“ Jawa ” or "Java" is a term often heard in everyday interactions. Java is the name of an island in Indonesia.. This island is part of the great Sunda archipelago and the Sunda shelf, which in the period before the ice melts is the southeastern tip of the continent. 138,793.6 km2 Area of the island, is the thirteenth largest island in the world
This island is the largest population compared with other islands in Indonesia and is the island densest in Indonesia. The majority of the population on the island of Java Java is a tribe. Ethnic groups of Java, is Indonesia's largest tribe. They mainly live in the province of Central Java and East Java.
However, in the provinces of West Java are also found in many Javanese people, especially in Indramayu and Cirebon regency which the majority of people are a people who speak Javanese and Javanese culture. It also happened in the middle of the island of Java, were also found pockets of tribal communities or tribes Sunda. Sundanese-speaking nations, especially in Brebes and Cilacap district. In addition there are also tribal and ethnic Madurese in East Java and Bali Betawi people in west Java, Jakarta and surrounding cities.
Ethnic Javanese also spread in many parts of Indonesia such as in Lampung, Banten, Jakarta and North Sumatra. The Javanese also has a sub-tribe, like Osing and Tengger
In everyday interactions, most of the tribes of Java using Java language. In a survey conducted by Tempo magazine in the early 1990s, data showed that the number who use
Java as a language ahasa b sehari-hari mencapai 70%. daily to reach 70%. Sedangkan yang memakai bahasa Indonesia kurang lebih hanya 12%, sisanya sekitar 18% menggunakan bahasa secara campur antara b ahasa Jawa dan bahasa Indonesia. Meanwhile, Indonesian wearing only about 12%, the remaining approximately 18% using language in a mix between b ahasa Javanese and Indonesian language.
Java language has a vocabulary of different rules and intonation based on the relationship between speaker and listener, known as the unggah-ungguh. This linguistic aspect has a strong social influence in Java culture, and Java typically make people very conscious of their social status in society
According to the American anthropological research expert, Clifford Geertz, done in the 1960s, society was divided Javanese into three groups:
• Kaum santri or The students, is a devout follower of Islam.
• Kaum abangan or Abangan, are adherents of Islam in nominal or adherent Javanist.
• Kaum Priyayi or The aristocracy, is the nobility.
Today Geertz opinion widely repudiated as he mixed adukkan between social groups with a group trust. Social categorization is also difficult to apply in classifying people out, let people of other Indonesian and non-indigenous ethnic groups such as people of Arab descent Tionghoa and India.
Most Javanese are nominally Muslim, then followed by Protestant and Catholic and Buddhist and Hindu religions. In addition to urban, adherents of a religion other than Islam can also be found in rural areas,
There are even some religious beliefs Java tribe called Javanist religion. This belief is mainly based on animistic beliefs with the Hindu-Buddhist influence is strong. Society is famous Javanese syncretism nature of belief. All foreign culture is absorbed and interpreted according to the values of Java so that the trust somebody sometimes become blurred.
Java tribe known as the type of "worker" good, not so demanding and tough, so many Javanese people who work as civil servants and the military, others worked as unskilled laborers, domestic servants and laborers in the forests outside country. In the field of business and industry, other than as workers, widening the java is not too prominent.
Art, in the life of Javanese people have a special place. Hence the famous Javanese culture. One of the most famous puppet performances or Wayang Kulit. This is the beauty of Hindu-Buddhist influence. Repertory puppet story or play is largely based on the epic Ramayana and the Mahabharata. Besides the influence of Hinduism and Buddhism, several other types of arts and culture also influenced by the Islamic religion and culture Western world.
In ethics, ethnic Javanese are known as polite and soft-spoken. But they are also known as ethnic groups that are closed and do not want to come clean. This trait is reportedly based on the character of the Javanese people who want to maintain harmony and avoid conflict or harmony, which is why they tend to be silent and did not argue when there is a difference of opinion.
