Encyclopedia Of Bawean Island
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Bawean (Indonesian: Pulau Bawean) is an island of Indonesia located approximately 150 km north of Surabaya in the Java Sea, off the coast of Java. It is administered by Gresik Regency of East Java province. It is approximately 15 km in diameter and is circumnavigated by a single narrow road. Bawean is dominated by an extinct volcano at its center that rises to 655 m above sea level. Its population as of 2009 is about 75,000 people, but more than 26,000 of them (that is about 70% of the male population) were temporarily living outside, working in other parts of Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia).[5] As a result, females constituted about 77% of the actual population of the island, which is thus often referred to as the island of women (Indonesian: Pulau Putri).[4][6]
The island territory is divided into two regions, Sangkapura and Tambak. More than half the population (about 48,000) lives in the city of Sangkapura located on the southern coast of the island.[1] The island has rich nature with many endemic species, such as Bawean Deer which is only found on the island and is included to the IUCN Red List. There are several large underwater petroleum and gas fields around the island.
The island’s name is believed to originate from the Kawi (or Sanskrit) phrase ba (light) we (the sun) an (is), that is “having the sunlight”. According to the legend, Javanese sailors wandering in the mist in 1350 named the island so because they saw a glimpse of light around it; before the island was known under Arabic name of Majidi.[7][8][9][10]
During the Dutch colonization in the 18–20th centuries, the island was renamed into Lubok, but the name Bawean continued to be used by the locals and even among the Dutch.[11][12] The Dutch name was abandoned in the 1940s.
As a linguistic variation, the island is also called Boyan and its natives Boyanese. These names are also common in Malaysia and Singapore, being brought there by numerous visitors from Bawean.[9][10] Another popular appellation is the island of women (Indonesian: Pulau Putri). It originates from the predominance of the actual female population, as since the 19th century most males are taking part-time jobs outside Bawean. So whereas the nominal female population was about 52% in 2009, the actual fraction (corrected for residents abroad) was about 77%. This imbalance is a subject of national and international studies.