The Bantenese people (Sundanese: ᮅᮛᮀ ᮘᮔ᮪ᮒᮨᮔ᮪ romanized: Urang Banten) are an indigenous ethnic group native to Banten in the westernmost hemiphere of Java island, Indonesia. The area of Banten province corresponds more or less with the area of the former Banten Sultanate, a Bantenese nation state that preceded Indonesia. In his book "The Sultanate of Banten", Guillot Claude writes on page 35: “These estates, owned by the Bantenese of Chinese descent, were concentrated around the village of Kelapadua.” Most of Bantenese are Sunni Muslim. The Bantenese speak the Bantenese language, a variety of the Sundanese language which does not have a general linguistic register, this language is called Basa Sunda Banten (Sundanese language of Banten).