Madura, an island of the Dutch East Indies, separated by a narrow strait from the north-east of Java, with an area of 1764 sq. m. It is mostly barren, but possesses numerous forests and salt marshes. Along with some eighty smaller islands, lying mostly to the east, it forms a Dutch residency; area 2040 sq. m.; population 1,500,000
The people, of Malay descent, resemble the Javanese, but are stronger, more enduring, and more enterprising; they make the best native soldiers in the Dutch colonial army.