Facts about Java

The spread of Hinduism is thought to be responsible for the introduction of wayang to Java.

Once the center 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.

Java (Indonesian, Javanese, and Sundanese: Jawa also spelled "Djawa") is an island of Indonesia and the site of its capital city, Jakarta.

Four out of five Indonesian presidents since 1945 were of Javanese descent.

Approximately 70 percent of the population of Indonesia is ethnically Javanese.

Presidents Sukarno (1945–1965), Suharto (1965–1998), Abdurrahman Wahid a.k.a GusDur (1999–2001), Megawati Sukarnoputri (2001–2004), and Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (2004- ) were all from Java.

The only president who was not from Java was Baharuddin Jusuf Habibie (1998–1999).

The VOC maintained control over the mountainous interior of the island through indigenous client states, such as Mataram in central Java.

Classic arts of Java include gamelan music and wayang puppet shows.

Raffles had tried to institute reforms in Java but these were ignored by the Dutch when they returned to power, using instead harsh methods of exploitation and a system of forced labor.

Java is home to about 400 species of birds; 100 species of snakes; 500 species of butterflies; and numerous types of insects.

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.

Java has been a melting pot of religions and cultures, which has created a broad range of religious beliefs.

The political center of Java then moved to the kingdom of Singhasari, in the Malang Highlands of eastern Java.

Madurese is the spoken language of people from Madura Island and is also spoken on Kangean Islands, Sapudi Islands, and in the eastern part of the province of East Java.

During the thirteenth century, this area remained the center of Javanese culture and became the center of the spice trade.

After the end of the war, Java was subjected to intense fighting between Dutch and Indonesian forces.

Gamelan (or gamelang or gamelin) is the traditional orchestra type of Java and Bali.

Ratu Kidul, the Queen of the South Sea, is considered the greatest spirit and is believed to be the mystical bride of Java's rulers.

Most of the Indonesia's manufacturing establishments are located on Java.

The once-powerful Javanese empire had disintegrated as the native states were gradually absorbed.

Java fruit trees include banana, mango, and other various Asian species.

Many speakers of Javanese also speak Indonesian for official and business purposes, and to communicate with non-Javanese Indonesians.

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.

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.

After the Allied defeat in the battle of the Java Sea in February 1942, Java was occupied by the Japanese for the remainder of World War II.

Ponds and rice fields in central and western Java also support fish farming.

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."

Pre-Islamic Javanese traditions have encouraged Islam in a mystical direction.

The most advanced of the social communities are eusocial colonies, found among the honeybees, bumblebees, and stingless bees.

In 1596, the year before he bought New Place as his family home in Stratford, Shakespeare was living in the parish of St. Helen's, Bishopsgate, north of the River Thames.

Like modern man, the thigh bones of Java man showed that he walked fully erect and attained approximately 170 centimeters (5 feet 8 inches) in height.

Most of the world's quinine is produced in Java.

All Javanese dialects are more or less mutually intelligible.

Formed mostly as the result of volcanic events, Java is the 12th largest island in the world and the fourth largest island of Indonesia.

The earliest surviving literature in the modern Javanese language includes babad, poetic chronicles of the island's history.

Java was then influenced or ruled by several empires including the Srivijayan, under which literature and the arts flourished, and the Hindu epics were translated from Sanskrit into Javanese.

The Solo 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.

Java's vegetation includes eak, rasamala, and casuarina trees and bamboo in forest stands, together with sago palms and banyan trees.

Java was under British rule, headed by Sir Thomas Raffles, from 1811 to 1815.

Javanese can be regarded as one of the classical languages of the world, with a vast literature spanning more than 12 centuries.

The colonization of Java dates back as early as 2500 B.C.E., when domestic agriculture is known to have been practiced there.

saw the rise of Javanese literature, beginning with adaptations of the Hindu epics Ramayana and Mahabharata.

Java experiences two seasons, a wet or rainy season from December to March and a dry season from May to October.

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.

The flora and fauna of Indonesia and therefore Java, are completely different from that of neighboring continental Asia and Australia, as well as from the flora of other tropical areas in the world.

Java is the fourth largest island in Indonesia and is the world's 12th largest island with an area of 53,588 square miles (138,794 square km).

Both Muslim traders from India as well as Chinese merchants visited Java during this time.

Wayang (or Wajang) is the classical Javanese puppet drama that uses puppets manipulated by rods against a translucent screen.

The Majapahit declined in the late fourteenth century, and probably fell early in the sixteenth century, when the followers of Islam destroyed the last vestige of Indo-Javanese rule.

The Javanese people recognize several classes of supernatural beings.

Java's population has steadily increased throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries from an estimated population of five million in 1815 to 130 million in 2006.

Traditional Javanese dance incorporates graceful hand movements and precise control of the body.

The highest volcano in Java is Mount Semeru at 12,060 feet (3,676 meters).

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.

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.

Indonesia's capital, Jakarta, is located on the northwest area of Java with Surabaya (the second largest city in Indonesia), located in eastern Java.

After his death, King Kertanagara's kingdom collapsed and was succeeded by the Majapahit Empire of eastern Java, which was founded in 1293.

Java is responsible for most of Indonesia's sugar cane and kapok with more than two-thirds of the island under cultivation.

The Javanese live mainly in the eastern and central areas, Sudanese occupy mainly the western regions.

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.

Of these, 35 were in Central Java, 22 in West Java and 6 in East Java.

The river system of Java is critical to the irrigation system which in turn is vital to the economy of the island, more than two-thirds of the island is under cultivation.

The island of Java is located almost entirely in the equatorial rain belt.

The island of Java is a combination of 4 provinces and 2 districts, and there is no government responsible solely for Java.

Outsiders often referred to Java and the neighboring islands by the same name, or use names inconsistently for different islands.

The island of Java is known for several important finds of early hominid specimens .

The origin of the name 'Java' is not clear.

Most of the brand of Islam that is adopted in Java is mixed with long-standing indigenous beliefs, and has a decidedly "local flavor."

Java is part of the Sunda Island Arc, which includes Sumatra to the northwest and Bali to the east.

Classic arts of Java include gamelan music and wayang puppet shows.

King Kertanagara (reign 1268–92), unified Java and extended his power to southern Borneo, Bali, and other eastern islands.

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

Java is almost entirely of volcanic origin; it contains no fewer than 112 volcanoes, forty-five of which are active.