Java Sea in the context of "Karimata Strait"

Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in the South East Asian country of Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, projected to have risen to 158 million by mid-2025, Java is the world's most populous island, home to approximately 56% of the Indonesian population while constituting only 7% of its land area. Indonesia's capital city, Jakarta, is on Java's northwestern coast.

Many of the best known events in Indonesian history took place on Java. It was the centre 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. Four of Indonesia's eight UNESCO world heritage sites are located in Java: Ujung Kulon National Park, Borobudur Temple, Prambanan Temple, and Sangiran Early Man Site.

The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by South China, in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Philippines (mainly Luzon, Mindoro, and Palawan), and in the south by Borneo, eastern Sumatra, and the Bangka Belitung Islands, encompassing an area of around 3,500,000 km (1,400,000 sq mi). It communicates with the East China Sea via the Taiwan Strait, the Philippine Sea via the Luzon Strait, the Sulu Sea via the straits around Palawan, the Java Sea via the Karimata and Bangka Straits, and directly with the Gulf of Thailand. Additionally, the Gulf of Tonkin is part of the South China Sea.

$3.4 trillion of the world's $16 trillion maritime shipping passed through the South China Sea in 2016. Oil and natural gas reserves have been found in the area. The Western Central Pacific accounted for 14% of the world's commercial fishing in 2010.

Jakarta, officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and an autonomous region at the provincial level. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta is the largest metropole in Southeast Asia and serves as the Headquarters of ASEAN. The Special Region has a status equivalent to that of a province and is bordered by the province of West Java to the south and east and Banten to the west. Its coastline faces the Java Sea to the north, and it shares a maritime border with Lampung to the west. Jakarta's metropolitan area has an estimated population of 41.9 million as of 2025, making it the largest urban area in Indonesia and the world; in addition of being ASEAN's second largest economy after Singapore.

Jakarta is the economic, cultural, and political centre of Indonesia. Although Jakarta extends over only 661.23 km (255.30 sq mi) and thus has the smallest area of any Indonesian province, its metropolitan area covers 7,076.31 km (2,732.18 sq mi), which includes the satellite cities of Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, South Tangerang, and Bekasi. Jakarta ranks first among the Indonesian provinces in the human development index. Jakarta's business and employment opportunities, along with its ability to offer a potentially higher standard of living compared to other parts of the country, have attracted migrants from across the Indonesian archipelago, making it a melting pot of numerous cultures.

Central Java (Indonesian: Jawa Tengah, Javanese: ꦗꦮꦶꦩꦢꦾ, romanized: Jawi Tengah) is a province of Indonesia, located in the middle of the island of Java. Its administrative capital is Semarang. It is bordered by West Java in the west, the Indian Ocean and the Special Region of Yogyakarta in the south, East Java in the east, and the Java Sea in the north. It has a total area of 33,750.37 km, with a population of 36,516,035 at the 2020 Census making it the third-most populous province in both Java and Indonesia after West Java and East Java. The official population estimate in mid-2024 was 37,892,280 (comprising 19,037,740 males and 18,854,540 females). The province also includes a number of offshore islands, including the island of Nusakambangan in the south (close to the border of West Java), and the Karimun Jawa Islands in the Java Sea.

Central Java is also a cultural concept that includes the Yogyakarta Special Region, in turn including the city of Yogyakarta; however, administratively that city and its surrounding regencies have formed a separate special region (equivalent to a province) since the country's independence, and is administered separately. Although known as the "heart" of Javanese culture, there are several other non-Javanese ethnic groups, such as the Sundanese on the border with West Java. Chinese Indonesians, Arab Indonesians, and Indian Indonesians are also scattered throughout the province.

East Java (Indonesian: Jawa Timur, Javanese: ꦙꦮꦶꦮꦺꦠꦤ꧀, romanized: Jawi Wétan, Madurese: Jhâbâ Tèmor) is a province of Indonesia located in the easternmost third of Java island. It has a land border only with the province of Central Java to the west; the Java Sea and the Indian Ocean border its northern and southern coasts, respectively, while the narrow Bali Strait to the east separates Java from Bali by around 2.29 kilometres (1.42 mi). Located in eastern Java, the province also includes the island of Madura (which is connected to Java by the longest bridge in Indonesia, the Suramadu Bridge), as well as the Kangean islands and other smaller island groups located further east (in the northern Bali Sea) and the Masalembu archipelago to the north. Its capital is Surabaya, the second largest city in Indonesia, a major industrial center and also a major business center. Banyuwangi is the largest regency in East Java and the largest on the island of Java.

The province covers a land area of 48,036.84 square kilometres (18,547.13 sq mi), and according to the 2010 Census, there were 37,476,757 people residing there, making it Indonesia's second-most-populous province; the 2020 Census showed an increase to 40,665,696 people, while the official estimate for mid 2024 was 41,914,499 (comprising 20,848,660 males and 20,965,880 females). Almost a quarter of the population lives inside the Greater Surabaya metropolitan area. East Java is inhabited by many different ethnic groups, such as the Javanese, Madurese and Chinese. Most of the people in East Java adhere to Islam, forming around 94% of the total population. Other religions are also practiced, such as Christianity, Buddhism and Confucianism which are mostly practised by Tionghoa people and immigrants from Eastern Indonesia and North Sumatra, and also Hinduism which are practised by the Tenggerese people in the Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park and the Balinese people inhabiting the easternmost part of the province bordering Bali as well as the dominant minority Indian Indonesians in Surabaya city.

Sumatra (/sʊˈmɑːtrə/) is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km (182,812 mi.), including adjacent islands such as the Simeulue, Nias, Mentawai, Enggano, Riau Islands, Bangka Belitung and Krakatoa archipelago.

Sumatra is an elongated landmass spanning a diagonal northwest–southeast axis. The Indian Ocean borders the northwest, west, and southwest coasts of Sumatra, with the island chain of Simeulue, Nias, Mentawai, and Enggano off the western coast. In the northeast, the narrow Strait of Malacca separates the island from the Malay Peninsula, which is an extension of the Eurasian continent. In the southeast, the narrow Sunda Strait, containing the Krakatoa archipelago, separates Sumatra from Java. The northern tip of Sumatra is near the Andaman Islands, while off the southeastern coast lie the islands of Bangka and Belitung, Karimata Strait and the Java Sea. The Bukit Barisan mountains, which contain several active volcanoes, form the backbone of the island, while the northeastern area contains large plains and lowlands with swamps, mangrove forest and complex river systems. The equator crosses the island at its centre in West Sumatra and Riau provinces. The climate of the island is tropical, hot, and humid. Lush tropical rain forest once dominated the landscape.

The Lesser Sunda Islands (Indonesian: Kepulauan Sunda Kecil, Tetum: Illá Sunda ki'ik sirá, Balinese: ᬓᬧᬸᬮᭀᬯᬦ᭄ᬲᬸᬦ᭄ᬤᬘᬾᬦᬶᬓ᭄, romanized: Kapuloan Sunda cénik), now known as Nusa Tenggara Islands (Indonesian: Kepulauan Nusa Tenggara, or "Southeast Islands"), are an archipelago in the Indonesian archipelago. Most of the Lesser Sunda Islands are located within the Wallacea region, except for the Bali province which is west of the Wallace Line and is within the Sunda Shelf. Together with the Greater Sunda Islands to the west, they make up the Sunda Islands. The islands are part of a volcanic arc, the Sunda Arc, formed by subduction along the Sunda Trench in the Java Sea. In 1930 the population was 3,460,059; today over 17 million people live on the islands. Etymologically, Nusa Tenggara means "Southeast Islands" from the words of nusa which means 'island' from Old Javanese language and tenggara means 'southeast'.

The main Lesser Sunda Islands are, from west to east: Bali, Lombok, Sumbawa, Flores, Sumba, Savu, Rote, Timor, Atauro, Alor archipelago, Barat Daya Islands, and Tanimbar Islands. Apart from the eastern half of Timor island and Atauro island which constitute the nation of Timor Leste, all the other islands are part of Indonesia.

The Bangka Belitung Islands (Indonesian: Kepulauan Bangka Belitung) is a province of Indonesia. Situated off the southeastern coast of Sumatra, the province comprises two main land masses — the islands of Bangka and Belitung — and numerous smaller islands. Bangka Belitung is bordered by the Bangka Strait to the west, the Natuna Sea to the north, the Java Sea is to the south and the Karimata Strait to the east; the two principal islands are separated by the Gaspar Strait, within which lie lesser islands such as Lepar, Pongok (or Liak) and Mendanau.

The province's capital and largest city is Pangkalpinang. The province shares maritime borders with South Sumatra to the west, Riau Islands to the north, Banten, the Special Capital Region of Jakarta, West Java, and Central Java to the south, and West Kalimantan to the east. Bangka Belitung covers a land area of 16,690.13 km (6,444.10 sq mi) and had a population of 1,455,678 according to the 2020 census; the official estimate as at mid 2024 was 1,531,530 (comprising 786,010 males and 745,520 females).