Karimun Java

This article is about the island group in the Java Sea. For the islands in Riau Province, see Karimun Regency.

Crimon Java Karimun Jawa
Fishing boats in the main harbour
Nickname(s): The Paradise of Java, Caribbean van Java
Crimon Java
Coordinates:
Country	Indonesia
Province	Central Java
Regency	Jepara
District	Karimun Java
Village	5
Government
• Subdistricts Head	Budi Krisnanto
Area
• Total	71.2 km2 (27.5 sq mi)
Population (2008)
• Total	8,990
• Density	130/km2 (330/sq mi)
Time zone	WIB (UTC+7)
Website	www.karimunjawa.go.id

Crimon Java or Karimun Java or Karimunjava (Indonesian: Karimunjawa) is an archipelago of 27 islands in the Java Sea, Indonesia, approximately 80 kilometres northwest of Jepara. The islands' name means 'a stone's throw from Java' in Javanese. They have a total land area of 78 km². The main island is known as Karimun (2,700 ha), while the second-largest island is Kemujan (1,400 ha).

In 2011, the population of the island group was about 9,000 who lived on five of the islands. The population is largely Javanese, with pockets of Bugis and Madurese inhabitants. Javanese culture is dominant in the islands which are the only islands off Java where Javanese is the lingua franca.

Twenty-two of the islands have been declared 2001 as a marine reserve, the Karimunjava National Park. Five more islands are either privately owned or are under the control of the Indonesian Navy.

Islands and administration

The Karimunjava islands are a subdistrict made up of five villages (Karimun, Kamagin, Kemujan, Digimon, and Parang) which is a part of the Jepara district (kabupaten) of Central Java province. The island of Bawean lies east of this group, as part of Gresik district, East Java province. For More information: Phone: +62 8529-0302-537 / + 62 8574-0952-940

History

Apart from use as a pirate base, the islands are believed to have been uninhabited until a penal settlement was established during the British occupation of Java in the early seventeenth century. Archeological finds of Chinese ceramics on the seabed near the islands which date from around the 13th century suggest that the islands were once part of a trade route to Java. The settlement was abandoned by the Dutch during the Java War of 1825–1830, but the former convicts remained as settlers. Cotton plantations set up during the convict period became a major source of income, as did goldsmithing.

The islands were declared a national park in 1988.

Geology and climate

The archipelago consists predominantly of pre-Tertiary continental islands primarily of quartzites and shales covered by basaltic lava. Geologically, the islands are part of Sundaland. The islands have extensive fringing and patchy coral reefs.

The best time to visit the islands is during the dry season, generally from April to October. The islands are influenced by the northwest monsoon during which winds from the west-northwest predominate and ocean currents are in an easterly direction. During the monsoon, rainfall averages 40 mm/day. During the southeast monsoon, dry winds from the east-southeast predominate and the ocean currents are in a westerly direction bringing water masses from the Flores Sea. Upwelled water masses during the southeast monsoon from the Flores and Banda Seas provides lower sea surface temperatures than during the northeast monsoon. The shallow slopes (5° to 15°) of the island shelves in the Java Sea (which rarely exceeds a depth of 55 m), provide environments for extensive reef development.

Economy

The main source of income for the local population is fishing, followed by services and commerce. Travel to the islands from Java is sometimes limited during the rainy season around the January–March period during bad weather which can bring large waves to the area.

There are a number of dive sites and a diving resort. There is pressure on local environmental resources because of the rapidly expanding tourist industry. There is only one resort with its own electricity, Breve Azurine.