The city was formerly the capital of the independent Sultanate of Pontianakand was founded in 23 October 1771 around an old trading station on the Borneo coast. It is built on swampy ground that is subjected to regular flooding by the river, requiring buildings to be constructed on piles to keep them off the ground. It has its name due to the story that the founder had seen an appearance of Pontianak ghost at the place to be built for the palace, which he fought to save the people.
There are colleges and universities operated by both state institutions as well as private and religious institutions. The University of Tanjung Pura, a state university, was established in Pontianak in 1963. In addition to this, there are other universities maintained by private institutions:Muhammadiyah University, University of Widya Dharma, University of Panca Bhakti, STMIK (Sekolah tinggi Manajemen Informatika dan Komputer), State Islamic college (STAIN), POLNEP (Politeknik Negeri Pontianak), AKBID St Benedicta, etc.
Citizens of Pontianak generally speak the national lingua franca of Bahasa Indonesia and have a distinct Pontianak Malay accent, which is somewhat similar to that used in Sarawak, Malaysia (as it is of a close proximity). The Teochew dialect of Min Nan is the lingua franca used amongst the Chinese population in Pontianak. This dialect is closely related to the Teochew language used by the Chinese in neighboring Singapore and Peninsular Malaysia.
The most popular form of transport are motorcycles. Public transport includes minivans (local: opelet) and human-powered becaks (three-wheel pedicabs). There are some city buses serving certain routes only. Inter city buses take passengers to other nearby cities (2, 3, to 10 or more hours of travel), even to Kuching, a city in Malaysia. Road transportation to Malaysia and Brunei is possible via the Trans-Kalimantan Highway (Jalan Lintas Kalimantan) to Tebedu in Sarawak.
Transportation to other parts of Indonesia is mainly via Supadio Airport. There are more than 10 flights every day connecting Pontianak and Jakarta. There are also flights from and to Yogyakarta, Surabaya, Batam, Kuching, and Singapore. Sea transports connect Pontianak to Jakarta, Semarang, Cirebon, and some other cities, including regional cities such as Ketapang in southern part of West Kalimantan.
