Javanese language

Javanese
ꦧꦱꦗꦮ (Basa Jawa)
Native to	Indonesia (esp. Java, Kalimantan), Suriname, New Caledonia
Native speakers	82 million  (2007)
Language family	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian Nuclear MP Javanese
Early forms:	Old Javanese Javanese
Writing system	Javanese alphabet (optional) Pegon alphabet (religious use) Latin (general)
Language codes
ISO 639-1	jv
ISO 639-2	jav
ISO 639-3	Variously: jav – Javanese jvn – Caribbean Javanese jas – New Caledonian Javanese osi – Osing tes – Tenggerese kaw – Old Javanese
Dark green: areas where Javanese is the majority language. Light green: where it is a minority language.

The Javanese language is a Austronesian language. It is spoken mostly on Java, in Indonesia.

Demographic distribution of Javanese speakers

Javanese is spoken throughout Indonesia, neighboring Southeast Asian countries, the Netherlands, Suriname, New Caledonia and other countries. However, the greatest concentration of speakers is in the six provinces of Java itself, and in the neighboring Sumatran province of Lampung.

Below, a table with the number of native speakers in 1980 is provided.

	Indonesian province	% of the population	Javanese speakers (1980)
1.	Aceh province	6.7%	175,000
2.	North Sumatra	21.0%	1,757,000
3.	West Sumatra	1.0%	56,000
4.	Jambi	17.0%	245,000
5.	South Sumatra	12.4%	573,000
6.	Bengkulu	15.4%	118,000
7.	Lampung	62.4%	2,886,000
8.	Riau	8.5%	184,000
9.	Jakarta	3.6%	236,000
10.	West Java	13.3%	3,652,000
11.	Central Java	96.9%	24,579,000
12.	Yogyakarta	97.6%	2,683,000
13.	East Java	74.5%	21,720,000
14.	Bali	1.1%	28,000
15.	West Kalimantan	1.7%	41,000
16.	Central Kalimantan	4.0%	38,000
17.	South Kalimantan	4.7%	97,000
18.	East Kalimantan	10.1%	123,000
19.	North Sulawesi	1.0%	20,000
20.	Central Sulawesi	2.9%	37,000
21.	Southeast Sulawesi	3.6%	34,000
22.	Maluku	1.1%	16,000

Other websites

• Javanese Writing System
• Ethnologue report on Javanese
• Javanese in Suriname strive to preserve origins Jakarta Post article