When fossil remains of the erect ape Pithecanthropus were found on Java in 1891, scientists surmised that Java was the original location of the Garden of Eden. The most famed of all Indonesia’s islands, Java is still one of the richest, lushest, not densely populated in earth, and rank among the loveliest region anywhere, deep purple, fiery volcanoes tower majestically over a land of intense green plains, twisting mountain passes, cool hill side resorts, remote crater lakes, extraordinary Hindu and Budhist temples, wild game parks, botanical gardens, serene beaches, dense rainforest, savannah, thick bamboo groves, stands of teak, and squalling, teeming cities. It is Indonesia’s easiest island to get around. Along with Bali’s, its in habitants are most likely to understand English. Java is both young and old. It was genesis of Indonesia’s most powerful maritime and agriculture kingdoms, and contains the best preserved and highest number of monuments, many completed centuries before Colombus discovered America.
Through Java is the smallest (129,625 sqkm) of the Greater Sunda islands, it is in habited by the bulk of Indonesia’s most population (65 % or 110 millions). Yet the island comprises only 7 % of the country’s land area many areas in Java resemble India because of the congestion, the rice paddies, the explosive colors : “I see India everywhere, but I do not recognize it,“ said the great Bengali poet Tagore when visiting Java in 1927.
Java is the physical center of all islands, and has always been the trading focus and the metropolitan island of the archipelago.
It is the golden mean in both size and location, long the most favored of all the archipelic island for human habitation and thus the most political power. Java’s history is long. Compared to the poor archeological records on the outer islands, the island has a fantastic wealth of documents and monuments.
With the light brown skin, straight black hair, highcheeck bones, small and slender builds, the Javanese originality belonged the Oceanic branch of the Mongoloid race. But the Javanese race is actually a blending of every race that ever established it self on the island. Java’s more than 110 millions people belong to primaly 4 major cultural-lingual ethnic groups; The Sundanese of West Java (30 millions), the Javanese of Central Java, and East Java (80 millions) the Tenggerese from the area in East Java around
Mt. Bromo (300,000) and the Madurese inhabiting the long island of Madura Northeast of Surabaya in East Java.