Map of Jawa Tengah

History

Java has been inhabited by humans or their ancestors (hominina) since prehistoric times. In Central Java and the adjacent territories in East Java remains known as "Java Man" were discovered in the 1890s by the Dutch anatomist and geologist Eugène Dubois. It belongs to the species Homo erectus, and are believed to be about 1.7 million years old. The Sangiran site is an important prehistoric site on Java.

Around 40,000 years ago, Australoid peoples related to modern Australian Aboriginals and Melanesians settled in Central Java. They were assimilated or replaced by Mongoloid Austronesians by about 3,000 BC, who brought technologies of pottery, outrigger canoes, the bow and arrow, and introduced domesticated pigs, fowls, and dogs. They also introduced cultivated rice and millet.

Geography

According to the slope level of land in Central Java, 38% of the land has a slope of 0–2%, 31% has a slope of 2–15%, 19% has a slope of 15–40%, and the remaining 12% has a slope of more than 40%.

The northern coastal region of Central Java has a narrow lowland. In the Brebes area, it is 40 km wide from the coast, while in Semarang, it is only 4 km wide. This plain continues with the depression of Semarang-Rembang in the east. Mount Muria at the end of the Ice Age (around 10,000 years BC) was a separate island from Java, which eventually fused because of alluvial deposits from flowing rivers. The city of Demak during the era of the Demak Sultanate was on the edge of the sea and became a thriving port. This sedimentation process is still ongoing on the coast of Semarang.

Economy

GDP in the province of Central Java was estimated to be around $US 98 billion in 2010, with a per capita income of around $US 3,300. Economic growth in the province is quite rapid and GDP is forecast to reach $US 180 billion by 2015. The poverty rate of its people is 13% and will be decreased below 6%.

Much of Central Java is a fertile agricultural region. The primary food crop is wet rice. An elaborate irrigation network of canals, dams, aqueducts, and reservoirs has greatly contributed to Central Java's the rice-growing capacity over the centuries. In 2001, productivity of rice was 5,022 kilograms/ha, mostly provided from irrigated paddy field (± 98%). Klaten Regency had the highest productivity with 5525 kilograms/ha.

Demographics

As of the 2010 census, Central Java's population stood at 32.38 million, barely increasing from 2000, compared with the 1990 census when the population was 28 million. This reflected an increase of approximately 13.5% in 20 years. At the 2020 Census the population was 36,516,035, and the official estimate for mid 2025 was 38,233,930.