West Java covers roughly the western third of the Java island (46,300 square kilometers, excluding Jakarta). This fascinating province stretches from the Sunda Strait in the West to the borders of Central Java in the east. West Java is not only Indonesia’s most populous province, but also is the most productive – yielding more agricultural products and manufactured goods than any other part of Indonesia.

West Java region is noticeably more mountainous than the rest of the island. The mountain area is beautiful and serene with its rich green valleys hugging lofty volcanic peaks, many of which surround the capital of the province, Bandung. In the ancient times, the north coastal area was extremely swampy and inhospitable. As the result, it was the remote but fertile and well watered river valleys of the central highlands that were settled and cultivated. Now this area stretches from Bogor in the west through Cianjur, Bandung and Ciamis in the east. This area is famous as the Priangan or Parahyangan – The “Abode of the Gods” in Sundanese folklore – and now is inhabited by Sundanese people.

More than three-fourths of West Java’s inhabitants are Sundanese. They speak a language different from the Javanese, Madurese or Jakarta malay spoken on the rest of the island, and have developed their own sophisticated cultural and artistic traditions.

The history of West Java is a story of trade, spices, and the rise and fall of powerful kingdoms. Ancient Sundanese kingdoms flourished in West Java from at least the 5th century, but left few stone monuments due to the isolation and sparse population in the former time. In the late 1500’s the region was ruled from mighty Cirebon, which still survives as a sultanate today, although a shadow of its former glory. West Java was one of the first contact points in Indonesia for Indian traders and their cultural influences, and it was here that the Dutch and British first set foot in the archipelago.