Madura is an Indonesian island off the northeastern coast of Java. The island comprises an area of approximately 4,250 km². Madura is administered as part of the East Java province. It is separated from Java by the narrow Strait of Madura.
Demography
Madura has a population of about 4 million, most of whom are ethnically Madurese. The main language of Madura is Madurese, one of an Austronesian languages, which is also spoken in part of eastern Java and on many of the 66 outlying islands.
Administration
Madura Island is part of East Java province and is divided into four regencies:
1. Bangkalan
2. Sampang
3. Pamekasan
4. Sumenep
Sumenep Regency includes many small islands to the east of Madura, the Kangean Islands.
Culture
Bull racing
Bull racing in Sumenep, Madura
Madura is famous for is bull-racing competitions, where a jockey, usually a young boy, rides a simple wooden sled pulled by a pair of bulls over a course of about 100 meters in ten to fifteen seconds. Several towns on the island hold races in August and September of each year, with a large final for the Presidential Trophy held in Pamekasan in late September or October.
Music and theater
Several forms of music and theater are popular on Madura, particularly among poorer people for whom they provide an inexpensive form of entertainment and community-building. The topeng theater, which involves masked performances of classical stories such as the Ramayana and Mahabharata, is the Madurese performance art best known outside the island, due to its role as a representative Madurese art form at exhibitions of regional cultures from all over Indonesia. However, performances of it are rare on Madura, and are generally restricted to entertainment at large official functions. The less formal loddrok theater, where performers do not wear masks and perform a wider range of themes, is more popular on the island.
The gamelan orchestra, best known as a classical Javanese instrument, is also played on Madura, where several of the former royal courts, such as at Bangkalan and Sumenep, possess elaborate gamelans. Tongtong music, more exclusive to Madura, is played on several wooden or bamboo drums, and often accompanies bull-racing competitions.
