Demographics and Culture
The city's population was 298,224 at the Indonesia Census of 2010. As with other coastal cities in Indonesia, a large population of ethnic Chinese has flocked into the city as a result of long-term Chinese immigration since the 17th century. Significant suburbs lie within densely populated Cirebon Regency.
| Administrative division | Area (km²) | Population (2010 Census) | Population density (/km²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cirebon (Kota) | 37.54 | 298,224 | 7,944.1 |
| Cirebon Regency | 988.28 | 2,068,116 | 2,100 |
| Greater Cirebon | 1,025.82 | 2,366,340 | 2,306.8 |
Cirebon itself is known as Grage in the Cirebon dialect of Javanese language, which came from the words "Negara Gede", meaning "Great Kingdom."
Although surrounded by Sundanese-speaking areas in West Java, linguists have stated clearly that Cirebon (and the historically related region of Serang city in Banten Province) are Javanese language areas. In addition, this is supported by the Cirebon people referring to themselves as "wong Jawa" ("Javanese people"), and to their language as "basa Jawa" ("Javanese"). However, the Cirebon dialect is sufficiently different from the dominant south central Javanese dialect that it is sometimes assumed to be non-Javanese by outsiders. See also: Java, languages map.
Batik textiles from Cirebon are particularly renowned. The Tari Topeng Cirebon, or Cirebon mask dance, is a dance style peculiar to the city. Tarling is a musical tradition reminiscent of Bandung's kecapi suling music with except that it features guitar, suling (bamboo flute) and voice.
As a coastal city, Cirebon's main industry is fishery. Its products include terasi (shrimp paste), shrimp crackers and salted fish. Cirebon is known for local foods, such as nasi lengko (rice mixed with bean sprouts, fried tofu, fried tempeh, topped with peanut sauce and soy sauce), nasi jamblang (rice of various side dishes), empal gentong ( a kind of curry ), tahu gejrot (fried tofu topped with thin and sweet soy sauce), tahu tek-tek (fried tofu topped with peanut sauce and mixed with vegetables) and ayam panggang (barbecue chicken). Another native food is "Docang" (lontong with sour vegetable soup).
Read more about this topic: Cirebon
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