Java

Java

Native name: Pulau Jawa
Location of Java
Geography
Location	Southeast Asia
Coordinates	{{#invoke:Coordinates|coord}}{{#coordinates:7|30|10|S|111|15|47|E|type:isle_region:ID_scale:8100000 | |name= }}
Archipelago	Greater Sunda Islands
Area	138,794 km² (~53,588 sq. mi.) (about the size of the state of Mississippi, USA, or about one-third the size of Germany)
Highest point	Semeru (3,676 m)
Country
Indonesia
Provinces	Banten, Jakarta Special Capital City District, West Java, Central Java, East Java, Yogyakarta Special Region
Largest city	Jakarta
Demographics
Population	124 million (as of 2005)
Density	937/km² people/km2
Ethnic groups	Sundanese, Javanese, Tenggerese

Java (Indonesian, Javanese, and Sundanese: Jawa) is an island of Indonesia and the site of its capital city, Jakarta. Once the centre of powerful Hindu kingdoms and the core of the colonial Dutch East Indies, Java now plays a dominant role in the economic and political life of Indonesia. With a population of 124 million, it is the most populous island in the world; it is also one of the most densely populated regions on Earth.

Formed mostly as the result of volcanic events, Java is the 13th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island of Indonesia. A chain of volcanic mountains form an east-west spine along the island. It has three main languages, and most residents are bilingual, with Indonesian as their second language. While the majority of Javanese are Muslim, Java has a diverse mixture of religious beliefs and cultures.

Etymology→

The origins of the name 'Java' is not clear. One possibility is early travellers from India named the island 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". And, in Sanskrit yava means barley, a plant for which the island was famous.

Outsiders often referred to Java and the neighboring islands by the same name, or use names inconsistently for different islands. For example, Marco Polo refers to neighbouring Sumatra as "little Java" and Ptolemy refers Sumatra as Jaba-diu.

Geography→

Mount Semeru and Mount Bromo in East Java

Map of Java

Java (8° S 110° E) is part of the Sunda Island Arc, which includes Sumatra to the northwest and Bali to the east. Located north-west of Australia, Borneo lies to the north, Christmas Island to the south and Bali to the east.

Java is the 4th largest island in Indonesia and the world's 12th largest island with an area of 138,794 square kilometers (53,588 square miles). The island is 1,064 kilometers (661 miles) long from east to west with a width that varies from 100 kilometers (60 miles) to 160 kilometers (100 miles) at the ends of the island.

Java is almost entirely of volcanic origin; it contains no fewer than 112 volcanoes, thirty-eight of which are active. The mountains form an east-west spine which runs east to west and are flanked by limestone ridges and lowlands. The highest volcano in Java is Mount Semeru at 3,676 meters (12,060 feet). The most active volcano in Java and also in Indonesia is Mount Merapi (2,914 m). Further mountains and highlands help to split the interior into a series of relatively isolated regions suitable for wet-rice cultivation; the rice lands of Java are among the richest in the world.

The island's longest rivers are the 600 kilometers (372 Miles) long Solo River the Brantas River. The river rises from its source in central Java at the Tawu volcano, flows north then eastwards to its mouth in the Java Sea, near the city of Surabaya. The river system of Java is critical to the irigation system which in turn is vital to the economy of the island as more than two-thirds of the island is under cultivation.

The island is administratively divided into three provinsi (provinces) - Jawa Barat (West Java), Jawa Tengah (Central Java), and Jawa Timur (East Java) - one special district (Yogyakarta), and one special capital district (Greater Jakarta). Yogyakarta and Greater Jakarta administratively are also considered provinces.

Indonesia's capital, Jakarta is located on northwest area of Java with Surabaya (the second largest city in Indonesia), located in eastern Java. Popular tourist destinations include the city of Yogyakarta, the huge Buddhist stupa complex of Borobudur, the Hindu temples at Prambanan, and Mount Bromo in East Java.

Climate

The island of Java is located almost entrely in the equatorial rain belt, it experiences a typical tropical climate including high levels of rainfall, high temperatures and high humidity. Java experiences two season, a wet or rainy season from December to March and a dry season from May to October. Temperatures in the wet season range from 21 degrees Celsius (70 degrees Fahrenheit) to 33 degrees Celsius (90 degrees Fahrenheit), except at higher altitudes, which can be much cooler. The lowest average temperature is 18 degrees Celsius (65 degrees Fahrenheit) Trade and monsoon winds from the Indian and Pacific oceans produse a more moderate climate.

Flora and Fauna

The flora and fauna of Indonesia and therefore Java, is completely different from that of neighboring continental Asia and Australia, as weIl as from the flora of other tropical areas in the world. Within the Indonesian archipelago lies one of the most remarkable zoogeographical boundaries in the world, which dates back to the glacial period when the sea level fell worldwide, lies within the Indonesian archipeligo. Java, Sumatra, and Kalimantan lay on the Sunda self during that glacial period and were joined to each other and to the mainland of Asia, while Papua and the Australian continent at that time lay on the Sahul shelf. This original geographical segregation explains why the typical oriental fauna species found in Java, Sumatra and Kalimantan are completely lacking in Papua. Also, the marsupials found in Papua, are do not occur in the Oriental Region. Between these two shelves (Maluku, Sulawesi and the Lesser Sunda Islands) another type of fauna occurs while , Although the two regions are only 50 km from each other across the Makassar strait, the majority of fauna in one area does not occur in the other.

Java's vegetation includes eak, rasamala, and casuarina trees and bamboo in forest stands, together with sago palms and banyan trees. The vegetation is southern Asian, with Australian affinities and includes more than 5,000 species of plants. Dense rainforests cover most of the damp slopes of the mountains, while the west supports thick bamboo woods. Javafruit trees include banana, mango, and other various Asian species.

Java home to about 400 species of birds; 100 species of snakes; 500 species of butterflies; and many types of insects. The island's fauna also includes monkeys, wild pigs, and crocodiles as well as the one-horned rhinoceros, tiger, and banteng (wild ox), now only found in the more remote areas.

History

Pre-history

Mount Merbabu. Java's landscape is dominated by rice fields and volcanos

The island of Java is known for several important finds of early hominid specimens . In particular, the 1891 discovery of cranial fossil remains commonly known as "Java man" (now designated as Trinil 2, after the Trinil site on the Bengawan Solo River) is notable as the first early hominid specimen found outside Europe. This find, and several subsequent ones at various locations along the river's valleys, are now generally classified in the species Homo erectus.

Scientists speculate that, two million years ago, heavy rainfall in the Sunda and Digul plateaus produced dense tropical vegetation, which supported the prehistoric hominids evidenced in many fossil finds.

Hindu and Buddhist kingdoms

Much evidence of Java's past kingdoms remains; such as the famous Buddhist Borobudur and Hindu Prambanan temples. Indeed, the Javanese culture, and language itself, was heavily influenced by the cultures and languages of the Indian subcontinent. In the sixth and seventh centuries, many maritime kingdoms arose in Sumatra and Java, which controlled the waters in the Straits of Malacca, and flourished with the increasing sea-trade between China and India and beyond. During this time, scholars from India and China visited these kingdoms to translate literary and religious texts. The most influential of these kingdoms was Srivijaya.

The most prominent of the Hindu kingdoms was the Majapahit empire based in East Java, from where it held sway over a large part of what is now Indonesia. The name of the Majapahit empire is still invoked by contemporary Indonesian leaders to promote "unity", and the legitimacy of the state. The remnants of the Majapahit's priests, royalties, and artisans, fled to Bali during the sixteenth century, as Muslim kingdoms in the coastal part of the island gained influence.

Muslim kingdoms and the Dutch colonization

The earliest Muslim "evangelists" were called the Wali Songo, the "nine ambassadors". Several of them were of Chinese origin, leading to speculation about Zheng He's influence on the trade in the Straits of Malacca. Many of their tombs are still well-preserved, and often visited "Ziarah" for superstitious and religious reasons. Most of the brand of Islam that is adopted in Java is mixed with long-standing indigenous beliefs, and has a decidedly "local flavor". For example, the legend of Nyi Roro Kidul was invented as a mix of the beliefs common on the southern coast of Java, and Islamic influences.

The Dutch East India Company (VOC) established its trading and administrative headquarters in Batavia (now the capital city of Jakarta). This capital, along with other coastal cities such as Semarang and Surabaya, was the focus of Dutch attention during most of the colonial period. The VOC maintained control over the mountainous interior of the island through indigenous client states, such as Mataram in central Java.

The nineteenth century saw the Dutch government take over administration of Indonesia from the VOC, and in the mid-nineteenth century, they implemented new policies, usually called the Culture System (Dutch: cultuurstelsel). These policies, intended to increase the profitability of the colony by requiring increased production of cash crops, led to famine and widespread poverty on Java. By the beginning of the twentieth century, protest over the policy's effects, and political changes in the Netherlands and in the Indies led to the Ethical Policy. This policy of increased investment in the colony gave many more Javanese elites access to a Dutch education, both in Java and in the Netherlands itself. It was from this elite that the most prominent nationalist leaders came. They formed the core of the new government, when Indonesia became a Republic after World War II.

Republican era

With the establishment of Jakarta as the capital and the Javanese roots of the majority of Indonesian political figures, the island has a dominant role in the political and economic life of the nation. While parts of rural Java are among the poorest in the nation, the urban areas of the island are Indonesia's wealthiest and most urbanized areas. Presidents Sukarno (1945–1965), Suharto (1965–1998), Abdurrahman Wahid a.k.a GusDur (1999–2001), Megawati Sukarnoputri (2001–2004), and Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (2004-now) were all from Java. The only president who was not from Java was Baharuddin Jusuf Habibie (1998–1999).

This political dominance has resulted in resentment on the part of some residents of other islands. Indonesian author Pramoedya Ananta Toer once recommended that the Indonesian capital be moved outside the island of Java, in order to free the Indonesian nationalist movement from its Java-centric character.

Economy→

Java is responsible for most of Indonesia's sugarcane and kapok with more than two-thirds of the island under cultivation. In addition to these two products, rubber, tea, coffee, tobacco, cacao, and cinchona (the source of quinine) are grown in western highland plantations and exported. Corn, )maize), cassava, peanuts, soybeans, and sweet potatoes are produced in the lowlands mostly on peasant landholdings. Rice is the chief small-farm crop. Cattle are raised in the east, and livestock, especially water buffalo, is raised for use as draft animals. Ponds and rice fields in central and western Java also support fish farming. Most of the worlds quinine is produced in Java.

Off the northwestern coast are important oil fields, linked to Cilegon by a natural-gas pipeline. Refineries are located in Cilacap, Jepu and Surabaya. Tin, gold, silver, copper, coal, manganese, phosphate, and sulfur are mined in limited quuantities. Most of the Indonesia's manufacturing establishments are located onn Java. Industry is centered chiefly in Jakarta and Surabaya. Larger industries include rubber manufacturing, auto assembly, textile processing (mostly in Bandung), brewing and the production of shoes, paper, soap, cement and cigarettes.

Jakarta has an international airport and Surabaya and Tanjungpriuk (near Jakarta) are the main sea ports.

Demographics→

Central Jakarta

Java is by far the most populous island in Indonesia, with approximately 62% of the country's population, on just 7% of Indonesia's land area, and is the most populous island in the world. With 130 million inhabitants at 937 persons per km², it is also one of the most densely-populated parts of the world. If it were a country, it would be the second-most densely-populated country of the world after Bangladesh, if very small city-states are excluded. Approximately 40.6% of the population of Indonesia is ethnically Javanese. Java's population has steadily increased throughout the 19th and 20th Centuries from an estimated population of 5 million in 1815 with the majority of the population located in the rural areas. Three main ethnic groups make up Java's population with Javanese the most dominant followed by Sudanese and Madurese. There are also small groups of Tenggerese and Badui. The Javanese represent approximately 70% of Java's population and live mainly in the eastern and central areas with the Sudanese living mainly in the western regions. The Madurese live mostly in the eastern areas and on the island of Madura. Most of these three groups are Muslims and speak Malay languages.

Since the 1970s, the Indonesian government has run transmigration programs aimed at resettling the population of Java on other less-populated islands of Indonesia. This program has met with mixed results, and sometimes caused conflicts between the locals and the recently arrived settlers.

The main ethnic group in Java is Javanese, except for the West Java region where most people are Sundanese. In the province of East Java, 22% of the population is of Madurese descent. Half of them live on the island of Madura.

Culture→

Generally speaking, the three major cultures of Java are the Sundanese culture of West Java, the Central Javanese culture, and the Eastern Javanese culture. In the southwestern part of Central Java, 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, 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 puppet shows.

Gamelan Instruments

Gamelan (or gamelang or gamelin) is the traditional orchestra type of Java and Bali. The instruments consist mostly of several sets of tuned metal instruments, different varieties of gongs, xylophones and other various percussive instruments. The instruments are stuck with mallets while a sustained melody is played either by a bowed string instrument or on the bamboo. The melody is also often sung, especially when the gamelan is used to accompany theatrical performances, or wayangs.

Wayang (or Wajang) is the classical Javanese puppet drama that uses puppets manipulated by rods against a translucent screen. Lighting from behind the screen casts a shadow onto the screen. "Wayang" comes from the Indonesian word meaning shadow. Wayang originated from the leather puppets of southern India prior the 10th century. The spread of Hinduism is thought to be responsible for the introduction of wayang to Java.

Java acts as Indonesia's center of cultural and economic activity. 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 and Mahabarata. 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.

Javanese recognize several classes of supernatural beings. Memedis are frightening spirits. These include the gendruwo, which appear to people as familiar relatives in order to kidnap them, making them invisible. If the victim accepts food from the gendruwo, he or she will remain invisible forever. The greatest spirit is Ratu Kidul, the Queen of the South Sea. She is believed to be the mystical bride of Java's rulers. Her favorite color is green. Young men avoid wearing green while at the Indian Ocean shore so that they will not be pulled down into Ratu Kidul's underwater realm. Another set of legendary figures are the wali songo. These are the nine holy men who brought Islam to Java. They are credited with magical powers such as flying. Traditional dance emphasizes precise control of the body, particularly in graceful hand movements. The most revered dances are the bedoyo and srimpi, in which young women symbolically enact combat. Male dancing includes the tari topeng in which solo performers portray folktale characters. Javanese literature goes back to the eleventh century AD, beginning with adaptations of the Hindu epics Ramayana and Mahabharata. The earliest surviving literature in modern Javanese includes babad, poetical chronicles of Java's history. Novels and short stories are produced in Javanese but must compete with better-known works in Indonesian

Traditional Javanese dance incorporates graceful hand movements and precise control of the body. young women symbolically enact combat in the most revered dances; the bedoyo and srimpi, while the folktale characters are portrayed in the male dancing which includes the tari topeng.

Beginning with adaptations of the Hindu epics Ramayana and Mahabharata, Javanese literature dates back to the eleventh century AD. Poetical chronicles of Java's history (including babad) are the earliest surviving literature in modern Javanese.

Languages→

Languages spoken in Java (Javanese is shown in white)

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 and Tenggerese (closely related to Javanese), Badui (closely related to Sundanese), Kangeanese (closely related to Madurese), and Balinese. The vast majority of the population also speaks Indonesian, generally as a second language.

The Javanese language is the spoken language of the people in the central and eastern part of the island of Java, in Indonesia. It is the native language of more than 75,500,000 people. The Javanese language is part of the Austronesian family, and is therefore related to Indonesian and Malay. Many speakers of Javanese also speak Indonesian for official and business purposes, and to communicate with non-Javanese Indonesians.

Javanese is spoken in Central and East Java, as well as on the north coast of West Java. Javanese can be regarded as one of the classical languages of the world, with a vast literature spanning more than 12 centuries. Although not currently an official language anywhere, Javanese is the Austronesian language with the largest number of native speakers. It is spoken or understood by approximately 80 million people. Four out of five Indonesian presidents since 1945 are of Javanese descent. It is therefore not surprising that Javanese has a deep impact on the development of Indonesian, the national language of Indonesia, which is a modern dialect of Malay.

There are three main dialects of Modern Javanese: Central Javanese, Eastern Javanese and Western Javanese. All Javanese dialects are more or less mutually intelligible.

Sundanese (Basa Sunda, literally "language of Sunda") is the language of about 27 million people from the western third of Java or about 15% of the Indonesian population.

Madurese is the spoken language of people from Madura Island in Indonesia; it is also spoken on Kangean Islands, Sapudi Islands, and in eastern part of province of East Java. It was traditionally written in the Javanese script, but the Roman script is now more commonly used. Number of speakers though shrinking are estimated to be 8-10 million.

Religion

The vast majority of Javanese are Muslim, however, only a portion regularly follow the "five pillars of Islam" and other practices of orthodox, Middle Eastern Islam. These Muslims are referred to as santri' and can then be divided into two subgroups; the "conservatives" and the "modernists". While the "conservatives" adhere to orthodox Islam as it has been practiced by the Javanese for centuries, the "modernists" reject the local traditions and adhere to a form of Islam preferred by Western-style educational institutions.

The Javanese Muslims that do not perform the five daily prayers, fast during the month of Ramadan, or make the pilgrimage to Mecca (or non-santri) are termed "abangan" or "Islam kejawen". Ritual meals called slametan are the religious life focus of their lives.

Java has been a melting pot of religions and cultures, which has created a broad range of religious belief. As much as 12 percent of the population of the island of Java adhere to religions other than Islam. There are several hundred thousand Christians. Among these, Roman Catholics are particularly numerous. 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. There are also Christian communities, mostly in the larger cities, though some rural areas of south-central Java are strongly Roman Catholic. Buddhist communities also exist in the major cities, primarily among the Chinese Indonesian. The Indonesian constitution recognises six official religions.

Indian influences came first with Shivaism and Buddhism 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 was merely ceremonial. At the courts, Brahmin clerics and pudjangga (sacred literati) legitimised rulers and linked Hindu cosmology to their political needs.

Islam, which came after Hinduism, strengthened the status structure of this traditional religious pattern. The Muslim scholar of the writ (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 Islamic schools (pesantren), kyai prepertuated the tradition of resi. Students around him provided his needs, even peasants around the school.

Pre-Islamic Javanese 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, dogma and practice. The kyais are the principal intermediaries between the villages masses and the realm of the supernatural. However, this very looseneess of kyai leadership structure has promoted schism. 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 has mixed pre-Islamic animistic and Hindu-Indian concepts with a superficial acceptance of Islamic dogma.

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 6 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.

Further Reading

• Cribb, Robert (2000). Historical Atlas of Indonesia. London and Honolulu: RoutledgeCurzon Press, University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 0-8248-2111-4. 

External links

Java Portal

• Travel guide to Java from Wikitravel
• Wikipedia Maps Wikipedia Sattelite Map of Java Retrieved October 8, 2007.

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