Javanese is believed to be the largest language without an official status, and thus the largest minority language, in the world.
Javanese is spoken by the people on the island of Java, Indonesia, and half of the population of Indonesia. With just under 100 million people using it as a first language, it’s the 10th most spoken language in the world. In fact, all the presidents of Indonesia, since 1945, have been of Javanese origin.
Javanese is closely related to Sundanese and Balinese and most Javanese also speak Bahasa Indonesia (a variety of Malay) spoken in Indonesia. Interestingly, a variety of Javanese is spoken in Suriname where it is either first or second language in about 10% of the households.
Javanese is a member of the Malayo-Polynesian language group. Other languages in this language group include Tagalog, Maori and Malagasy.
For more information contact us here: Javanese Translation Services.
