why is Java so much more densely populated than all the other islands of Indonesia?

Question

*note* that the high population density of Java PREDATES globalization and industrialization and colonization by the Dutch, etc.
Java has ALWAYS been densely populated. I want to know what the historical reason for this is.
Thanks.

Answer 1

The popular science writer Jared Diamond ("Guns, Germs, & Steel) would probably have a very good answer to this question. His approach is to go back 13,000 years, find small differences then, and watch them magnify over time.

The prehistoric Java Man was found, of course, on Java. The South China Sea is shallow, and during ice ages when ocean levels were low, there were land bridges in the area. Australia was populated this way via New Guinea. The biologist Alfred Wallace, a contemporary and correspondent of Charles Darwin, investigated the flora and fauna of Southeast Asia and found a line east of Java, now known as the Wallace Line, where everything was different, including the racial stock, on either side of the line. This indicated, among other things, that Java was inhabited earlier than the other side of the line.

Of the large islands of Indonesia (the Malay Archipelago), Java has more of an east-west orientation than any other. This matters because the entire archipelago is volcanic in origin, situated at the confluence of at least three major plate boundaries. All the islands are divided by high mountain ranges, and this affects monsoon patterns and rainfall amounts. In the case of Java, the mountains run east and west, mostly on the south side of the island. Slopes are gentler to the north, and the fertile volcanic soil is watered by rivers and streams that are longer and less rapid than those elsewhere. Fertile plains and valleys are found in the central and eastern parts of the island at several different elevations. The east-west orientation contributes to this.

These conditions, to various degrees, are different than in the other large islands such as Sumatra, Borneo, Sulawesi (Celebes), and New Guinea. It's also different than peninsular Malaya, which has a north-south orientation.

The result is that the geography of Java, coupled with its early occupancy by humans, can support a substantial agricultural economy.

Diamond could say it better, but that's your answer.

To continue just a bit, there were some notable civilizations there during the first millennium C.E., notably the Sailendra and the rivals to the Sri Vijayan dynasty of nearby Sumatra. Chinese emigrated to Java at an early date, and of course, Java lies on the trade route to the Spice Islands (Malaccas). Sea pirates thrived once upon a time. The ruins of Borubdur are quite impressive.

The Indonesians are of Malay stock, and the languages Bahasa Malaysia and Bahasa Indonesia are very similar. Islam came to Indonesia in about the fourteenth century by way of Arab traders. Indonesia is now the largest Islamic country in the world.

From the colonial period on, you know about that.

Answer 2

Taiwan. The website that the girl provided you is great, but is a list for island countries. For example, Malaysia is a group of Islands, Japan is also. So, in the strict meaning of the world "island", the most populated is Taiwan, which ranks 5 on the top 10 most populated island countries in the world. Oh.. and Australia IS an island, the continent is Oceania.

Answer 3

They drink a lot of java (coffee)and can't sleep.So they do the next best thing,pro create.

Answer 4

"Java condom, please?"
"Sorry, no, I don't".
"Oh well".