INDONESIA

Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia (Indonesian: Republik Indonesia), is a nation of islands consisting of 18,110 islands in the South East Asian Archipelago. Indonesia (from Greek: indus = India nesos = islands) is the world's largest archipelagic nation. Its capital is Jakarta. Indonesia is bordered by the nations of Papua New Guinea, East Timor, and Malaysia. With a population of over 200 million, it is the world's fourth most populous country and the most populous Muslim-majority nation.

The Indonesian Archipelago was important to Ancient China as a trade route; it was a thriving part of the spice trade. Regional Hindu kingdoms expanded religious and cultural influences of Hinduism and Buddhism. Later, in the Middle Ages, the islands came under the influence of Islam. The region was colonized by the Netherlands under the Dutch East Indies. The natives of many of the islands rebelled against Dutch control in the early 20th century. After a brief occupation by Imperial Japan during World War II, nationalists declared independence in 1945, and a united and independent Indonesia was recognized in 1949. It was also recognized by the United Nations in 1950.

Indonesia is a unitary state, and has been for most of its post-independence history. Indonesia was first governed by Sukarno, leader of the national independence struggle, and then by controversial authoritarian Suharto. Democracy was restored following the Revolution of 1998. Although the national language is Indonesian and the population is overwhelmingly Muslim, there are several hundred diverse linguistic and ethnic groups across the country, as well as other religious communities. Although Indonesia's economy is progressive and regionally important, the problems of widespread corruption, poverty, illiteracy, political instability, and regional separatism remain major issues hindering its national development.

Republik Indonesia
Republic of Indonesia

Flag Coat of arms
Motto: Bhinneka Tunggal Ika (Old Javanese/Kawi: Unity in Diversity) National ideology: Pancasila
Anthem: Indonesia Raya
Capital	Jakarta 6°08′S 106°45′E
Largest city	Jakarta
Official language(s)	Indonesian
Government	Republic
- President	Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
- Vice President	Jusuf Kalla
Independence	From the Netherlands
- Declared	17 August 1945
- Recognised	27 December 1949
Area
- Total	1,904,569 km² (16th)
	(735,355 sq mi)
- Water (%)	4.85%
Population
- 2005 est.	222,781,000 (4th)
- 2000 census	206,264,595
- Density	117/km² (84th) (303/sq mi)
GDP (PPP)	2005 estimate
- Total	$977.4 billion (15th)
- Per capita	$4,458[1] (110th)
HDI (2003)	0.697 (110th) – medium
Currency	Rupiah (IDR)
Time zone	various (UTC+7 to +9)
- Summer (DST)	not observed (UTC+7 to +9)
Internet TLD	.id
Calling code	+62

Etymology

The name Indonesia dates back to the eighteenth century, far predating the formation of the Indonesian nation in 1945. In 1849, an English etymology expert, George Samuel Windsor Earl wrote an article entitled On the Leading Characteristics of the Papuan, Australian and Malay-Polynesian Nations in the yearly science magazine, Journal of the Indian Archipelago and Eastern Asia (JIAEA). He stated that it was the time for the Hindia archipelago or Malay archipelago to choose a distinctive name. Two names were suggested: Indunesia and Melayunesia, although later he used Melayunesia more often. However, in a different article in the same magazine, another etymologist, James Richardson Logan, used Indunesia more often than Melayunesia. He then changed the letter "u" to "o" to improve the pronounciation. Since that time, the name Indonesia has been used both in Indonesia and worldwide. The first Indonesian to use the name was Suwardi Suryaningrat (Ki Hajar Dewantara), when he established a press bureau with the name Indonesische Pers-bureau in the Netherlands.

History

Fossil evidence suggests the Indonesian archipelago was inhabited by Homo erectus, popularly termed the Java Man. Estimates of its existence range from 500,000 to 2 million years ago. The modern peoples of Malay origin are descendants of migrations from mainland South East Asia beginning around 6,000 years ago. Ideal agricultural conditions, and in particular the mastering of wet-field rice cultivation as early as the seventh century AD, allowed villages, towns and eventually small kingdoms to flourish by the first century BC. Around the same time, trade was established between both India and China, fostered by Indonesia’s highly strategic sea lane position which would continue to greatly influence the country’s history.

It was upon this trade, and the Hinduism and Buddhism that was brought with it, that the Sriwijaya kingdom flourished from the 7th century AD. It became a powerful naval state, which grew wealthy on the international trade it controlled through the region until its decline in the 12th century. During the 8th and 10th centuries AD, the agriculturally-based Buddhist Sailendra and Hindu Mataram dynasties thrived and declined in inland Java with great monuments built, including Borobudur and Prambanan respectively. The Hindu Majapahit kingdom was founded in eastern Java in 1294, and under its military commander Gajah Mada stretched over much of modern day Indonesia. This period is referred to as a Golden Age in the country’s history.

Arab traders first brought Islam to Indonesia in the late 12th century, establishing settlements in the Aceh region. It spread across the Indonesian archipelago, following trade routes. Rather than a violent conquest, it was, for the most part, peacefully laid over and mixed with existing cultural (and even religious) influences to form what is still the predominant form of Islam in Indonesia today, particularly in Java.

European traders first arrived in the early sixteenth century seeking to monopolise the sources of nutmeg, cloves, and cubeb pepper in The Moluccas. In 1506 the Portuguese, led by Ferdinand Magellan, were the first Europeans to arrive in Indonesia; the Dutch and British followed. The Dutch soon became the dominant traders in Indonesia, establishing the Dutch East India Company (VOC) in 1602. The VOC, however, was dissolved in 1798 and the government of the Netherlands established the Dutch East Indies as a fully-fledged colony.

The Dutch colonial presence in Indonesia existed in various forms for over 300 years until the Japanese occupation in the second World War. During the war, Sukarno, a popular leader of the Indonesian Nationalist Party, cooperated with the occupying Japanese with the (ultimately successful) intention of strengthening the independence movement. On August 17, 1945, Sukarno, with the Japanese organised National Committee of Independence (BPUPKI) unilaterally declared Indonesian independence. Sukarno then became the first president, while Muhammad Hatta became the vice-president. Over the next four years, the Netherlands mounted military campaigns to reoccupy Indonesia, but in the face of international pressure acknowledged Indonesian independence in 1949.

Increasing tensions between the Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI) and the Indonesian military culminated in an abortive coup on 30 September 1965 which saw six top-ranking generals murdered in circumstances that remain contentious even today. A quick counter-coup led by Major General Suharto resulted in an anti-communist purge centred mainly in Java and Bali, and to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of communists and their sympathisers. Suharto capitalised on Sukarno's gravely weakened position and, by 1967, had manoeuvred himself into the presidency. Commonly referred to as the New Order, Suharto's administration encouraged major foreign investment in Indonesia, which was to become a major factor in the subsequent three decades of substantial economic growth.

From 1997 to 1998, however, Indonesia became the country hardest hit by the East Asian Financial Crisis, aggravating popular discontent with Suharto, who already faced accusations of corruption, and further enflaming popular protests in early 1998. On 21 May 1998, President Suharto announced his resignation, ushering in the Reformasi era in Indonesia. A wide range of reforms have been introduced since then, including Indonesia's first direct presidential election in 2004, but progress has been slowed by political and economic instability, social unrest, terrorism and recent natural disasters. Although relations between different religious and ethnic groups are largely harmonious, acute sectarian discontent, even violence, remains a problem in some areas. Political settlements relating to seperatism issues have been achieved in Aceh and East Timor, the latter having seceded from Indonesia in 1999.