Geography and Topography

The port of Sangkapura at sunset

Bawean is an island of Indonesia located approximately 200km north of Surabaya in the Java Sea. The name comes from Sanskrit meaning "there is sunlight". It is approximately 15km in diameter and is circumnavigated by a single narrow road. Bawean is dominated by an extinct volcano at its center that rises over 650m above sea level. The islands population is around 65,000. Approximately 40,000 live in the capital of Sangkapura and the rest live in small villages scattered around the island. Topographically, the island rises to a point at the volcano near the center and descends through lush jungle to white-sand beaches, tidepools, and mangrove stands. Like many islands in southeast Asia, Bawean is surrounded by several coral reefs and multiple sand-islands (noko). Image File history File links Download high resolution version (891x590, 44 KB)Picture of the port of Sangkapura, Bawean at sunset. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (891x590, 44 KB)Picture of the port of Sangkapura, Bawean at sunset. ... Surabaya (formerly Soerabaja) is Indonesias second-largest city, and the capital of the province of East Java. ... The Java Sea (Jawa Sea) is a large ( 310,000 sq. ... The Sanskrit language ( संस्कृता वाक्) is one of the earliest attested members of the Indo-European language family and is not only a classical language, but also an official language of India. ...

Waterfall from Teraga Kastoba

Image File history File links Download high resolution version (593x887, 76 KB)Waterfall from Teraga Kastoba File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (593x887, 76 KB)Waterfall from Teraga Kastoba File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...

Language and Culture

The language of Bawean is officially Indonesian (Bahasa Indonesia), though being as remote as it is many still speak the original dialect, similar to Madurese. The culture is also similar (at least to an outsider) to Madurese though Bawean has had even less exposure to outside influences and contact with the West. However, the people are friendly and polite to outsiders. Indonesian (Bahasa Indonesia) is the official language of Indonesia and a remarkable language in several ways. ... Madurese is the spoken language of people from Madura island. ... Madurese is the spoken language of people from Madura island. ...

Bawean is also called "The Island of Women" because of the large number of men that become merchant sailors. There is a saying on Bawean to the effect of "You are not really a man until you have spent several years abroad." It is not uncommon to find Baweanese who have been to Europe, China, Japan, and even North America and South America. World map showing location of Europe Europe is geologically and geographically a peninsula, forming the westernmost part of Eurasia. ... World map showing location of North America A satellite composite image of North America North America is a continent in the northern hemisphere, bounded on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the south by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west... South America South America is a continent crossed by the equator, with most of its area in the Southern Hemisphere. ...

Bawean is entirely Muslim, though this is heavily blended with shamanism and folk animism. For instance, the prevailing belief on the island is that if you swim in Teraga Kastoba, the crater lake, you will become cursed and die. Shamanism is a range of traditional beliefs and practices that involve the ability to diagnose, cure, and sometimes cause human suffering by traversing the axis mundi and forming a special relationship with, or gaining control over, spirits. ... Animism is the belief that personalized supernatural beings (or souls) inhabit all objects and govern their existence. ...

Economy

The men not working the freighters are almost exclusively either fishermen or farmers. The dominant crop is rice, and the island lends itself to rice production due to its gentle sloping towards the ocean with a large water reservoir and river at [relatively] high altitude.

Bawean is extremely undeveloped by Western standards. Some houses in Sangkapura have electricity and the city has a few telephone centers where anyone may pay to make calls. Some buildings may have running water. There is only one net cafe on the island and the connection to its two computers is spotty at best. The rest of the island is almost entirely without electricity or running water. There are few motorized vehicles, and most travel is done by bicycle, horse and cart, or becak. An Internet cafe or cybercafe is a place where one can use a computer with Internet access for a fee, usually per hour or minute; sometimes one can have unmetered access with a pass for a day or month, etc. ... Passengers and drivers meet at this auto rickshaw stand in Chennai. ...

Flora & Fauna

• The island produces, though does not export, many kinds of fruit including Mangosteen, Durian, Merah Mudah (lit, Red Fruit), Snakefruit, and many varieties of bananas.

• Bawean is home to Bawean Deer (Axis Kuhlii), a species unique to the island.

• Thousands of species of fish inhabit the reefs around the island.

Binomial name Garcinia mangostana L. The mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana) is a tropical evergreen tree, believed to have originated in the Sunda Islands and the Moluccas. ... Species Durio dulcis Durio graveolens Durio kutejensis Durio oxlevanus Durio zibethinus The Durian (Durio) is a plant and genus of 25-30 species of tropical trees native to southeast Asia. ... Binomial name Salacca edulis Reinw. ...

External Links

1. UNESCO: Migration Report on Malaysia