PEKALONGAN

also spelled Pecalongan, kotamadya (municipality) and kabupaten (regency), Jawa Tengah provinsi (province), central Java, Indonesia. It is situated on the northern coastal plain. The city, capital of the regency, has a fort (1753) and a small harbour and is the main distributing centre for the area, exporting tea, rubber, and sugar, which is locally refined. The city is a major centre of batik production, with textiles forming an important cottage industry. Pekalongan regency was granted to the Dutch East India Company by the Susuhunan of Mataram. The fertile river valleys and coastal plain produce sugar, rice, kapok, cinchona, indigo, and corn (maize). Area regency, 2,176 square miles (5,636 square km). Pop. (1990) city, 227,535; (1980) regency, 651,709.