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searchRepublic of Indonesia
Republik Indonesia
FlagCoat of armsMotto:
Bhinneka Tunggal Ika (
Old Javanese)Unity in DiversityNational ideology:
Pancasila[1]Anthem:
Indonesia RayaCapital(and largest city)Jakarta(land)) 6°10.5′S 106°49.7′E / 6.175°S 106.8283°E / -6.175; 106.8283Official languagesIndonesianDemonymIndonesianGovernmentPresidential republic -
PresidentSusilo Bambang Yudhoyono -
Vice PresidentJusuf KallaIndependencefrom
Netherlands -
Declared17 August 1945
-
Recognized27 December 1949
Area -
Total
1,919,440 (land) km2 (
16th)735,355
sq mi -
Water (
%)
4.85
Population -
July 2008 est. estimate
237,512,352
[2] (
4th)
-
2000 census
206,264,595
-
Density134/km2 (
84th)347/sq mi
GDP (
PPP)
2008 estimate
-
Total
$908.242 billion
[3] -
Per capita$3,986
[3]GDP (nominal)
2008 estimate
-
Total
$511.765 billion
[3] -
Per capita$2,246
[3]Gini (2002)
34.3
HDI (2008)
▼ 0.726 (medium) (
109th)
CurrencyRupiah (
IDR)
Time zonevarious (
UTC+7 to +9)
Drives on theleft
Internet TLD.idCalling code62
The Republic of Indonesia (pronounced
/ˌɪndoʊˈniːziə/ or
/ˌɪndəˈniːʒə/) (
Indonesian: Republik Indonesia), is a country in
Southeast Asia and
Oceania. Indonesia comprises
17,508 islands, and with an estimated population of around 237 million people, it is the world's fourth
most populous country, and has the
largest Muslim population in the world.
Indonesia is a
republic, with an elected legislature and
president. The nation's capital city is
Jakarta. The
transcontinental country shares land borders with
Papua New Guinea,
East Timor and
Malaysia. Other neighboring countries include
Singapore,
Philippines,
Australia, and the Indian territory of the
Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
The Indonesian archipelago has been an important trade region since at least the seventh century, when the
Srivijaya Kingdom traded with China and India. Local rulers gradually adopted Indian cultural, religious and political models from the early centuries
CE, and
Hindu and
Buddhist kingdoms flourished. Indonesian history has been influenced by foreign powers drawn to its natural resources. Muslim traders brought
Islam, and
European powers fought one another to monopolize trade in the
Spice Islands of
Maluku during the
Age of Discovery. Following three and a half centuries of
Dutch colonialism, Indonesia secured
its independence after World War II. Indonesia's history has since been turbulent, with challenges posed by natural disasters, corruption, separatism,
a democratization process, and periods of rapid economic change.
Across its many islands, Indonesia consists of distinct ethnic, linguistic, and religious groups. The
Javanese are the largest and most politically dominant ethnic group. Indonesia has developed a shared identity defined by
a national language, ethnic diversity, religious pluralism within a majority Muslim population, and a history of colonialism and rebellion against it. Indonesia's national motto, "
Bhinneka tunggal ika" ("Unity in Diversity" literally, "many, yet one"), articulates the diversity that shapes the country. However, sectarian tensions and separatism have led to violent confrontations that have undermined political and economic stability. Despite its large population and densely populated regions, Indonesia has vast areas of wilderness that support the world's second highest level of
biodiversity. The country is richly endowed with natural resources, yet poverty is a defining feature of contemporary Indonesia.
Contents[
hide]
1 Etymology2 History3 Government and politics4 Foreign relations and military5 Administrative divisions6 Geography7 Biota and environment8 Economy9 Demographics10 Culture11 See also12 References12.1 General12.2 Notes13 External links//
[
edit] Etymology
The name Indonesia derives from the Latin Indus, meaning "India", and the Greek nesos, meaning "island".
[4] The name dates to the 18th century, far predating the formation of independent Indonesia.
[5] In 1850, George Earl, an English
ethnologist, proposed the terms Indunesians — and, his preference, Malayunesians — for the inhabitants of the "Indian Archipelago or Malayan Archipelago".
[6] In the same publication, a student of Earl's, James Richardson Logan, used Indonesia as a synonym for Indian Archipelago.
[7] However, Dutch academics writing in
East Indies publications were reluctant to use Indonesia. Instead, they used the terms Malay Archipelago (Maleische Archipel); the Netherlands East Indies (Nederlandsch Oost Indië), popularly Indië; the East (de Oost); and even Insulinde.
[8]From 1900, the name Indonesia became more common in academic circles outside the Netherlands, and Indonesian nationalist groups adopted it for political expression.
[9] Adolf Bastian, of the University of Berlin, popularized the name through his book Indonesien oder die Inseln des Malayischen Archipels, 1884–1894. The first Indonesian scholar to use the name was
Suwardi Suryaningrat (Ki Hajar Dewantara), when he established a press bureau in the Netherlands with the name Indonesisch Pers-bureau in 1913.
[5][
edit] History
Main article:
History of IndonesiaAs early as the first century CE Indonesian vessels made trade voyages as far as
Africa. Picture: a ship carved on
Borobudur, circa 800 CE.
Fossilized remains of
Homo erectus, popularly known as the "
Java Man", suggest that the Indonesian archipelago was inhabited two million to 500,000 years ago.
[10] Austronesian people, who form the majority of the modern population, migrated to South East Asia from Taiwan. They arrived in Indonesia around 2000 BCE, and confined the native
Melanesian peoples to the far eastern regions as they expanded.
[11] Ideal agricultural conditions, and the mastering of
wet-field rice cultivation as early as the eighth century BCE,
[12] allowed villages, towns, and small kingdoms to flourish by the first century CE. Indonesia's strategic sea-lane position fostered inter-island and international trade. For example, trade links with both Indian kingdoms and China were established several centuries BCE.
[13] Trade has since fundamentally shaped Indonesian history.
[14]The
nutmeg plant is native to Indonesia's
Banda Islands. Once one of the world's most valuable commodities, it drew the first European colonial powers to Indonesia.
From the seventh century CE, the powerful
Srivijaya naval kingdom flourished as a result of trade and the influences of Hinduism and Buddhism that were imported with it.
[15] Between the eighth and 10th centuries CE, the agricultural Buddhist
Sailendra and Hindu
Mataram dynasties thrived and declined in inland
Java, leaving grand religious monuments such as Sailendra's
Borobudur and Mataram's
Prambanan. The Hindu
Majapahit kingdom was founded in eastern Java in the late 13th century, and under
Gajah Mada, its influence stretched over much of Indonesia; this period is often referred to as a "Golden Age" in Indonesian history.
[16]Although Muslim traders first traveled through South East Asia early in the Islamic era, the
earliest evidence of Islamized populations in Indonesia dates to the 13th century in northern
Sumatra.
[17] Other Indonesian areas gradually adopted Islam, and it was the dominant religion in
Java and Sumatra by the end of the 16th century. For the most part, Islam overlaid and mixed with existing cultural and religious influences, which shaped the predominant form of Islam in Indonesia, particularly in Java.
[18] The first Europeans arrived in Indonesia in 1512, when Portuguese traders, led by
Francisco Serrão, sought to monopolize the sources of
nutmeg,
cloves, and
cubeb pepper in
Maluku.
[19] Dutch and British traders followed. In 1602 the Dutch established the
Dutch East India Company (VOC) and became the dominant European power. Following bankruptcy, the VOC was formally dissolved in 1800, and the government of the Netherlands established the
Dutch East Indies as a nationalized colony.
[19]For most of the
colonial period, Dutch control over these territories was tenuous; only in the early 20th century did Dutch dominance extend to what was to become Indonesia's current boundaries.
[20] The
Japanese invasion and
subsequent occupation during
World War II ended Dutch rule,
[21] and encouraged the previously suppressed Indonesian independence movement. Two days after the surrender of Japan in August 1945,
Sukarno, an influential nationalist leader, declared independence and was appointed president.
[22] The Netherlands tried to reestablish their rule, and an
armed and diplomatic struggle ended in December 1949, when in the face of international pressure, the Dutch formally recognized Indonesian independence
[23] (with the exception of The Dutch territory of
West New Guinea, which was incorporated following the 1962
New York Agreement, and
UN-mandated
Act of Free Choice).
Sukarno, Indonesia's founding president
Sukarno moved from democracy towards authoritarianism, and maintained his power base by balancing the opposing forces of
the Military, and the
Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI).
[24] An attempted coup on 30 September 1965 was countered by the army, who led
a violent anti-communist purge, during which the PKI was blamed for the coup and effectively destroyed.
[25] Between 500,000 and one million people were killed.
[26] The head of the military,
General Suharto, out-maneuvered the politically weakened Sukarno, and was formally appointed president in March 1968. His
New Order administration[27] was supported by the US government,
[28] and encouraged
foreign direct investment in Indonesia, which was a major factor in the subsequent three decades of substantial economic growth.
[29] However, the authoritarian "New Order" was widely accused of corruption and suppression of political opposition.
In 1997 and 1998, Indonesia was the country hardest hit by the
Asian Financial Crisis.
[30] This increased popular discontent with the New Order
[31] and led to
popular protests. Suharto resigned on 21 May 1998.
[32] In 1999, East Timor voted to secede from Indonesia, after
a twenty-five-year military occupation that was marked by international condemnation of often brutal repression of the East Timorese.
[33] Since Suharto's resignation,
a strengthening of democratic processes has included a regional autonomy program, and the first
direct presidential election in 2004. Political and economic instability, social unrest, corruption, and terrorism have slowed progress. Although relations among different religious and ethnic groups are largely harmonious, acute sectarian discontent and violence remain problems in some areas.
[34] A political settlement to an armed separatist conflict in
Aceh was achieved in 2005.
[35][
edit] Government and politics
Main article:
Politics of IndonesiaIndonesia is a
republic with a
presidential system. As a
unitary state, power is concentrated in the central government. Following the
resignation of President Suharto in 1998, Indonesian political and governmental structures have undergone major reforms. Four amendments to the
1945 Constitution of Indonesia[36] have revamped the
executive,
judicial, and
legislative branches.
[37] The president of Indonesia is the
head of state,
commander-in-chief of the
Indonesian Armed Forces, and the director of domestic governance, policy-making, and foreign affairs. The president appoints a council of ministers, who are not required to be elected members of the legislature. The
2004 presidential election was the first in which the people directly elected the president and vice president.
[38] The president may serve a maximum of two consecutive five-year terms.
[39]A session of the People's Representative Council in Jakarta
The highest representative body at national level is the
People's Consultative Assembly (MPR). Its main functions are supporting and amending the constitution, inaugurating the president, and formalizing broad outlines of state policy. It has the power to impeach the president.
[40] The MPR comprises two houses; the
People's Representative Council (DPR), with 550 members, and the
Regional Representatives Council (DPD), with 128 members. The DPR passes legislation and monitors the executive branch; party-aligned members are elected for five-year terms by
proportional representation.
[37] Reforms since 1998 have markedly increased the DPR's role in national governance.
[41] The DPD is a new chamber for matters of regional management.
[42]Most civil disputes appear before a State Court; appeals are heard before the High Court. The Supreme Court is the country's highest court, and hears final cassation appeals and conducts case reviews. Other courts include the Commercial Court, which handles bankruptcy and insolvency; a State Administrative Court to hear administrative law cases against the government; a Constitutional Court to hear disputes concerning legality of law, general elections, dissolution of political parties, and the scope of authority of state institutions; and a Religious Court to deal with specific religious cases.
[43][
edit] Foreign relations and military
Main articles:
Foreign relations of Indonesia and
Military of IndonesiaIn contrast to Sukarno's anti-imperialistic antipathy to western powers and
tensions with Malaysia,
Indonesia's foreign relations since the Suharto "New Order" have been based on economic and political cooperation with Western nations.
[44] Indonesia maintains close relationships with its neighbors in
Asia, and is a founding member of
ASEAN and the
East Asia Summit.
[45] The nation restored relations with the People's Republic of China in 1990 following a freeze in place since anti-communist purges early in the Suharto era.
[43] Indonesia has been a member of the
United Nations since 1950,
[46] and was a founder of the
Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and the
Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC).
[45] Indonesia is signatory to the
ASEAN Free Trade Area agreement, the
Cairns Group, and the
WTO, and has historically been a member of
OPEC, although it is withdrawing as of 2008 as it is no longer a net exporter of oil. Indonesia has received
humanitarian and
development aid since 1966, in particular from the United States, western Europe, Australia, and Japan.
[45]National flags at the site of the
2002 terrorist bombing in Kuta, BaliThe Indonesian Government has worked with other countries to apprehend and prosecute perpetrators of major bombings linked to militant
Islamism and
Al-Qaeda.
[47] The deadliest killed 202 people (including 164 international tourists) in the
Bali resort town of
Kuta in 2002.
[48] The attacks, and subsequent travel warnings issued by other countries, severely damaged Indonesia's
tourism industry and foreign investment prospects.
[49]Indonesia's 300,000-member armed forces (TNI) include the Army (TNI-AD), Navy (TNI-AL, which includes marines), and Air Force (TNI-AU).
[50] The army has about 233,000 active-duty personnel. Defense spending in the national budget was 4% of GDP in 2006, and is controversially supplemented by revenue from military commercial interests and foundations.
[51] In the post-Suharto period since 1998, formal TNI representation in parliament has been removed; though curtailed, its political influence remains extensive.
[52] Separatist movements in the provinces of Aceh and Papua have led to armed conflict, and subsequent allegations of human rights abuses and brutality from all sides.
[53] Following a sporadic thirty year guerrilla war between the
Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and the Indonesian military, a ceasefire agreement was reached in 2005.
[54] In Papua, there has been a significant, albeit imperfect, implementation of regional autonomy laws, and a reported decline in the levels of violence and
human rights abuses, since the presidency of
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
[55][
edit] Administrative divisions
Main articles:
Provinces of Indonesia and
Administrative divisions of IndonesiaProvinces of Indonesia
Administratively, Indonesia consists of
33 provinces, five of which have special status. Each province has its own political legislature and governor. The provinces are subdivided into regencies (
kabupaten) and cities (
kota), which are further subdivided into subdistricts (
kecamatan), and again into
village groupings (either desa or kelurahan). Following the implementation of regional autonomy measures in 2001, the regencies and cities have become the key administrative units, responsible for providing most government services. The village administration level is the most influential on a citizen's daily life, and handles matters of a village or neighborhood through an elected lurah or kepala desa (village chief).
The provinces of
Aceh,
Jakarta,
Yogyakarta,
Papua, and
West Papua have greater legislative privileges and a higher degree of autonomy from the central government than the other provinces. The Acehnese government, for example, has the right to create an independent legal system; in 2003, it instituted a form of
Sharia (Islamic law).
[56] Yogyakarta was granted the status of Special Region in recognition of its pivotal role in supporting Indonesian Republicans during the Indonesian Revolution.
[57] Papua, formerly known as Irian Jaya, was granted special autonomy status in 2001.
[58] Jakarta is the country's special capital region.
Indonesian provinces and their capitals
(Indonesian name in brackets where different from English) † indicates provinces with Special Status
Geographical Unit
Province
SumatraAceh† (Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam) -
Banda AcehNorth Sumatra (Sumatera Utara) -
MedanWest Sumatra (Sumatera Barat) -
PadangRiau -
PekanbaruRiau Islands (Kepulauan Riau) -
Tanjung PinangJambi -
Jambi (city)South Sumatra (Sumatera Selatan) -
PalembangBangka-Belitung (Kepulauan Bangka-Belitung) -
Pangkal PinangBengkulu -
Bengkulu (city)Lampung -
Bandar LampungJavaJakarta† - Jakarta
Banten -
SerangWest Java (Jawa Barat) -
BandungCentral Java (Jawa Tengah) -
SemarangYogyakarta Special Region† -
Yogyakarta (city)East Java (Jawa Timur) -
SurabayaLesser Sunda IslandsBali -
DenpasarWest Nusa Tenggara (Nusa Tenggara Barat) -
MataramEast Nusa Tenggara (Nusa Tenggara Timur) -
KupangKalimantanWest Kalimantan (Kalimantan Barat) -
PontianakCentral Kalimantan (Kalimantan Tengah) -
PalangkarayaSouth Kalimantan (Kalimantan Selatan) -
BanjarmasinEast Kalimantan (Kalimantan Timur) -
SamarindaSulawesiNorth Sulawesi (Sulawesi Utara) -
ManadoGorontalo -
Gorontalo (city)Central Sulawesi (Sulawesi Tengah) -
PaluWest Sulawesi (Sulawesi Barat) -
MamujuSouth Sulawesi (Sulawesi Selatan) -
MakassarSouth East Sulawesi (Sulawesi Tenggara) -
KendariMaluku IslandsMaluku -
AmbonNorth Maluku (Maluku Utara) -
TernateWest PapuaWest Papua† (Papua Barat) -
ManokwariPapua† -
Jayapura[
edit] Geography
Main article:
Geography of IndonesiaMap of Indonesia
Indonesia consists of 17,508 islands, about 6,000 of which are inhabited.
[59] These are scattered over both sides of the
equator. The five largest islands are
Java,
Sumatra,
Kalimantan (the Indonesian part of
Borneo),
New Guinea (shared with Papua New Guinea), and
Sulawesi. Indonesia shares land borders with
Malaysia on the islands of
Borneo and
Sebatik,
Papua New Guinea on the island of
New Guinea, and
East Timor on the island of
Timor. Indonesia also shares borders with
Singapore, Malaysia, and the
Philippines to the north and Australia to the south across narrow straits of water. The capital,
Jakarta, is on Java and is the nation's largest city, followed by
Surabaya,
Bandung,
Medan, and
Semarang.
[60]At 1,919,440 square kilometers (741,050 sq mi), Indonesia is the world's 16th-largest country in terms of land area.
[61] Its average population density is 134 people per square kilometer (347 per sq mi), 79th in the world,
[62] although Java, the world's most populous island,
[63] has a population density of 940 people per square kilometer (2,435 per sq mi). At 4,884 meters (16,024 ft),
Puncak Jaya in Papua is Indonesia's highest peak, and
Lake Toba in Sumatra its largest lake, with an area of 1,145 square kilometers (442 sq mi). The country's largest rivers are in Kalimantan, and include the
Mahakam and
Barito; such rivers are communication and transport links between the island's river settlements.
[64]Mount Semeru and
Mount Bromo in
East Java. Indonesia's seismic and volcanic activity is among the world's highest.
Indonesia's location on the edges of the
Pacific,
Eurasian, and
Australian tectonic plates makes it the site of numerous
volcanoes and frequent earthquakes. Indonesia has at least
150 active volcanoes,
[65] including
Krakatoa and
Tambora, both famous for their devastating eruptions in the 19th century. The eruption of the
Toba supervolcano, approximately 70,000 years ago, was one of the largest eruptions ever, and a
global catastrophe. Recent disasters due to seismic activity include the
2004 tsunami that killed an estimated 167,736 in northern Sumatra,
[66] and the
Yogyakarta earthquake in 2006. However,
volcanic ash is a major contributor to the high agricultural fertility that has historically sustained the high population densities of Java and Bali.
[67]Lying along the equator, Indonesia has a
tropical climate, with two distinct
monsoonal wet and
dry seasons. Average annual rainfall in the lowlands varies from 1,780–3,175 millimeters (70–125 in), and up to 6,100 millimeters (240 in) in mountainous regions. Mountainous areas—particularly in the west coast of Sumatra, West Java, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, and Papua—receive the highest rainfall. Humidity is generally high, averaging about 80%. Temperatures vary little throughout the year; the average daily
temperature range of Jakarta is 26–30 °C (79–86 °F).
[68][
edit] Biota and environment
Main articles:
Fauna of Indonesia,
Flora of Indonesia, and
Environment of IndonesiaThe
critically endangered Sumatran Orangutan, a great ape
endemic to Indonesia.
Indonesia's size, tropical climate, and archipelagic geography, support the world's second highest level of
biodiversity (after
Brazil),
[69] and its flora and fauna is a mixture of Asian and
Australasian species.
[70] Once linked to the Asian mainland, the islands of the
Sunda Shelf (Sumatra, Java, Borneo, and Bali) have a wealth of Asian fauna. Large species such as the
tiger,
rhinoceros,
orangutan,
elephant, and
leopard, were once abundant as far east as Bali, but numbers and distribution have dwindled drastically. Forests cover approximately 60% of the country.
[71] In Sumatra and Kalimantan, these are predominantly of Asian species. However, the forests of the smaller, and more densely populated Java, have largely been removed for human habitation and agriculture. Sulawesi, Nusa Tenggara, and Maluku—having been long separated from the continental landmasses—have developed their own unique flora and fauna.
[72] Papua was part of the Australian landmass, and is home to a
unique fauna and flora closely related to that of Australia, including over 600 bird species.
[73]Indonesia is second only to Australia in its degree of
endemism, with 26% of its 1,531 species of bird and 39% of its 515 species of mammal being endemic.
[74] Indonesia's 80,000 kilometers (50,000 mi) of coastline are surrounded by tropical seas that contribute to the country's high level of biodiversity. Indonesia has a range of sea and coastal
ecosystems, including beaches,
sand dunes,
estuaries,
mangroves,
coral reefs,
sea grass beds,
coastal mudflats, tidal flats, algal beds, and small island ecosystems.
[4] The British naturalist,
Alfred Wallace, described a dividing line between the distribution and peace of Indonesia's Asian and Australasian species.
[75] Known as the
Wallace Line, it runs roughly north-south along the edge of the Sunda Shelf, between Kalimantan and Sulawesi, and along the deep
Lombok Strait, between
Lombok and Bali. West of the line the flora and fauna are more Asian; moving east from Lombok, they are increasingly Australian. In his 1869 book,
The Malay Archipelago, Wallace described numerous species unique to the area.
[76] The region of islands between his line and New Guinea is now termed
Wallacea.
[75]Indonesia's high population and rapid
industrialization present serious
environmental issues, which are often given a lower priority due to high poverty levels and weak, under-resourced governance.
[77] Issues include large-scale
deforestation (much of it
illegal) and related wildfires causing
heavy smog over parts of western Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore; over-exploitation of marine resources; and environmental problems associated with rapid
urbanization and
economic development, including
air pollution,
traffic congestion, garbage management, and reliable water and
waste water services.
[77] Habitat destruction threatens the survival of indigenous and
endemic species, including 140 species of
mammals identified by the
World Conservation Union (IUCN) as
threatened, and 15 identified as critically
endangered, including the
