surabaya is described to be the city of education with covering an area of 33.306,30 Km². In and around Surabaya, there are two state universities and many private ones. Those universities attract a large number of students from all regions in Indonesia, and this large number of students adds to the diversity of Surabaya people. Most people speak Bahasa Indonesia, but at home and on informal occasions they usually speak their mother tongue, Javanese. English is also widely spoken at major shops, hotels, schools and universities.