Pekanbaru is a beautiful city just west of Singapore on the island of Sumatra. A settlement has existed in the city since the 17th centrury. In the late 19th century, the city developed to serve the coffee and coal industries and the Dutch built roads to help ships goods to Singapore and Melaka.

After oil was discovered in the region in the 1930s, Pekanbaru's economy has depended heavily on oil revenues and consequently it has the highest per capita income in Indonesia. International oil companies, such as Chevron and Caltex, as well as Indonesian companies have established their offices in the region.

The city is connected by road to an oil refining and exporting port at Dumai and most of the facilities, including the airport, stadium, swimming pool and the road itself to Dumai was partially financed by oil companies working in the area.

Pekanbaru is one of the cleanest big cities in Indonesia and in 2006 and 2010 received the "Adipura" award for being the cleanest big city in Indonesia. The city is also notable for its relatively wide streets.

Some of the tourist attractions in Pekanbaru are the Great Mosque of An-Nur, the Alam Mayang Fishing Garden, the Sang Nila Utama Museum, the Riau Cultural Park, the Princess Kaca Mayang Garden, and the Sari Valley Artificial Lake.

Pekanbaru is becoming known as a center of malay culture; and a Malay culture festival was held there in 2004.