JAKARTA

President Joko Widodo on Monday announced the capital of Indonesia will be relocated to East Kalimantan Province on the island of Borneo.

Previously, government officials had visited and conducted a thorough examination for the new site.

"The new capital has limited risks of earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis, floods, soil erosions and forest fires," Widodo said at the State Palace in Jakarta on Monday.

“The new capital is near developed cities such as Balikpapan and Samarinda,” he added.

The relocation is expected to cost 466 trillion rupiah ($32.79 billion) of which the state would fund 19%, with the rest from public-private partnerships and private investment.

Widodo is planning to submit a bill and the result of a feasibility study to parliament to obtain approval for the relocation.

Jakarta is one of the world's most densely populated cities, home to more than 10 million people. The city is prone to floods and is sinking due to subsidence, caused by millions of residents using up groundwater.