Facts for Kids

Java lies between the larger island of Sumatra to the west and the smaller island of Bali to the east. To the north are shallow seas, to the west is the Sunda Strait, and to the south is the wide Indian Ocean. Including nearby small islands like Madura, Java is about 132,600 square kilometres in size — roughly 1,000 kilometres long and up to 210 kilometres wide.

The island has many volcanoes—about 112 in all, with 35 that are still active. The highest peak is Mount Semeru, and Mount Merapi is one of the most active volcanoes in the area.

Java is a big island in the country of Indonesia. It sits between the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. Jakarta, the capital city of Indonesia, is on Java’s northwestern coast. Because so many people live there, Java is the world’s most crowded island — more than half of Indonesia’s people live on Java even though it is only about seven percent of the country’s land.

Just like a backbone, a long chain of volcanic mountains runs across Java from east to west. These mountains and the busy cities make Java a place with lively towns, farms, and wild areas.

Java’s land is mostly covered in rainforest, with patches of mangrove trees along some coasts and steep, rocky cliffs on the southern shore. The middle and high parts of the island can be cooler and wetter, while the far east is drier and more like savanna. These different places help many plants and animals live on the island.

Java is home to special animals that live nowhere else, such as the Javan rhinoceros, Javan silvery gibbon, and the Java sparrow. Because people have cleared forests for farms and towns, some of these animals are rare today. National parks like Ujung Kulon help protect the remaining wildlife.

Long ago, people different from modern humans lived on Java. Fossils called Java Man belong to an early human species named Homo erectus. Scientists have found these fossils along the Bengawan Solo River at places with names like Sangiran and Trinil. Some remains are about 1.3 million years old, which shows people lived on Java a very long time.

Homo erectus was one of the early humans who spread from Africa into Asia. Later, other ancient human groups lived on nearby islands. Today, scientists study bones and DNA to learn how these early people lived and whether they met and mixed with modern humans.

Hindu–Buddhist kingdoms grew in Java long ago, building great temples and powerful courts. The island’s tall volcanic mountains made the middle parts hard to reach, so people lived in separate pockets around plains and rivers. Kings raised rice on the flat lands, and the rich families paid workers and built temples like Borobudur and Prambanan using carved stone.

Because roads were difficult and highlands separated groups, rivers were the main travel paths. Only big rivers like the Brantas and Solo could carry people or goods far. Local rulers had to guard and fix routes, so talking and trading across the island could be slow and uncertain.

Dutch ships arrived in the 1500s after other European sailors had come to Southeast Asia. The Portuguese first made deals with some Javanese rulers, but the Dutch later built a strong base at Batavia (now Jakarta) and set up the powerful VOC trading company. Over time the Dutch grew their control across Java.

Java’s many local fights made it easier for the Europeans to take power. The Dutch kept some Javanese royal families as local leaders under their rule, and they changed farming to grow big crops for selling abroad, such as sugar, tea, and coffee.

Long ago and later, Java’s rulers depended on rice. Because rice fed people and paid taxes, kingdoms such as Sunda, Mataram, and Majapahit grew larger. Java often had extra rice to sell, and its people traded with India and China. They also joined the spice trade from far islands. In the 1600s the VOC (Dutch East India Company) set up Batavia, and later Dutch rule introduced big farms for sugar, rubber, coffee, tea, and quinine. Java coffee became famous worldwide, so people began to call strong coffee “Java.”

Many languages were used on the island. Most families spoke Javanese or Sundanese at home, and long ago kings used Old Javanese for writing. Traders used Malay, which became modern Indonesian, the language people use to talk across the country today. The Dutch language was used by colonizers for government and schools, so some Dutch words joined local speech. Together, these languages helped people trade, rule, and share ideas.

Rice has always been the most important food and income for people on Java. The island’s flat plains could make extra rice, so farmers sold or gave rice to other islands that did not grow as much. Java has traded with places like India and China for many centuries.

When Europeans came, new crops for sale were grown on large farms, including coffee, sugar, tea, rubber, and quinine. Java coffee became famous around the world, so the name “Java” is often used to mean coffee. Trade by ship and river helped towns and ports grow into busy marketplaces.

Islam arrived on Java mostly by traders and sailors who visited the island’s busy ports. Coastal towns like Demak, Cirebon, and Banten became centers where new Muslim rulers, called sultans, formed kingdoms. These places grew rich because ships brought goods and ideas from other countries.

Over time, many people in Java adopted the new religion, and by the late 1500s Islam was very common. Inland powers such as Mataram also rose in central and eastern Java, showing how both coastal trade and older inland farms shaped who ruled the island.