Probolinggo

Probolinggo is a city on the north coast of East Java province in Indonesia, covering about 55 square kilometres and home to roughly 240,000 people at the 2020 census. It is surrounded on the landward side by Probolinggo Regency, of which it was formerly the capital, and is now a separate administration. The population is largely Madurese and Javanese, with smaller Chinese and Arab communities. The city sits on one of the major highways across Java and has a harbour heavily used by fishing vessels. In the nineteenth century, under Dutch East Indies rule, it was a lucrative regional centre for refining and exporting sugar, and sugar remains an important local product. It is also known for its mangoes, locally called mangga manalagi, which benefit from the strong dry-season angin gending winds that help pollination. The name was adopted in 1770 by Regent Djojonegoro, replacing the older Javanese name Banger, and is said to derive from praba (light) and lingga. Administration of the city and the regency was repeatedly separated and merged between 1918 and independence. Today the city has five districts, a railway station on the main Java lines, a bus station serving Surabaya, Malang and Jember, and a tropical savanna climate.