Medan (pop. 2,435,252) is the most important city in Sumatra and one of the largest cities in Indonesia. Medan is the capital of the province of North Sumatra, and is a thriving and rapidly expanding trade center. Medan lies near the eastern coast of North Sumatra, on the banks of the Deli River.
The bustling commercial area of Medan is in the middle of the city. The European quarter is on the west side of the Deli River. Its streets are broad and lined with trees. Some of them are so large and shady that they give the avenues complete protection from the sun.
The most spectacular building is the Mesjid Raya (Great Mosque), one of the largest mosques in Sumatra. A former sultan of Deli built the mosque. He wanted it to be the largest and most beautiful mosque in Indonesia. The sultan’s palace, Istana Maimum, is nearby. His descendants still live there. Also in Medan is the largest Protestant church building in Indonesia. It belongs to the Batak Church and can hold 2,000 people. The Vihara Gunung Timur is the largest Chinese temple in Indonesia.
Medan is an important place of learning. Its institutions of higher education are the University of North Sumatra, the Medan Teacher’s Training College, the Islamic University of North Sumatra, and a section of the Nommensen Christian University.
Medan serves as a trading center of a rich and productive agricultural region. Its most famous product is Deli tobacco, used in many countries as the wrapping leaf for cigars. The tobacco grows only in a small region along the banks of the Deli River. Other plantations around Medan produce Manila hemp, palm oil, rubber, and the fiber sisal. Medan has textile factories, food canneries, rubber mills, and various workshops for machinery. Medan is also a supply point for the oil fields of North Sumatra. Medan’s port is Belawan Deli, about 15 miles (24 kilometers) northwest of the city. It is one of the busiest ports in Indonesia. Medan has an international airport.
Trading settlements were established in the Medan area several hundred years ago. Before 1850, Medan was the royal park of the small sultanate of Deli. In July 1863, a Dutch planter from Java named Jacobus Nienhuys gained the first license to cultivate tobacco around the Deli River. He exported his first crop from Deli in 1865, and soon Deli leaf became world famous. Many companies from different countries established estates in the region. By 1916, Deli was exporting nearly three times as much tobacco as Java. Medan became the commercial center for the most important estate region in the Dutch East Indies.
