Madurese is a language of the
Madurese people of
Madura Island and eastern
Java,
Indonesia; it is also spoken on the neighbouring small
Kangean Islands and Sapudi Islands, as well as from migrants to other parts of Indonesia, namely the
Tapal Kuda ("horseshoe") area of neighbouring Java (comprising
Pasuruan,
Surabaya,
Malang to
Banyuwangi), the
Masalembu Islands, and even some on
Kalimantan. The
Kangean dialect may be a separate language. It was traditionally written in the
Javanese script, but the
Latin script and the
Pegon script (based on
Arabic script) is now more commonly used. The number of speakers, though shrinking, is estimated to be 8–13 million, making it one of the most widely spoken language in the country. A variant of Madurese that is
Bawean is also spoken by Baweanese (or Boyan) descendants in Malaysia and Singapore.