The Java Sea is located between the islands of Indonesia. It is a shallow and extensive sea on the Sunda shelf. Java sea has a long history and its geographical importance is well known because of the Battle of the Java Sea.

Interesting Facts About Java Sea

There are some fascinating facts about the Java sea. Let us take a look at those facts.

1) Location of the Sea

Interesting Facts About Java Sea

Java sea is located on the Sunda shelf. The Sunda shelf was formed when Southeast Asia’s continental shelf was extended to the southeast. The sea is surrounded by Indonesian islands. Borneo island is to the north, Java island to the south, Sulawesi island to the east, and Sumatra to the west. The sea is part of the western Pacific Ocean and it is linked to the South China sea by Karimata Strait.

Also read: Deepest parts of the Ocean

2) Formation

It is interesting to know that the sea was formed because of the rise in sea levels at the time of the last ice age. The ice age is a very long period in which the decrease in temperature of the earth’s surface or atmosphere takes place and causes the expansion of polar and continental ice sheets.

Also read: 25 Amazing Facts About the Indian Ocean

3) Geographical aspects

The surface area of the sea is 320,000 square kilometers and the average depth is 46 m. The maximum length and maximum width of the sea are 1600 km and 380 km respectively. The average depth of the sea is just 46 meters because it is a shallow sea.

4) Battle of the Java Sea

The Java Sea was a major part of World War 2. One of the costliest naval battles in World War 2 was the Battle of Java Sea. The battle took place in 1942 from February to March. The forces of Britain, Australia, the Netherlands, and the US came together to fight against the Japanese attack.

However, all of them had to face a disastrous defeat at the hands of Japan. It was a battle fought by these counties to defend Java from Japan. Although, they were no match to Japanese forces. This was an important battle in the Pacific war region.

Since then the Java Sea has been a notable point in history.

5) Group of islands

Many islands are present around the sea. As mentioned above, the Borneo island is to the north, the island of Java to the south, Sumatra island to the west, and the island of Sulawesi are to the east. These are the main islands.  Apart from this, many other islands are present.

These islands mainly belong to Indonesia and some belong to other surrounding countries. When these islands are combined they form Sunda.

6) Marine life

Coral reef of Karimunjawa

The Java sea is home to more than 3,000 species of marine life. Several national parks also exist in the areas of Karimunjawa. The sea is rich in its Flora and Fauna. Due to this reason, fishing is a primary economic activity carried out by people.

Species like Sponges, starfish, crabs, prawns and many others are found here.  An expedition was done in 2018, by Singapore and Indonesia together to explore the deep-sea marine life of the unexplored western part of the Java sea. This implies that the sea is rich in marine life and explorations are carried out for it.

7) Airplane crash incidents

Indonesia AirAsia Flight 8501 crashed in the sea on 28 December 2014. The plane was on its way to Singapore from Surabaya of East Java. All 162 crew members and passengers died in the crash.

Another airplane Lion Air FLight 610 crashed in the sea on 29 October 2018. It crashed right after its takeoff from Soekarno-Hatta International Airport located in Jakarta. All the 189 passengers and crew members are presumed to be dead.

An air crash that happened recently was on 9 January 2021. Sriwijaya Air Flight 182 crashed at the Laki island just after the takeoff with the death of 12 crew members and 50 passengers.

8) Economic importance

Explorations for petroleum and natural gas in the Java Sea were successful and hence the sea has become economically important. Indonesia’s export facilities highly depend on this factor.

At the Southern Java sea and at Kalimantan many oil fields are present. Kalimantan is a small portion of Borneo island.

Fishing is also an economic activity due to the rich marine life of the Java Sea.

The tourism industry is highly active as Scuba diving is offered here. One can enjoy the popular destinations near the Java Sea.

Other quick facts are as follows:

• Piracy activities have increased in the Java Sea in the last few years
• A ship named Indono sank in the sea in 1955 and is believed to be still lying under the Java Sea.
• According to the International Hydrographic Organization, the Java Sea is considered one of the East Indian Archipelago’s waters.
• It is a shallow sea unlike most of the seas.
• Various ships have sunk in the sea and hence it is an area for explorations.
• The Java Sea is considered to be one of the most significant waterways in the world.

This was the information regarding the facts of the Java sea. Hope it was precise, informative, and helpful.