Java is an island in Indonesia. At about 138,800 square kilometers, the island is comparable in size to England. With a population of over 274 million, Java is home to nearly 60 percent of the Indonesian population and is the world’s most populous island. The Indonesian capital city, Jakarta, is located on western Java. Much of Indonesian history took place on Java. It was the center of powerful Hindu-Buddhist empires, the Islamic sultanates, and the core of the colonial Dutch East Indies. Java was also the center of the Indonesian struggle for independence during the 1930s and 1940s. Java dominates Indonesia politically, economically and culturally.
Java is divided into four administrative provinces, West Java, Central Java, East Java, and Banten, and two special regions, Jakarta and Yogyakarta.
Formed mostly as the result of volcanic eruptions, Java is the 13th largest island in the world and the fifth largest in Indonesia by landmass. A chain of volcanic mountains forms an east–west spine along the island. While the majority of the people of Java are Muslim, Java’s population is a diverse mixture of religious beliefs, ethnicity, and cultures.
I visited Java on a tour in 2018. We started in Jakarta, stopped in Bangor, Bandung, Pangadaran, Yogyakarta, and Solo. We flew to Kalimantan (Borneo) from Semarang. Returning from Borneo we drove to Solo and Yogyakarta before continuing to Bali for a few days before returning to Norway.
Camera: Sony RX100V compact camera on stabilizer