East Java

East Java is a province of Indonesia. Located in eastern Java, it includes the islands of Madura, which is connected to Java by the longest bridge in Indonesia, Suramadu Bridge, as well as the Kangean and Masalembu archipelagos located further east and north, respectively. Its capital is Surabaya, the second largest city in Indonesia and a major industrial center. Banyuwangi is the largest regency in East java and also in Java Island

It covers an area of 47,800 km2, According to the 2010 Census estimates, there were 37,476,757 people residing in the East Java, making it Indonesia's second-most-populous province; the latest official estimates (for January 2014) is 38,529,481.

It has a land border only with the province of Central Java to the west; Java Sea and Indian Ocean border its northern and southern coasts, respectively, while the narrow Bali Strait to the east separates Java from Bali.

History

The history of East Java was substantially of the Majapahit Kingdom - which reached its golden age under Hayam Wuruk in 1350–1389. However, after his death, Majapahit was ruined by other kingdoms.

Following the European occupation, the kingdom was replaced by the Residency system. There were eight Residencies within East Java: Bojonegoro, Madiun, Kediri, Malang, Surabaya, Probolinggo, Besuki and Madura.

In November 1947, a State of East Java was formed under Dutch auspices as part of the United States of Indonesia. After the Dutch-Indonesian Round Table Conference, many people demanded that the state of East Java should be dissolved and become a part of the Republic of Indonesia.

Natural resources

• Chalk (Trenggalek & Gresik)
• Cement (Gresik)
• Marble (Tulungagung)
• Petroleum (Bojonegoro)
• Salt (Madura Island)
• Kaolinite (Blitar)
• Sulfur (Banyuwangi)
• Gold (Banyuwangi)

Seaports

East Java has a famous seaport Tanjung Perak, Surabaya. in 2013, the government planned to build 4 seaports: in Lamongan, Gresik, Tanjung Tembaga in Probolinggo and Tanjung Wangi in Banyuwangi.

National parks

• Meru Betiri National Park - Between Jember and Banyuwangi districts, this park covers 580 km2 (224 sq mi). Hard to get to, it contains fantastic coastal rainforest and scenery and is home to abundant wildlife.
• Alas Purwo National Park - This 434 km2 (168 sq mi) park is formed by the Blambangan Peninsula (southeastern Java). Comprising 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 (97 sq mi) national park is located in northeastern Java, known as The Little Africa, formerly extensive savanna has been largely replaced by Acacia.
• Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park - Located in East Java at the region of Probolinggo and Pasuruan, 70 km (43 mi) from Surabaya the capital city of East Java province. Mount Bromo is one of the great hiking and trekking destinations for overseas tourists. The scenic view of Bromo also attracts hundreds of photo enthusiasts to see the views there.

Local economic governance

Based on the survey conducted between August 2010 and January 2011, East Java included 11 of the top 20 cities and regencies of the local economic governance which measures nine parameters:

• infrastructure
• private enterprises development program
• access to land
• interaction between local administrations and businesses
• business licensing
• local taxes and fees
• security and business conflict resolution
• capacity and integrity of regional heads
• quality of local regulations

The top 5 were:

• Blitar, East Java
• North Lampung Regency, Lampung
• Probolinggo, East Java
• Batu, East Java
• Sorong Regency, West Papua

Cuisine

East Java cuisine tends to be hotter than that of Central and West Java. Rujak Soto from Banyuwangi is also famous these days.