Most residents are bilingual, speaking Indonesian (the official language of Indonesia) as their first or second language. 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. The ethnic groups native to the island are the Javanese in the central and eastern parts and Sundanese in the western parts. Javanese and Sundanese are the most spoken. A chain of volcanic mountains is the east–west spine of the island.įour main languages are spoken on the island: Javanese, Sundanese, Madurese, and Betawi. Four of Indonesia's eight UNESCO world heritage sites are located in Java: Ujung Kulon National Park, Borobudur Temple, Prambanan Temple, and Sangiran Early Man Site.įormed by volcanic eruptions due to geologic subduction of the Australian Plate under the Sunda Plate, Java is the 13th largest island in the world and the fifth largest in Indonesia by landmass at about 138,800 square kilometres (53,600 sq mi). Java dominates Indonesia politically, economically and culturally. Java was also the center of the Indonesian struggle for independence during the 1930s and 1940s. It was the centre of powerful Hindu-Buddhist empires, the Islamic sultanates, and the core of the colonial Dutch East Indies. Many of the best known events in Indonesian history took place on Java. Indonesia's capital city, Jakarta, is on Java's northwestern coast. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's most populous island, home to approximately 56% of the Indonesian population. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. Java ( / ˈ dʒ ɑː v ə, ˈ dʒ æ v ə/ Indonesian: Jawa, pronounced Javanese: ꦗꦮ Sundanese: ᮏᮝ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. You may need rendering support to display the Sundanese script in this article correctly.

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