Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the
Greater Sunda Islands in
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
. It is bordered by the
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by ...
to the south and the
Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's
most populous island, home to approximately 56% of the
Indonesian population.
Indonesia's capital city,
Jakarta, is on Java's northwestern coast. Many of the best known events in Indonesian history took place on Java. It was the centre of powerful Hindu-Buddhist empires, the Islamic sultanates, and the core of the colonial
Dutch East Indies. Java was also the center of the
Indonesian struggle for independence during the 1930s and 1940s. Java dominates Indonesia politically, economically and culturally. Four of Indonesia's eight
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. I ...
world heritage sites are located in Java:
Ujung Kulon National Park,
Borobudur Temple,
Prambanan Temple, and
Sangiran Early Man Site
Sangiran is an archaeological excavation site in Java in Indonesia. According to a UNESCO report (1995) "Sangiran is recognized by scientists to be one of the most important sites in the world for studying fossil man, ranking alongside Zhoukou ...
.
Formed by volcanic eruptions due to geologic
subduction
Subduction is a geological process in which the oceanic lithosphere is recycled into the Earth's mantle at convergent boundaries. Where the oceanic lithosphere of a tectonic plate converges with the less dense lithosphere of a second plate, the ...
of the
Australian Plate under the
Sunda Plate
The Sunda Plate is a minor tectonic plate straddling the Equator in the Eastern Hemisphere on which the majority of Southeast Asia is located.
The Sunda Plate was formerly considered a part of the Eurasian Plate, but the GPS measurements have ...
, Java is the
13th largest island in the world and the
fifth largest in Indonesia by landmass at about . A chain of volcanic mountains is the east–west spine of the island.
Four main languages are spoken on the island:
Javanese,
Sundanese,
Madurese, and
Betawi. Javanese and Sundanese are the most spoken. The ethnic groups native to the island are the
Javanese in the central and eastern parts and
Sundanese in the western parts. The
Madurese in the
Eastern salient of Java are migrants from
Madura Island, while the
Betawi in the capital city of Jakarta are hybrids from various
ethnic groups in Indonesia
There are 1,340 recognised ethnic groups in Indonesia. The vast majority of those belong to the Austronesian peoples.
Based on ethnic classification, the largest ethnic group in Indonesia is the Javanese who make up about 40% of the total popu ...
. Most residents are bilingual, speaking
Indonesian
Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to:
* Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia
** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago
** Indonesia ...
(the official language of Indonesia) as their first or second language. While the majority of the people of Java are
Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
, Java's population comprises people of diverse religious beliefs, ethnicities, and cultures.
Java is divided into four administrative provinces:
Banten,
West Java,
Central Java, and
East Java, and two special regions,
Jakarta and
Yogyakarta.
Etymology
The origins of the name "Java" are not clear. One possibility is that the island was named after the
''jáwa-wut'' plant, which was said to be common in the island during the time, and that prior to Indianization the island had different names. There are other possible sources: the word ''jaú'' and its variations mean "beyond" or "distant".
[Raffles, Thomas E.: '' History of Java''. Oxford University Press, 1965, p. 3.] And, in
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominalization, nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cul ...
''yava'' means barley, a plant for which the island was famous.
[ "Yavadvipa" is mentioned in ]India
India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...
's earliest epic, the Ramayana
The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th to 4th centuries BCE, and later stages e ...
. Sugriva
''This character is about the vanara, in the Ramayana.''
Sugriva ( sa, सुग्रीव, , ) is a character In the ancient Indian epic Ramayana. He is the younger brother of Vali, whom he succeeded as ruler of the vanara kingdom of Kishk ...
, the chief of Rama
Rama (; ), Ram, Raman or Ramar, also known as Ramachandra (; , ), is a major deity in Hinduism. He is the seventh and one of the most popular ''avatars'' of Vishnu. In Rama-centric traditions of Hinduism, he is considered the Supreme Being ...
's army, dispatched his men to Yavadvipa, the island of Java, in search of Sita
Sita (; ) also called as Janaki and Vaidehi is a Hindu goddess and the female protagonist of the Hindu epic, '' Ramayana''. She is the consort of Rama, the avatar of the god Vishnu, and is regarded as a form of Vishnu's consort, Lakshmi ...
. It was hence referred to in India by the Sanskrit name "yāvaka dvīpa" (dvīpa = island). Java is mentioned in the ancient Tamil text '' Manimekalai'' by Chithalai Chathanar which states that Java had a kingdom with a capital called Nagapuram. Another source states that the word "Java" is derived from a Proto-Austronesian root word, meaning "home". The great island of Iabadiu or Jabadiu was mentioned in Ptolemy
Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of import ...
's '' Geographia'' composed around 150 CE in the Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Medite ...
. ''Iabadiu'' is said to mean "barley island", to be rich in gold, and have a silver town called Argyra at the west end. The name indicates Java and seems to be derived from the Sanskrit name Java-dvipa (Yavadvipa).The annual news of Songshu and Liangshu (5th century CE) referred to Java as 闍婆 (''She-pó'' or ''She-bó''), He-ling (640–818), then called it She-po again until the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368), where they began mentioning 爪哇 (''Zhao-Wa'' or ''Chao-Wa'').[Lombard, Denys (2005)'']
Nusa Jawa: Silang Budaya, Bagian 2: Jaringan Asia
'. Jakarta: Gramedia Pustaka Utama. An Indonesian translation of Lombard, Denys (1990). ''Le carrefour javanais. Essai d'histoire globale (The Javanese Crossroads: Towards a Global History) vol. 2''. Paris: Éditions de l'École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales. p. 12. According to Ma Huan's book (the Yingya Shenlan), the Chinese called Java Chao-Wa, and the island was called She-po in the past. Sulaiman al-Tajir al-Sirafi mentioned two notable islands which separated Arab and China: One is 800 farsakh long Al-Rami, which is identified as Sumatra, and the other is Zabaj
Zabag (Indonesian: ''Sabak''; Chinese: 阇婆 or 闍婆 "''She-bó''"'','' "''Shepo''"; Sanskrit: ''Javaka''; Tamil: சாவகம் "''Savakam''"; Arabic: الزابج "''Zabaj''"; Latin: Jabad) is thought to have been an ancient kingdom locat ...
(Arabic: الزابج, Indonesian
Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to:
* Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia
** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago
** Indonesia ...
: Sabak), 400 farsakh in length, identified as Java. When John of Marignolli
Giovanni de' Marignolli ( la, Johannes Marignola;. ), variously anglicized as John of Marignolli or John of Florence, was a notable 14th-century Catholic European traveller to medieval China and India.
Life
Early life
Giovanni was born, probab ...
returned from China to Avignon, he stayed at the Kingdom of Saba for a few months, which he said had many elephants and was led by a queen; Saba may be his interpretation of She-bó.' Afanasij Nikitin, a merchant from Tver
Tver ( rus, Тверь, p=tvʲerʲ) is a city and the administrative centre of Tver Oblast, Russia. It is northwest of Moscow. Population:
Tver was formerly the capital of a powerful medieval state and a model provincial town in the Russia ...
(in Russia), traveled to India in 1466 and described the land of java, which he call шабайте (shabait/šabajte).
Geography
Java lies between Sumatra
Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent is ...
to the west and Bali to the east. Borneo
Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java Isl ...
lies to the north, and Christmas Island is to the south. It is the world's 13th largest island. Java is surrounded by the Java Sea to the north, Sunda Strait
The Sunda Strait ( id, Selat Sunda) is the strait between the Indonesian islands of Java island, Java and Sumatra. It connects the Java Sea with the Indian Ocean.
Etymology
The strait takes its name from the Sunda Kingdom, which ruled the weste ...
to the west, the Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by ...
to the south and Bali Strait and Madura Strait in the east.
Java is almost entirely of volcanic origin; it contains thirty-eight mountains forming an east–west spine that have at one time or another been active volcanoes. The highest volcano in Java is Mount Semeru, . The most active volcano in Java and also in Indonesia is Mount Merapi, . In total, Java has more than 150 mountains.
Java's mountains and highlands split the interior into a series of relatively isolated regions suitable for wet-rice
A paddy field is a flooded field of arable land used for growing semiaquatic crops, most notably rice and taro. It originates from the Neolithic rice-farming cultures of the Yangtze River basin in southern China, associated with pre-Aust ...
cultivation; the rice lands of Java are among the richest in the world. Java was the first place where Indonesian coffee
Indonesia was the fourth-largest producer of coffee in the world in 2014.http://www.ico.org/prices/po-production.pdf Coffee cultivation in Indonesia began in the late 1600s and early 1700s, in the early Dutch colonial period, and has played an ...
was grown, starting in 1699. Today, coffea arabica is grown on the Ijen Plateau by small-holders and larger plantations.
The area of Java is about .[ It is about long and up to wide. The island's longest ]river
A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater
Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the ...
is the 600 km long Solo River. The river rises from its source in central Java at the Lawu
The Lawu ( jv, ꦭꦮꦸ), or Mount Lawu ( jv, ꦒꦸꦤꦸꦁꦭꦮꦸ, Gunung Lawu) is a massive compound stratovolcano straddling the border between East Java and Central Java, Indonesia. The north side is deeply eroded and the eastern s ...
volcano, then flows north and eastward to its mouth in the Java Sea near the city of Surabaya
Surabaya ( jv, ꦱꦸꦫꦧꦪ or jv, ꦯꦹꦫꦨꦪ; ; ) is the capital city of the Provinces of Indonesia, Indonesian province of East Java and the List of Indonesian cities by population, second-largest city in Indonesia, after Jakarta. L ...
. Other major rivers are Brantas
The Brantas is the longest river in East Java, Indonesia. It has a length of 320 km, and drains an area over 11,000 km2 from the southern slope of Mount Kawi-Kelud-Butak, Mount Wilis, and the northern slopes of Mount Liman-Limas, Mou ...
, Citarum, Cimanuk and Serayu
The Serayu River is a river in Central Java, Indonesia, about 300 km southeast of the capital Jakarta.
Hydrology
The river spanned from northeast to southwest with length around 181 km, and crossring five ''kabupaten'' (regency) in Central ...
.
The average temperature ranges from to ; average humidity is 75%. The northern coastal plains are normally hotter, averaging during the day in the dry season. The south coast is generally cooler than the north, and highland areas inland are even cooler. The wet season begins in November and ends in April. During that rain falls mostly in the afternoons and intermittently during other parts of the year. The wettest months are January and February.
West Java is wetter than East Java, and mountainous regions receive much higher rainfall. The Parahyangan highlands of West Java receive over annually, while the north coast of East Java receives annually.
Natural environment
The natural environment
The natural environment or natural world encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally, meaning in this case not artificial. The term is most often applied to the Earth or some parts of Earth. This environment encompasses ...
of Java is tropical rainforest, with ecosystems ranging from coastal mangrove
A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evolution in several ...
forest on the north coast, rocky coastal cliffs on the southern coast, and low-lying tropical forest
Tropical forests (a.k.a. jungle) are forested landscapes in tropical regions: ''i.e.'' land areas approximately bounded by the tropic of Cancer and Capricorn, but possibly affected by other factors such as prevailing winds.
Some tropical fo ...
to high altitude rainforest on the slopes of mountainous volcanic regions in the interior. The Javan environment and climate gradually alters from west to east; from wet and humid dense rainforest in western parts, to a dry savanna environment in the east, corresponding to the climate and rainfall in these regions.
Javan wildlife originally supported a rich biodiversity, where numbers of endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found els ...
species of flora and fauna flourished; such as the Javan rhinoceros, Javan banteng, Javan warty pig, Javan hawk-eagle
The Javan hawk-eagle (''Nisaetus bartelsi'') is a medium-sized, dark brown raptor in the family Accipitridae. It is the national bird of Indonesia, where it is commonly referred to as Garuda, from the bird-like creatures in Hindu and Buddhist my ...
, Javan peafowl
The green peafowl or Indonesian peafowl (''Pavo muticus'') is a peafowl species native to the tropical forests of Southeast Asia. It has been listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List since 2009 because the global population has been declin ...
, Javan silvery gibbon, Javan lutung, Java mouse-deer, Javan rusa, and Javan leopard. With over 450 bird species and 37 endemic species, Java is a birdwatcher's paradise. There are about 130 freshwater fish species in Java. There are also several endemic amphibian species in Java, including 5 species of tree frogs
A tree frog (or treefrog) is any species of frog that spends a major portion of its lifespan in trees, known as an arboreal state. Several Lineage (evolution), lineages of frogs among the Neobatrachia have given rise to treefrogs, although they a ...
.
Since ancient times, people have opened the rainforest, altered the ecosystem, shaped the landscapes and created rice paddy and terraces to support the growing population. Javan rice terraces have existed for more than a millennium and had supported ancient agricultural kingdoms. The growing human population has put severe pressure on Java's wildlife, as rainforests were diminished and confined to highland slopes or isolated peninsulas. Some of Java's endemic species are now critically endangered, with some already extinct; Java used to have Javan tigers and Javan elephants, but both have been rendered extinct. Today, several national parks exist in Java that protect the remnants of its fragile wildlife, such as Ujung Kulon, Mount Halimun-Salak, Gede Pangrango
Mount Gede Pangrango National Park is a national park in West Java, Indonesia. The park is centred on two volcanoes— Mount Gede and Mount Pangrango—and is 150 km² in area.
It evolved from already existing conservation areas, such as Ci ...
, Baluran
Baluran is a stratovolcano located on the island of Java. It is at the very northeast of the island and is overshadowed by its much larger neighbour Ijen
Map of Ijen Crater, where sulfur is mined
The Ijen volcano complex is a group of co ...
, Meru Betiri, Bromo Tengger Semeru and Alas Purwo.
History
Fossilised remains of '' Homo erectus'', popularly known as the " Java Man", dating back 1.3 million years were found along the banks of the Bengawan Solo River.
The island's exceptional fertility and rainfall allowed the development of wet-field rice cultivation, which required sophisticated levels of cooperation between villages. Out of these village alliances, small kingdoms developed. The chain of volcanic mountains and associated highlands running the length of Java kept its interior regions and peoples separate and relatively isolated. Before the advent of Islamic states and European colonialism, the rivers provided the main means of communication, although Java's many rivers are mostly short. Only the Brantas river and Solo river could provide long-distance communication and this way their valleys supported the centers of major kingdoms. A system of roads, permanent bridges, and toll gates is thought to have been established in Java by at least the mid-17th century. Local powers could disrupt the routes as could the wet season and road use was highly dependent on constant maintenance. Consequently, communication between Java's population was difficult.[
The emergence of civilization on the island of Java is often associated with the story of ]Aji Saka
Aji Saka is a Javanese legend that tells the story of how civilization came to Java, brought by the legendary first king of Java named Aji Saka, and the mythical story of the origin of Javanese script.
Origin
Aji Saka is said to have come from Bh ...
from 78 AD. Although Aji Saka is said to be the bearer of civilization on Java, the story received several objections and rebuttals from other historical sources. Valmiki's Ramayana
The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th to 4th centuries BCE, and later stages e ...
, made around 500 BC, records that Java already had a governmental organization long before the story:"Yawadwipa is decorated with seven kingdoms, gold and silver islands, rich in gold mines, and there is Cicira (cold) Mountain that touches the sky with its peak."
The Greek geographer Ptolemy
Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of import ...
called the island as Yabadiou or Sabadiou ( grc, Ιαβαδίου or Σαβαδίου).
According to Chinese record '' Míng Shǐ'', the Javanese kingdom was founded in 65 BC, or 143 years before the story of Aji Saka began.
The story of Aji Saka is a Neo Javanese story. This story has not yet been found to be relevant in the Old Javanese text. This story tells of events in the Medang Kamulan kingdom in Java in the past. At that time, the king of Medang Kamulan Prabu Dewata Cengkar was replaced by Aji Saka. This story is considered as an allegory of the entry of Indians into Java. Referring to the Liang dynasty information, the Javanese kingdom was divided into two: the pre-Hinduism kingdom and the post-Hindu kingdom, which began in 78 AD.[
]
Hindu–Buddhist kingdoms era
The Taruma and Sunda kingdoms of western Java appeared in the 4th and 7th centuries respectively, while the Kalingga Kingdom sent embassies to China starting in 640. However, the first major principality was the Mataram Kingdom that was founded in central Java at the beginning of the 8th century. Mataram's religion centered on the Hindu god Shiva
Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hin ...
, and the kingdom produced some of Java's earliest Hindu temples on the Dieng Plateau. Around the 8th century, the Sailendra dynasty rose in Kedu Plain and become the patron of Mahayana Buddhism
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
. This ancient kingdom built monuments such as the 9th century Borobudur
Borobudur, also transcribed Barabudur ( id, Candi Borobudur, jv, ꦕꦤ꧀ꦝꦶꦧꦫꦧꦸꦝꦸꦂ, Candhi Barabudhur) is a 9th-century Mahayana Buddhist temple in Magelang Regency, not far from the town of Muntilan, in Central Java, Indo ...
and Prambanan in central Java.
Around the 10th century, the center of power shifted from central to eastern Java. The eastern Javanese kingdoms of Kediri Kediri can refer to:
* Kediri (historical kingdom), a medieval kingdom occupying territory in present-day Indonesia
* Kediri (city), a modern-day city in East Java, Indonesia
** The Kediri meteorite of c. 1940, which fell in East Java, Indonesia ( ...
, Singhasari and Majapahit
Majapahit ( jv, ꦩꦗꦥꦲꦶꦠ꧀; ), also known as Wilwatikta ( jv, ꦮꦶꦭ꧀ꦮꦠꦶꦏ꧀ꦠ; ), was a Javanese people, Javanese Hinduism, Hindu-Buddhism, Buddhist thalassocracy, thalassocratic empire in Southeast Asia that was ba ...
were mainly dependent on rice agriculture, yet also pursued trade within the Indonesian archipelago, and with China and India. Majapahit was established by Wijaya,[ and by the end of the reign of Hayam Wuruk (r. 1350–89) it claimed sovereignty over the entire Indonesian archipelago, although control was likely limited to Java, Bali, and Madura. Hayam Wuruk's prime minister, Gajah Mada, led many of the kingdom's territorial conquests.][ Previous Javanese kingdoms had their power based on agriculture, however, Majapahit took control of ports and shipping lanes and became Java's first commercial empire. With the death of Hayam Wuruk and the coming of Islam to Indonesia, Majapahit went into decline.][
]
Spread of Islam and rise of Islamic sultanates
Islam became the dominant religion in Java at the end of the 16th century. During this era, the Islamic kingdoms of Demak, Cirebon, and Banten were ascendant. The Mataram Sultanate
The Sultanate of Mataram () was the last major independent Javanese kingdom on the island of Java before it was colonised by the Dutch. It was the dominant political force radiating from the interior of Central Java from the late 16th centu ...
became the dominant power of central and eastern Java at the end of the 16th century. The principalities of Surabaya and Cirebon were eventually subjugated such that only Mataram and Banten were left to face the Dutch in the 17th century.
Colonial periods
Java's contact with the European colonial powers began in 1522 with a treaty
A, or a, is the first Letter (alphabet), letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, Latin alphabet, used in the English alphabet, modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name ...
between the Sunda kingdom and the Portuguese in Malacca. After its failure, the Portuguese presence was confined to Malacca and to the eastern islands.
In 1596, a four-ship expedition led by Cornelis de Houtman was the first Dutch contact with Indonesia. By the end of the 18th century the Dutch had extended their influence over the sultanates of the interior through the Dutch East India Company in Indonesia. Internal conflict prevented the Javanese from forming effective alliances against the Dutch. Remnants of the Mataram survived as the Surakarta (Solo) and Yogyakarta principalities. Javanese kings claimed to rule with divine authority and the Dutch helped them to preserve remnants of a Javanese aristocracy by confirming them as regents or district officials within the colonial administration.
Java's major role during the early part of the colonial period was as a producer of rice. In spice-producing islands like Banda
Banda may refer to:
People
*Banda (surname)
*Banda Prakash (born 1954), Indian politician
*Banda Kanakalingeshwara Rao (1907–1968), Indian actor
*Banda Karthika Reddy (born 1977), Indian politician
*Banda Singh Bahadur (1670–1716), Sikh warr ...
, rice was regularly imported from Java, to supply the deficiency in means of subsistence.
During the Napoleonic wars in Europe, the Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
fell to France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...
, as did its colony in the East Indies
The East Indies (or simply the Indies), is a term used in historical narratives of the Age of Discovery. The Indies refers to various lands in the East or the Eastern hemisphere, particularly the islands and mainlands found in and aroun ...
. During the short-lived Daendels administration, as French proxy rule on Java, the construction of the Great Post Road was commenced in 1808. The road, spanning from Anyer in Western Java to Panarukan in East Java, served as a military supply route and was used in defending Java from British invasion. In 1811, Java was captured by the British, becoming a possession of the British Empire
The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading post ...
, and Sir Stamford Raffles was appointed as the island's governor. In 1814, Java was returned to the Dutch under the terms of the Treaty of Paris.
In 1815, there may have been five million people in Java. In the second half of the 18th century, population spurts began in districts along the north-central coast of Java, and in the 19th century population grew rapidly across the island. Factors for the great population growth include the impact of Dutch colonial rule including the imposed end to civil war in Java, the increase in the area under rice cultivation, and the introduction of food plants such as cassava and maize that could sustain populations that could not afford rice. Others attribute the growth to the taxation burdens and increased expansion of employment under the Cultivation System to which couples responded by having more children in the hope of increasing their families ability to pay tax and buy goods. Cholera claimed 100,000 lives in Java in 1820.
The advent of trucks and railways where there had previously only been buffalo and carts, telegraph systems, and more coordinated distribution systems under the colonial government all contributed to famine elimination in Java, and in turn, population growth. There were no significant famines in Java from the 1840s through to the Japanese occupation in the 1940s.[Taylor (2003), p. 254.] However, other sources claimed the Dutch's Cultivation system is linked to famines and epidemics in the 1840s, firstly in Cirebon and then Central Java, as cash crops such as indigo and sugar had to be grown instead of rice.
Independence
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
n nationalism first took hold in Java in the early 20th century, and the struggle to secure the country's independence following World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
was centered in Java. In 1949, Indonesian independence was recognized.
Administration
Java is divided into four provinces and two special regions:
* Banten, capital: Serang
* West Java, capital: Bandung
* Central Java, capital: Semarang
Semarang ( jv, ꦏꦸꦛꦯꦼꦩꦫꦁ , Pegon: سماراڠ) is the capital and largest city of Central Java province in Indonesia. It was a major port during the Dutch colonial era, and is still an important regional center and port today. ...
* East Java, capital: Surabaya
Surabaya ( jv, ꦱꦸꦫꦧꦪ or jv, ꦯꦹꦫꦨꦪ; ; ) is the capital city of the Provinces of Indonesia, Indonesian province of East Java and the List of Indonesian cities by population, second-largest city in Indonesia, after Jakarta. L ...
* Special Capital Region of Jakarta
* Special Region of Yogyakarta, capital: Yogyakarta
Demographics
Demographic profile
Java has been traditionally dominated by an elite class, while the people in the lower classes were often involved in agriculture and fishing. The elite class in Java has evolved over the course of history, as cultural wave after cultural wave immigrated to the island. There is evidence that South Asian emigres were among this elite, as well as Arabian and Persian immigrants during the Islamic eras. More recently, Chinese immigrants have also become part of the economic elite of Java. Although politically the Chinese generally remain sidelined, there are notable exceptions, such as the former governor of Jakarta, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama. Though Java is increasingly becoming more modern and urban, only 75% of the island has electricity. Villages and their rice paddies are still a common sight. Unlike the rest of Java, the population growth in Central Java remains low. Central Java however has a younger population than the national average. The slow population growth can in part be attributed to the choice by many people to leave the more rural Central Java for better opportunities and higher incomes in the bigger cities. Java's population continues to rapidly increase despite many Javanese leaving the island. This is somewhat due to the fact that Java is the business, academic, and cultural hub of Indonesia, which attracts millions of non-Javanese people to its cities. The population growth is most intense in the regions surrounding Jakarta and Bandung, which is reflected through the demographic diversity in those areas.
Population development
With a combined population of 151.6 million in the 2020 census (including Madura's 4.0 million), Java is the most populous major island in the world and is home to 56% of Indonesia's population.[ At nearly 1,200 people per km2 in 2020, it is also one of the most densely populated parts of the world, on a par with Bangladesh. Every region of the island has numerous volcanoes, with the people left to share the remaining flatter land. Because of this, many coasts are heavily populated and cities ring around the valleys surrounding volcanic peaks.
The population growth rate more than doubled in economically depressed Central Java in the latest 2010–2020 period vs 2000–2010, indicative of migration or other issues; there were significant volcanic eruptions during the earlier period. Approximately 45% of the population of Indonesia is ethnically Javanese, while Sundanese make a large portion of Java's population as well.
The western third of the island (West Java, Banten, and DKI Jakarta) has an even higher population density, of roughly 1,563 per square kilometer and accounts for the lion's share of the population growth of Java.][ It is home to three metropolitan areas, Greater Jakarta (with outlying areas of Greater Serang and Greater ]Sukabumi
, nickname = id, Kota Santri en, City of Learners
, image_map = Map of West Java highlighting Sukabumi City.svg
, map_caption = Location within West Java
, mapsize =
, pushpin_map = Ind ...
), Greater Bandung, and Greater Cirebon.
1) Other islands are included in this figure, but are very small in population and area, Nusa Barung 100 km2, Bawean 196 km2, Karimunjawa 78 km2, Kambangan 121 km2, Panaitan 170 km2, Thousand Islands 8.7 km2 – with a combined population of roughly 90,000.
2) Land area of provinces updated in 2010 Census figures, areas by 2020 may be different from past results.
From the 1970s to the fall of the Suharto
Suharto (; ; 8 June 1921 – 27 January 2008) was an Indonesian army officer and politician, who served as the second and the longest serving president of Indonesia. Widely regarded as a military dictator by international observers, Suharto ...
regime in 1998, the Indonesian government ran transmigration programs aimed at resettling the population of Java on other less populated islands of Indonesia. This program has met with mixed results, sometimes causing conflicts between the locals and the recently arrived settlers. Nevertheless, it has caused Java's share of the nation's population to progressively decline.
Jakarta and its outskirts, being the dominant metropolis, is also home to people from all over the nation. East Java is also home to ethnic Balinese, as well as large numbers of Madurans due to their historic poverty.
Ethnicity and culture
Despite its large population and in contrast to the other larger islands of Indonesia, Java is comparatively homogeneous in ethnic composition. Only two ethnic groups are native to the island—the Javanese and Sundanese. A third group is the Madurese, who inhabit the island of Madura off the northeast coast of Java, and have immigrated to East Java in large numbers since the 18th century. The Javanese comprise about two-thirds of the island's population, while the Sundanese and Madurese account for 38% and 10% respectively.[ The fourth group is the Betawi people that speak a dialect of Malay, they are the descendants of the people living around Batavia from around the 17th century. Betawis are creole people, mostly descended from various Indonesian archipelago ethnic groups such as Malay, Sundanese, Javanese, Balinese, Minang, Bugis, ]Makassar
Makassar (, mak, ᨆᨀᨔᨑ, Mangkasara’, ) is the capital of the Indonesian province of South Sulawesi. It is the largest city in the region of Eastern Indonesia and the country's fifth-largest urban center after Jakarta, Surabaya, Med ...
, Ambonese, mixed with foreign ethnic groups such as Portuguese, Dutch, Arab
The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Wester ...
, Chinese and Indian brought to or attracted to Batavia to meet labour needs. They have a culture and language distinct from the surrounding Sundanese and Javanese.
The Javanese prose text Tantu Pagelaran (circa 15th century) explained the mythical origin of the island and its volcanic nature.
Four major cultural areas exist on the island: the central part of Java or Yogyakarta is the Javanese people heartland and the north coast of the ''pasisir'' region, the Sunda lands ( Sundanese: , ''Tatar'' ''Sunda'') in the western part of Java and Parahyangan as the heartland, the eastern salient of Java also known as Blambangan. Madura makes up a fifth area having close cultural ties with coastal eastern Java.[ The ''kejawen of Javanese'' culture is the island's most dominant. Java's remaining aristocracy is based here, and it is the region from where the majority of Indonesia's army, business, and political elite originate. Its language, arts, and etiquette are regarded as the island's most refined and exemplary.][ The territory from Banyumas in the west through to Blitar in the east and encompasses Indonesia's most fertile and densely populated agricultural land.''][''
]
In the southwestern part of Central Java, which is usually named the Banyumasan region, a cultural mingling occurred; bringing together Javanese culture and Sundanese culture to create the Banyumasan culture. In the central Javanese court cities of Yogyakarta and Surakarta
Surakarta ( jv, ꦯꦸꦫꦏꦂꦠ), known colloquially as Solo ( jv, ꦱꦭ; ), is a city in Central Java, Indonesia. The 44 km2 (16.2 sq mi) city adjoins Karanganyar Regency and Boyolali Regency to the north, Karanganyar Regency and Sukoh ...
, contemporary kings trace their lineages back to the pre-colonial Islamic kingdoms that ruled the region, making those places especially strong repositories of classical Javanese culture. Classic arts of Java include gamelan music and wayang
, also known as ( jv, ꦮꦪꦁ, translit=wayang), is a traditional form of puppet theatre play originating from the Indonesian island of Java. refers to the entire dramatic show. Sometimes the leather puppet itself is referred to as . Perfor ...
puppet shows.
Java was the site of many influential kingdoms in the Southeast Asian region, and as a result, many literary works have been written by Javanese authors. These include '' Ken Arok and Ken Dedes'', the story of the orphan who usurped his king, and married the queen of the ancient Javanese kingdom; and translations of ''Ramayana
The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th to 4th centuries BCE, and later stages e ...
'' and ''Mahabharata
The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the '' Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the K ...
''. Pramoedya Ananta Toer is a famous contemporary Indonesian author, who has written many stories based on his own experiences of having grown up in Java, and takes many elements from Javanese folklore and historical legends.
Languages
The three major languages spoken on Java are Javanese, Sundanese and Madurese. Other languages spoken include Betawi (a Malay dialect local to the Jakarta region), Osing Osing may refer to:
*the Osing people
*the Osing dialect
The Osing language (Osing: ''Basa Using''; id, Bahasa Osing), locally known as ''the language of Banyuwangi'', is the language of the Osing people of East Java, Indonesia.
Some Osing ...
, Banyumasan, and Tenggerese (closely related to Javanese), Baduy and Bantenese (closely related to Sundanese), Kangeanese (closely related to Madurese), and Balinese. The vast majority of the population also speaks Indonesian
Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to:
* Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia
** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago
** Indonesia ...
, often as a second language.
Religion
Indian influences came first with Shaivism and Buddhism
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
penetrating deeply into society, blending with indigenous tradition and culture. One conduit for this were the ascetics, called ''resi'', who taught mystical practices. A ''resi'' lived surrounded by students, who took care of their master's daily needs. Resi's authorities were merely ceremonial. At the courts, Brahmin clerics and ''pudjangga'' (sacred literati) legitimised rulers and linked Hindu cosmology to their political needs.[ Small Hindu enclaves are scattered throughout Java, but there is a large Hindu population along the eastern coast nearest Bali, especially around the town of Banyuwangi.
The coming of Islam, strengthened the status structure of this traditional religious pattern. More than 90 percent of the people of Java are Muslims, on a broad continuum between '' abangan'' (more traditional) and '' santri'' (more modernist). Muslim scholars ('' Kyai'') became the new religious elite as Hindu influences receded. Islam recognises no hierarchy of religious leaders nor a formal priesthood, but the Dutch colonial government established an elaborate rank order for mosque and other Islamic preaching schools. In Javanese '']pesantren
''Pesantren'', or ''pondok pesantren'', are Islamic boarding schools in Indonesia. They consist of pondok, mosque, santri, teaching of classical Islamic texts and Kyai.Zamakhsyari Dhofie''The Pesantren Tradition: A Study of the Role of the Kyai ...
'' (Islamic schools), The ''Kyai'' perpetuated the tradition of the ''resi''. Students around him provided his needs, even peasants around the school.[
File:Pura Parahyangan Agung Jagatkartta, Candi Siliwangi Shrine.jpg, A Hindu shrine dedicated to King Siliwangi in Pura Parahyangan Agung Jagatkarta, Bogor
File:Candi Mendut 1.jpg, Mendut Vihara, a Buddhist monastery near Mendut temple, ]Magelang
Magelang () is one of six cities in Central Java that are administratively independent of the regencies in which they lie geographically. Each of these cities is governed by a mayor rather than a ''bupati''. Magelang city covers an area of 18. ...
File:Masjid Agung Yogyakarta.jpg, Masjid Gedhe Kauman in Yogyakarta, built in traditional Javanese multi-tiered roof
File:Ganjuran Church, exterior 01.jpg, Ganjuran Church in Bantul, built in traditional Javanese architecture
Javanese may refer to:
Of Java
*Javanese people, and their culture
*Javanese language
**Javanese script, traditional letters used to write Javanese language
**Javanese (Unicode block),
**Old Javanese, the oldest phase of the Javanese language
* ...
Pre-Islamic Javan traditions have encouraged Islam in a mystical direction. There emerged in Java a loosely structured society of religious leadership, revolving around ''kyais'', possessing various degrees of proficiency in pre-Islamic and Islamic lore, belief and practice.[ The kyais are the principal intermediaries between the villages masses and the realm of the ]supernatural
Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...
. However, this very looseneess of kyai leadership structure has promoted schism
A schism ( , , or, less commonly, ) is a division between people, usually belonging to an organization, movement, or religious denomination. The word is most frequently applied to a split in what had previously been a single religious body, suc ...
. There were often sharp divisions between orthodox kyais, who merely instructed in Islamic law, with those who taught mysticism and those who sought reformed Islam with modern scientific concepts. As a result, there is a division between ''santri'', who believe that they are more orthodox in their Islamic belief and practice, with '' abangan'', who have mixed pre-Islamic animistic and Hindu-Indian concepts with a superficial acceptance of Islamic belief.[
There are also Christian communities, mostly in the larger cities, though some rural areas of south-central Java are strongly ]Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
. Buddhist
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
communities also exist in the major cities, primarily among the Chinese Indonesian. The Indonesian constitution recognises six official religions.
A wider effect of this division is the number of sects. In the middle of 1956, the Department of Religious Affairs in Yogyakarta reported 63 religious sects in Java other than the official Indonesian religions. Of these, 35 were in Central Java, 22 in West Java and six in East Java.[ These include Kejawen, Sumarah, Subud, etc. Their total membership is difficult to estimate as many of their adherents identify themselves with one of the official religions.][Beatty, Andrew, ''Varieties of Javanese Religion: An Anthropological Account'', Cambridge University Press 1999, ] Sunda Wiwitan is a traditional Sundanese religion, its adherents still exist in several villages.
Economy
Initially the economy of Java relied heavily on rice agriculture. Ancient kingdoms such as the Tarumanagara, Mataram, and Majapahit
Majapahit ( jv, ꦩꦗꦥꦲꦶꦠ꧀; ), also known as Wilwatikta ( jv, ꦮꦶꦭ꧀ꦮꦠꦶꦏ꧀ꦠ; ), was a Javanese people, Javanese Hinduism, Hindu-Buddhism, Buddhist thalassocracy, thalassocratic empire in Southeast Asia that was ba ...
were dependent on rice yields and tax. Java was famous for rice surpluses and rice export since ancient times, and rice agriculture contributed to the population growth of the island. Trade with other parts of Asia such as ancient India and China flourished as early as the 4th century, as evidenced by Chinese ceramics found on the island dated to that period. Java also took part in the global trade of Maluku spice from ancient times in the Majapahit era, until well into the Dutch East India Company (VOC) era.
The VOC set their foothold on Batavia in the 17th century and was succeeded by the Dutch East Indies in the 19th century. During these colonial times, the Dutch introduced the cultivation of commercial plants in Java, such as sugarcane
Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fibrous stalks t ...
, rubber
Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Thailand, Malaysia, a ...
, coffee
Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world.
Seeds of ...
, tea, and quinine. In the 19th and early 20th century, Javanese coffee gained global popularity. Thus, the name "Java" today has become a synonym for coffee.
Java has been Indonesia's most developed island since the Dutch East Indies era and continues to be so today in the modern Republic of Indonesia. The road transportation networks that have existed since ancient times were connected and perfected with the construction of Java Great Post Road by Daendels in the early 19th century. It became the backbone of Java's road infrastructure and laid the base of Java North Coast Road ( id, Jalan Pantura, abbreviation from "Pantai Utara"). The need to transport commercial produces such as coffee from plantations in the interior of the island to the harbour on the coast spurred the construction of railway networks in Java. Today, industry, business, trade and services flourished in major cities of Java, such as Jakarta, Surabaya
Surabaya ( jv, ꦱꦸꦫꦧꦪ or jv, ꦯꦹꦫꦨꦪ; ; ) is the capital city of the Provinces of Indonesia, Indonesian province of East Java and the List of Indonesian cities by population, second-largest city in Indonesia, after Jakarta. L ...
, Semarang
Semarang ( jv, ꦏꦸꦛꦯꦼꦩꦫꦁ , Pegon: سماراڠ) is the capital and largest city of Central Java province in Indonesia. It was a major port during the Dutch colonial era, and is still an important regional center and port today. ...
, and Bandung; while some traditional Sultanate cities such as Yogyakarta, Surakarta
Surakarta ( jv, ꦯꦸꦫꦏꦂꦠ), known colloquially as Solo ( jv, ꦱꦭ; ), is a city in Central Java, Indonesia. The 44 km2 (16.2 sq mi) city adjoins Karanganyar Regency and Boyolali Regency to the north, Karanganyar Regency and Sukoh ...
, and Cirebon preserved its royal legacy and has become the centre of art, culture and tourism. Industrial estates are also growing in towns on northern coast of Java, especially around Cilegon, Tangerang, Bekasi, Karawang
Karawang (Kota Karawang or Karawang Kota) is the capital of the Karawang Regency of West Java, Indonesia. It is 32 miles east of Jakarta, and had a population of 307,880 at the 2020 Census, spread over two districts of the regency - West Karawang a ...
, Gresik and Sidoarjo. The toll road highway networks was built and expanded since the New Order until the present day, connecting major urban centres and surrounding areas, such as in and around Jakarta and Bandung; also the ones in Cirebon, Semarang
Semarang ( jv, ꦏꦸꦛꦯꦼꦩꦫꦁ , Pegon: سماراڠ) is the capital and largest city of Central Java province in Indonesia. It was a major port during the Dutch colonial era, and is still an important regional center and port today. ...
and Surabaya
Surabaya ( jv, ꦱꦸꦫꦧꦪ or jv, ꦯꦹꦫꦨꦪ; ; ) is the capital city of the Provinces of Indonesia, Indonesian province of East Java and the List of Indonesian cities by population, second-largest city in Indonesia, after Jakarta. L ...
. In addition to these motorways, Java has 16 national highways.
Based on the statistical data by the year of 2021 released by Statistics Indonesia
Statistics Indonesia ( id, Badan Pusat Statistik, BPS, ), is a non-departmental government institute of Indonesia that is responsible for conducting statistical surveys. Its main customer is the government, but statistical data is also availabl ...
(''Badan Pusat Statistik''), Java alone contributes around 60% of Indonesia's GDP or equivalent to US$686 billion (int$2.0 trillion, PPP).
See also
* History of Indonesia
* List of monarchs of Java
* Javanese people
* Sundanese people
* Betawi people
References
Sources
*
Further reading
*
*Padmo, Soegijanto (2000).
Java and The Making of The Nation.
' Humaniora Journal, Gadjah Mada University.
{{Authority control
Greater Sunda Islands
Islands of Indonesia
Maritime Southeast Asia