Medan

City in Indonesia: population, location, elevation, climate and landmarks.

Medan city 2019 (cropped)

Medan city 2019 (cropped): Bluesatellite, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)

Overview

Medan is a city in Indonesia, in North Sumatra. About 2.5 million people live in the city proper, making it the 5th largest city of Indonesia in our atlas.

It lies at 3.58° N, 98.67° E, about 26 m (85 ft) above sea level, and keeps time on the Asia/Jakarta time zone. It sits inside the tropics.

Location

Red dot: Medan. Green dots: other major cities of Indonesia. Map data: Natural Earth.

Climate

Medan has a tropical rainforest climate (Köppen Af). The warmest month is usually May, with average highs near 30°C (85°F); the coolest nights come in Jan at about 22°C (72°F). Around 2,275 mm (90 in) of rain and snow falls in a typical year, most of it in Oct.

28°22°Jan14928°22°Feb9029°23°Mar14229°24°Apr13730°24°May20029°23°Jun13729°23°Jul16829°23°Aug19929°23°Sep26128°23°Oct31028°23°Nov23228°23°Dec250mm

Bars: average daily high and low (°C) for each month; blue columns and figures: average precipitation (mm). Gridded 2001-2025 averages from NASA POWER, so mountain and coastal spots can differ from local station records.

Landmarks and places to see

Maimun Palace
Maimun PalaceMuseum in North Sumatra, Indonesia
North Sumatra Museum
North Sumatra MuseumMuseum in North Sumatra, Indonesia
Teladan Stadium
Teladan StadiumStadium in Indonesia
Medan Post Office
Medan Post OfficeBuilding in Medan, Indonesia
Sumatran Numismatic Museum
Sumatran Numismatic MuseumMuseum in Aceh Jaya, Indonesia
Tirtanadi Water Tower
Tirtanadi Water TowerWater tower in Medan, North Sumatra
Rahmat International Wildlife Museum & Gallery
Rahmat International Wildlife Museum & GalleryMuseum in Indonesia

Popular sights within a few kilometres of the city centre, ranked by how widely they are documented on Wikipedia.

What to eat in IndonesiaNational dishes, street food, desserts and drinks on Intercontinental Chef.

Nearby major cities

← IndonesiaAll cities

Sources

Text written by Geographical Effect from these sources.

Photo credits
  • Medan city 2019 (cropped): Bluesatellite, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
  • Maimun Palace Medan Indonesia: Mimihitam, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
  • The traditional Batak style building houses the North Sumatra Provincial State Museum (2020-02-06): Naval Scene, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
  • Teladan Stadion in Medan, Almanak Pemerintah Daerah Propinsi Sumatera Utara (1969), p703: Government of North Sumatra, Public domain (Wikimedia Commons)
  • Medan-post-office: https://www.flickr.com/photos/kardoman-tumangger/, CC BY 2.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
  • Museum Uang Sumatera: Harditaher, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
  • Tirta Tower: ARamadhan at English Wikipedia, Public domain (Wikimedia Commons)
  • Rahmat Gallery - panoramio: alhafis, CC BY 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)