Even if Yogyakarta, also known as Yogya, is a relatively young city (founded in 1755) it has a high status on Java. It is located in the middle of a region traditionally known as Mataram, the center of the first great dynasties of central Java. The now dormant Merapi volcano overlooks the city which is surrounded by one of the most fertile regions of Java. The population in the area is about 10 million, which means a density of more than 1.000 pr. square kilometer.

Yogyakarta and the neighboring city Surakarta, also known as Solo, is located among some of Java's and Indonesia's largest tourist attractions, the Borobodur and Prambanan temples. Prambanan, some 20 km from Yogya, was under the Sailendra dynasty built as a Hindu answer to the Buddhist Borobodur and completed in 856 AD.

The largest Buddhist monument in the world is located 42 kilometers northwest of Yogyakarta. It was built sometimes between the years 750-850 AD, during the Sailendra dynasty's rule on Java. The name probably origins from the Sanskrit words "Vihara Buddha Ur", meaning something like "Buddhist monastery on the hill".