Excerpts from Wikipedia.org
The Javanese are an ethnic group native to the Indonesian island of Java. They are predominantly located in the central to eastern parts of the island. At 90 million people (as of 2004) it is the largest ethnic group on the island, and also in Indonesia.
The Javanese were traditionally concentrated in the provinces of East Java, Central Java and Yogyakarta, but due to migration within Indonesia (as part of government transmigration programs or otherwise) there are now high populations of Javanese people in almost all the Indonesian provinces. (The province of West Java is home to the Sundanese, Indonesia's second largest ethnic group who are ethnically distinct from the Javanese).
Javanese people use Javanese language in everyday speech. In a public poll held circa-1990, approximately 12% of Javanese used Indonesian, around 18% used both Javanese and Indonesian, and the rest used Javanese exclusively.
Ethnic Groups in Indonesia
There are over 300 ethnic groups in Indonesia. Many ethnic groups, particularly in Kalimantan and Papua, have only hundreds of members. Most of the local languages belong to Austronesian linguistic family, although a significant number, particularly in Papua, speak Papuan languages. In addition, there are roughly 8 million people of Chinese descent who some of them speak various Chinese dialects, most notably Hokkian and Hakka. Chinese Indonesian population makes up about 3 % of the total Indonesian population.
The proportional populations of Indonesian ethnic groups according to the (2000 census) is as follows:
| Ethnic groups | Population (million) | Percentage | Main Regions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Javanese | 86.012 | 41.7 | East Java, Central Java, Lampung |
| Sundanese | 31.765 | 15.4 | West Java |
| Malay | 7.013 | 3.4 | Sumatra eastern coast, West Kalimantan |
| Madurese | 6.807 | 3.3 | Madura island |
| Batak | 6.188 | 3.0 | North Sumatra |
| Minangkabau | 5.569 | 2.7 | Central Sumatra |
| Betawi | 5.157 | 2.5 | Jakarta |
| Buginese | 5.157 | 2.5 | South Sulawesi |
| Bantenese | 4.331 | 2.1 | Banten |
| Banjarese | 3.506 | 1.7 | South Kalimantan |
| Balinese | 3.094 | 1.5 | Bali island |
| Sasak | 2.681 | 1.3 | Lombok island |
| Makassarese | 2.063 | 1.0 | South Sulawesi |
| Cirebon | 1.856 | 0.9 | West Java |
| Chinese | 1.850 | 0.9 | Jakarta, West Kalimantan, North Sumatra |
Java
Java 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 (or at least nominally Muslim), Java has a diverse mixture of religious beliefs and cultures.
History of Java
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. In the following course of human history, several kingdoms existed on Java. The first kingdoms ruled there were Indianized kingdoms, influenced by Hinduism and Buddhism. Sailendra (8–9th century), Mataram (752–1045), Kediri (1045–1221), Singhasari (1222–1292) and Majapahit (1293–1500) were among them, where evidences of their existence can be found throughout Java. Among many other temples in Java, Borobudur (a Buddhist temple) and Prambanan (a Hindu temple) are the most famous relic of old Javanese kingdom, both of which are listed in the UNESCO world heritage site.
Islam spread into the Indonesian archipelago in the thirteenth century, including Java, where Wali Songo (the "nine ambassadors") were the most prominent Muslim's evangelist at that time. The spread of Islam (1200–1600) was first taken place at coastal cities before they grew into muslim states, such as Sultanate of Demak (1475–1518) and Mataram Sultanate (1500s–1700s). In 1602, the Dutch East India Company (VOC) arrived in the archipelago and subsequently occupied and maintained control of trade and power for more than 300 years. VOC established Batavia (the present-day of Jakarta) on the northern coast of Java as its trading center and administrative headquarters. Coastal cities, such as Semarang and Surabaya, developed themselves into major trading harbors and the Dutch also developed Bandung in the inner mountainous region of west Java as their plan to move the capital from Batavia.
Java was once governed by the British East India Company (1811–1816) under the appointed Lieutenant Governor General Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, when Holland was occupied by France during the Napoleonic wars. During Raffles administration, he introduced partial self-government, land-tenure system, and abolished the slave trade. Besides that, Raffles had firm interests on Javanese culture, of which he restored several temples, including Borobudur. Raffles also wrote the famous book of "The History of Java", the first book that describes Java's civilization and culture to the outside world.
After the Indonesian independence in 1945, Jakarta remains as the capital and Java has grown itself into the most crowded area in Indonesia. While parts of rural Java are still underdeveloped, the urban areas of the island are Indonesia's wealthiest and most developed ones.
Javanese Art
The famous Javanese wayang puppetry culture was influenced by Hinduism and Buddhism. The Wayang repertoire stories, lakon, are mostly (loosely) based on epics from India; Ramayana and Mahabharata. There are also influences from Islam and the Western world.
Gamelan musical ensembles are found in both Java and Bali
Javanese Names
Javanese do not usually have family names or surnames. Many have just a single name. For example, Sukarno or Suharto. Javanese names may come from traditional Javanese languages, many of which are derived from Sanskrit. Names with the prefix Su-,which means good, are very popular. After the advent of Islam, many Javanese began to use Arabic names, especially among clerics and northern coast populations, where Islamic influences are stronger. Commoners usually only have one-word names, while nobilities use two-or-more-word names, but rarely a surname. Due to the influence of other cultures, many people started using names from other languages, mainly European languages. Christian Javanese usually use Latin baptist names followed by a traditional Javanese name.
Some people use a patronymic. For example, Abdurrahman Wahid's name is derived from his father's name (Wahid Hasyim) who was an independence fighter and minister. In turn, Wahid Hasyim's name was derived from that of his father: Hasyim Asyari, a famous cleric and founder of the Nahdlatul Ulama organization.
* Indonesian-Sounding Names Adopted by Chinese Indonesians
Spice Islands
Spice Islands most commonly refers to the Maluku Islands (Moluccas), which lie on the equator, between Sulawesi (Celebes) and New Guinea in what is now Indonesia. The term has also been used in reference to other islands known for their spice production, notably the Tanzanian group off East Africa consisting of Zanzibar, Mafia Island and Pemba
The Moluccas were, until the late eighteenth century, the only source of economically significant spices including clove, nutmeg and mace. Archaeological and linguistic evidence places Spice Island traders within a seaborne circuit reaching westwards as far as mainland India and Arabia around 200 BC. Pliny the Roman author describes cloves not long afterwards, as Rome traded for spices along India's Malabar Coast. Javanese and Chinese merchants were heavily involved in the spice trade, and spices reached Europe only after passing through many foreign hands, with the main western terminus of the trade at Alexandria in Egypt.
Venice came to monopolise the spice trade in Europe between 1200 and 1500, through its dominance over Mediterranean seaways to ports such as Alexandria, after traditional overland connections were disrupted by Mongols and Turks. The financial incentive to discover an alternative to Venice's monopoly control of this lucrative business was perhaps the single most important factor precipitating Europe's Age of Exploration. Portugal took an early lead charting the route around the southern tip of Africa, securing various bases en route, even accidentally discovering the coast of Brazil in the search for favourable Southerly currents. Portugal's eventual success and the establishment of its own absolutist monopoly provoked the other maritime powers in Europe, Spain (see Ferdinand Magellan), France, England and the Netherlands to challenge and overcome the Portuguese position.
The ideal of the Spice Islands, eventually to be enveloped by the Netherlands' Dutch East Indies empire, had led to the accidental discovery of the West Indies, and lit the fuse of centuries of rivalry between European maritime powers for control of lucrative global markets and resources. The tattered mystique of the Spice Islands finally died when France and Britain successfully smuggled seeds and plants to their own dominions on Mauritius, Grenada and elsewhere, making spices a more commonplace and affordable commodity.
Batavia (Jakarta)
