During the Dutch East Indies period, a city was governed as gemeente since the decentralisation law in 1903. Gemeentee was a third-level subdivision below residentie and gouvernement.
''Kota besar'' and ''kota kecil''
The terms kota besar and kota kecil were used since the implementation of the Act Number 22 of 1948. Kota Besar was an urban equivalent of kabupaten, which was the country's second level subdivision, just below province. Kota kecil, used for a small urban area, was the third-level division below regency and province.
''Kotaraya'', ''kotamadya'', and ''kotapraja''
According to the Act Number 18 of 1965, cities in Indonesia were classified into three: kotaraya, kotamadya, and kotapraja. Kotaraya is an equivalent of a province, kotamadya is an equivalent of a regency, while kotapraja is an equivalent of kecamatan. Jakarta was the only city granted the kotaraya status due to its function as the capital of Indonesia. The terms kotaraya and kotapraja had been abolished since 1974, and kotamadya was used for most of urban areas in Indonesia up to 1999. Jakarta continued to become the only urban area with a province status.
''Kota''
The term kota has been implemented to substitute kotamadya since the post-Suharto era in Indonesia. Kota is headed by a mayor, whom is directly elected via elections to serve for a five-year term which can be renewed once. Each kota is divided further into districts more commonly known as kecamatan.
Jakarta as a city
was the first city in the archipelago to be developed by the Dutch Empire. On the 4 March 1621, the first city government was created in Batavia, and on 1 April 1905, it became the very first geemente of the Dutch East Indies. Upon Indonesian independence, it remains as the city within the province of West Java. With the release of the Law Number 1 of 1957, Jakarta became the first provincial-level city in Indonesia. Although Jakarta is now written as a "province" in Indonesian law products, it is still widely referred to as a city. The United Nations classifies Jakarta as a "city" on its statistical database. The Special Capital Region of Jakarta consists of five "administrative cities" and one "administrative regency". Unlike other actual cities in Indonesia, administrative cities in Jakarta are not self-governing and were only created for bureaucracy purposes. The administrative cities do not have city councils and their mayors were exclusively selected by the Governor of Jakarta without any public election. Ryas Rasyid, an Indonesian regional government expert, stated that Jakarta is a "province with a city management." Anies Baswedan, the 17th Governor of Jakarta, asserted that "Jakarta has only an area of 600 square kilometres. It is a city with the province status." Unlike other 33 Indonesian provinces whose governors work in a "governor office", the governor of Jakarta works in a city hall.
