Java (Indonesian: Jawa) is an island of Indonesia. With a population of 136 million, it is the world’s most populous island, and one of the most densely populated regions in the world. It is home to 60% of Indonesia’s population. The Indonesian capital city, Jakarta, is in west Java. Much of Indonesian history took place on Java; it was the center of powerful Hindu-Buddhist empires, Islamic sultanates, the core of the colonial Dutch East Indies, the island was at the centre of Indonesia’s campaign for independence. The island dominates Indonesian social, political and economic life.
Formed mostly as the result of volcanic events, Java is the 13th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in Indonesia. A chain of volcanic mountains forms an east-west spine along the island. It has three main languages, though Javanese is dominant and is the native language of 60 million people in Indonesia, most of whom live on Java. Most residents are bilingual, with Indonesian as their first or second language. While the majority of the people of Java are Muslim, Java has a diverse mixture of religious beliefs, ethnicities and cultures.
The island is divided into four provinces,West Java, Central Java, East Java, and Banten, and two special districts, Jakarta and Yogyakarta.
Etymology
The origins of the name ‘Java’ are not clear. One possibility is that the island was 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.[2] It was hence referred to in Indian, specifically Tamil literature by the Sanskrit name “y?vaka dv?pa” (dv?pa = island). Another source states that the “Java” word is derived from a Proto-Austronesian root word, meaning ‘home’.
Java lies between Sumatra to the west and Bali to the east. Borneo lies to the north and Christmas Island to the south. It is the world’s 13th largest island.
Java is almost entirely of volcanic origin; it contains thirty-eight mountains forming an east-west spine which have at one time or another been active volcanoes. The highest volcano in Java is Mount Semeru (3,676 m). The most active volcano in Java and also in Indonesia is Mount Merapi (2,968 m). See Volcanoes of Java. 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.[4] Java was the first place where Indonesian coffee was grown, starting in 1699. Today, Coffea arabica is grown on the Ijen Plateau by small-holders and larger plantations.
Geography
The area of Java is approximately 139,000 km2. The island’s longest river is the 600 km long Solo River.[6] The river rises from its source in central Java at the Lawu volcano, then flows north and eastward to its mouth in the Java Sea near the city of Surabaya. The island is administratively divided into four provinces (Banten, West Java, Central Java, and East Java), one special region (Yogyakarta), and one special capital district (Jakarta).
Temperatures throughout the year average 22°C to 29°C and humidity average 75%. The northern coastal plains are normally hotter averaging 34°C during the day in the dry season. The south coast is generally cooler than the north, and highland areas inland are cooler again. The wet season begins in October ending in April during which rain falls most 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 highlands of West Java receive over 4,000 mm annually, while the north coast of East Java receives 900 mm annually.
Ethnicity and culture
The Javanese kakawin Tantu Pagelaran explained the mythical origin of the island and its volcanic nature. 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 north east 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 20% and 10% respectively.
Four major cultural areas exist on the island: the kejawen or Javanese heartland, the north coast of the pasisir region, the Sunda lands of West Java, and the eastern salient, also known as Blambangan. Madura makes up a fifth area having close cultural ties with coastal Java. The kejawen Javanese culture is the island’s most dominant. Java’s remaining aristocracy are 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.[citation needed] 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.
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 Mahabharata. 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 and Tenggerese (closely related to Javanese), Baduy (closely related to Sundanese), Kangeanese (closely related to Madurese), Balinese, and Banyumasan The vast majority of the population also speaks Indonesian, often as a second language.
Religion
More than 90 percent of the people of Java are Muslims, on a broad continuum between abangan (more traditional) and santri (more modernist). 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.
Java has been a melting pot of religions and cultures, which has created a broad range of religious belief. Indian influences came first with Shaivism 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 were 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 pesantren (Islamic schools), The Kyai perpetuated the tradition of the resi. Students around him provided his needs, even peasants around the school.
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. 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 have mixed pre-Islamic animistic and Hindu-Indian concepts with a superficial acceptance of Islamic belief.
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