Medan

**Medan** ( , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indonesian province of North Sumatra. The nearby Strait of Malacca, Port of Belawan, and Kualanamu International Airport make Medan a regional hub and multicultural metropolis, acting as a financial centre for Sumatra and a gateway to the western part of Indonesia. About 60% of the economy in North Sumatra is backed by trading, agriculture, and processing industries, including exports from its 4 million acres of palm oil plantations. The National Development Planning Agency listed Medan as one of the four main central cities in Indonesia, alongside Jakarta, Surabaya, and Makassar. In terms of population, it is the most populous city in Indonesia outside of the island of Java. Its population as of 2023 is approximately equal to the country of Moldova.

As of the 2020 Census, Medan had a population of 2,435,252 within its city limits; the official population estimate as of mid 2023 was 2,474,166 - comprising 1,231,673 males and 1,242,493 females. When the surrounding urban area is included, the population is over 3.4 million, making it the fourth largest urban area in Indonesia. The Medan metropolitan area—which includes neighbouring Binjai, Deli Serdang Regency, and a part of Karo Regency—is the largest metropolitan area outside of Java, with 4,744,323 residents counted in the 2020 Census.

The city was founded at the confluence of the Deli River and the Babura river by a Karonese man named Guru Patimpus. Then called _Kampung Medan Putri_, it became part of the Deli Sultanate, established in 1632. In the late 19th century, colonial Dutch seeking new plantation areas chose Medan and Deli as plantation hubs to found the Deli Company. Within a few years, the Dutch tobacco trade transformed Medan into an economic hub, earning it the nickname  ("the land of the money"). The Deli Railway, established to ship tobacco, rubber, tea, timber, palm oil, and sugar from Medan to the Port of Belawan for worldwide export, brought further rapid development to Medan. The city became first the capital of the State of East Sumatra, and then the provincial capital of North Sumatra.

## Infobox (settlement)

- **name**: Medan
- **translit lang1**: Regional
- **translit lang1 type**: Jawi script, Jawi
- **translit lang1 type1**: :en:Batak script, Batak
- **translit lang1 info**: ميدن
- **translit lang1 info1**: ᯔᯩᯑᯉ᯳
- **native name lang**: id
- **settlement type**: :en:List of regencies and cities of Indonesia, City
- **image flag**: Flag_of_Medan_City.png
- **image shield**: Logo Kota Medan (Seal of Medan).svg
- **nickname**: _Paris, Parijs van Sumatra_
- **motto**: _Bekerja sama dan sama-sama bekerja_

- **pushpin map**: Indonesia_Sumatra#Indonesia
- **pushpin label position**: right
- **subdivision type**: Country
- **subdivision type1**: :en:Regions of Indonesia, Region
- **subdivision name1**: Sumatra
- **subdivision type2**: Provinces of Indonesia, Province
- **established title**: Founded
- **established date**: 1 July 1590
- **leader title**: Mayor
- **leader name**: :en:Rico Waas, Rico Waas (:en:Nasdem Party, Nasdem)
- **leader title1**: Vice Mayor
- **leader name1**: Zakiyuddin Harahap
- **leader title2**: :en:Regional House of Representatives, Legislature
- **leader name2**: :en:Medan City Regional House of Representatives, Medan City Regional House of Representatives
- **area total km2**: 265.1
- **area urban km2**: 478
- **area metro km2**: 2,831.97
- **elevation m**: 2.5–37.5
- **elevation ft**: 8–123
- **population total**: 2494512 (:en:List of Indonesian cities by population, 5th)
- **population as of**: 2023 estimate
- **population density km2**: auto
- **population urban**: 3,632,000 (:en:List of Indonesian cities by population, 4th)
- **population density urban km2**: 7,598
- **population metro**: 4,744,323 (:en:List of metropolitan areas in Indonesia, 5th)
- **population density metro km2**: 1,675
- **population demonym**: Medanese
Medanite
- **demographics type1**: Demographics
- **demographics1 title2**: Religion
- **demographics1 info2**: * 69.48% Islam
* 21.21% Christianity
** 18.72% Protestanism, Protestant
** 2.49% Catholic Church, Catholic
* 8.72% Buddhism
* 0.43% Hinduism
* 0.01% Others (incl. Confucianism)
- **timezone**: Time in Indonesia, IWST
- **utc offset**: +7
- **area code type**: :en:Telephone numbers in Indonesia, Area code
- **area code**: (+62) 61
- **registration plate type**: :en:Vehicle registration plates of Indonesia, Vehicle registration
- **registration plate**: BK
- **pushpin map caption**: Location in Sumatra and Indonesia
- **map caption**: Location within North Sumatra
- **map caption1**: Interactive map of Medan
- **blank name**: Nominal Gross domestic product, GDP
- **blank info**: 2023
- **blank1 name**:  - Total
- **blank1 info**: Indonesian rupiah, Rp 303.312 trillion (:en:List of Indonesian cities by GDP, 4th)
US$ 19.899 billion
US$ 63,731 billion (Purchasing power parity, PPP)
- **blank2 name**:  - Per capita
- **blank2 info**: Indonesian rupiah, Rp 105,908 thousand (:en:List of Indonesian cities by GDP, 13th)
US$ 8,043
US$ 25,758 (Purchasing power parity, PPP)
- **blank3 name**:  - Metro
- **blank3 info**: Indonesian rupiah, Rp 483.278 trillion
USD, US$ 31.706 billion
:en:Int$, Int$ 101.544 billion (Purchasing power parity, PPP)
- **blank4 name**:  - Growth
- **blank4 info**: 6.0%
- **blank5 name**: Human Development Index, HDI (2023)
- **blank5 info**: 0.826 (:en:List of Indonesian provinces by Human Development Index, 26th) – <span style="color:#090;">very high</span>