This early 19th- century pencil sketch shows a Javanese ploughman tending to his rice paddy. His plough is pulled by two water buffaloes.

With a population of 136 million; Java is the world's most populous island; and one of the most densely populated regions in the world. It is home to 60% of Indonesia's population. The Indonesian capital city; Jakarta; is in west Java.

Java was the centre of powerful Hindu-Buddhist empires; Islamic sultanates; the core of the colonial Dutch East Indies; and was at the centre of Indonesia's campaign for independence. The island dominates Indonesian social; political and economic life.