East Java

East Java (Indonesian: Jawa Timur) is one of Indonesia's 32 provinces. It is located on the eastern part of the island of Java and also includes neighboring Madura and Bawean islands. The administrative center of the province is located in Surabaya, the second largest city in Indonesia and a major industrial center and port.

Contents

1 Population 2 Cities 3 History 4 Natural resources 5 Education 6 Media 7 National parks 8 External links

Population

According to the 2000 census, East Java has 34 million inhabitants, second only to West Java among Indonesian provinces. People of East Java include ethnic Javanese, Madurese, and several minorities, such as Chinese, Indians, and Arabs. They speak a hybrid Bahasa Indonesia, with influences from Javanese language.

The major religion in East Java is Islam. This comes from earlier history, when Islam spread from northern cities in Java where many traders from Gujarat, India visited, bringing Islam. The eastern part of East Java, from Surabaya to Pasuruan, then following various cities along the coast line, and turning back in Banyuwangi to Jember, is well known as the "horseshoe area" in context with earlier Muslim communities living there.

Cities

There are 29 municipalities (kabupaten) and 9 cities (kota) in East Java: Kabupaten Bangkalan, Kabupaten Banyuwangi, Kabupaten Blitar, Kabupaten Bojonegoro, Kabupaten Bondowoso, Kabupaten Gresik, Kabupaten Jember, Kabupaten Jombang, Kabupaten Kediri, Kabupaten Lamongan, Kabupaten Lumajang, Kabupaten Madiun, Kabupaten Magetan, Kabupaten Malang, Kabupaten Mojokerto, Kabupaten Nganjuk, Kabupaten Ngawi, Kabupaten Pacitan, Kabupaten Pamekasan, Kabupaten Pasuruan, Kabupaten Ponorogo, Kabupaten Probolinggo, Kabupaten Sampang, Kabupaten Sidoarjo, Kabupaten Situbondo, Kabupaten Sumenep, Kabupaten Trenggalek, Kabupaten Tuban, Kabupaten Tulungagung, Batu, Kota Blitar, Kota Kediri, Kota Madiun, Kota Malang, Kota Mojokerto, Kota Pasuruan, Kota Probolinggo, Surabaya

History

East Java has a history dating back centuries, with its famous kingdom of Singosari which is now a city, located near Malang. The Majapahit kingdom originated from East Java, and the region was a part of the Mataram kingdom during its peak.

Natural resources

• Chalk (Gresik, the city is also famous of its cement industries.)
• Marble (Tulung Agung)
• Oil (Cepu)
• Salt (Madura Island)

Education

East Java hosts some famous universities in Indonesia, both owned by government and private. Three major cities for universities, because they have government's universities, are Surabaya, Malang, and Jember. Among them, Airlangga University and Sepuluh November Institute of Technology are the most famous, and both are located in Surabaya. See: List of universities in East Java

Another important form of education that is available in most cities in East Java is the pesantren. This kind of education is built and organized by Islamic clerics, and associated with local or national Muslim organizations. Jombang is a famous city for its pesantren.

Media

Due in part to its large population, East Java supports several regional media outlets. Local newspapers with provincial news reach their readers earlier than their competitors from Jakarta. In the spirit of "providing more news from around readers", most newspapers even issue municipal sections which are different among their distribution areas.

• Jawa Pos Group is one of major newspaper group in Indonesia, is based in Surabaya.
• Surabaya Post is one of historical newspaper that had provincial circulation.

Besides that, there are two popular Javanese magazines that are published in Surabaya:

• Penyebar Semangat (Spreader of Spirit) is a historical and popular Javanese magazine.
• Jaya Baya, the other Javanese magazine which used the name of one of the famous Prabu Jaya Baya.

National parks

• Meru Betiri National Park - Between Jember and Banyuwangi districts, this park covers 580 km². Hard to get to, it contains fantastic coastal rainforest and scenery and is home to abundant wildlife.

• Alas Purwo National Park - This 434 km² park is formed by the Blambangan Peninsula (south eastern Java). Comprised of mangrove, savanna, lowland monsoon forests and excellent beaches, the park's name means First Forest in Javanese. Javanese legend says that the earth first emerged from the ocean here.

• Baluran National Park - This 250 km² national park is located in north east Java, once known as Indonesia's little piece of Africa, the parks formerly extensive savanna has been largely replaced by Acacia.

• Mount Bromo and Tengger caldera, Semeru National Park, 7°56.355′ S 112°57.170′ E(alt 2500 m); located at east java (jawa timur) at the region of Probolinggo and Pasuruan, 70km from Surabaya the capital city of east java province. The Mount bromo become one of the great hiking and treking destination for overseas tourist. The breathtaking view of bromo also atrract hundreds of photo enthusiast to see the view up there.

External links

• Pictures of Mount Bromo

See also: East Java, 2000, Acacia, Aceh, Bahasa Indonesia, Bali