Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian and Pacific oceans. Comprising over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guinea, Indonesia is the world's largest archipelagic state and the 14th-largest country by area, at. Indonesia has significant areas of wilderness that support one of the world's highest levels of biodiversity. It shares land borders with Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste, and East Malaysia, as well as maritime borders with Australia, Singapore, the Philippines and others.
The Indonesian archipelago has been inhabited since prehistoric times, with early human presence evidenced by fossils of Homo erectus and Homo sapiens, and megalithic sites. By the early second millennium, it had become a crossroads for international trade linking East and South Asia. Over the centuries, external influences—including Hinduism, Buddhism and later Islam—were absorbed into local societies, which introduced lasting cultural and religious influences. European powers later competed to monopolise trade in the Spice Islands of Maluku during the Age of Discovery, followed by three and a half centuries of Dutch colonial rule, before Indonesia proclaimed its independence after World War II.
Since independence, Indonesia has grappled with numerous challenges including separatism, corruption, political upheaval and natural disasters, alongside democratisation and rapid economic growth. The country today is a presidential republic with an elected legislature and consists of 38 provinces, some of which enjoy greater autonomy than others. Home to over 280 million people, Indonesia ranks fourth in the world by population and has the largest Muslim population of any country. More than half of Indonesians lives on Java, the most heavily populated island in the world, while the capital Jakarta is the world's largest urban agglomerations.
Indonesian society comprises hundreds of ethnic and linguistic groups, with Javanese forming the largest. National identity is unified under the motto Bhinneka Tunggal Ika, reflected by a national language alongside cultural and religious pluralism. A newly industrialised country, Indonesia has the largest national economy in Southeast Asia by GDP. The country plays an active role in regional and global affairs as a middle power and is a member of major multilateral organisations, including the United Nations, G20, the Non-Aligned Movement, ASEAN, and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.
Etymology
The name Indonesia derives from the Greek words wikt:Indo- and wikt:νῆσος, meaning. The name dates back to the 19th century, far predating the formation of independent Indonesia. In 1850, George Windsor Earl, an English ethnologist, proposed the terms Indunesians—and, his preference, Malayunesians—for the inhabitants of the "Indian Archipelago or Malay Archipelago". In the same publication, one of his students, James Richardson Logan, used Indonesia as a synonym for Indian Archipelago. Dutch academics writing in East Indies publications were reluctant to use Indonesia. They preferred Malay Archipelago ; the Netherlands East Indies, popularly Indië; the East ; and Insulinde.After 1900, Indonesia became more common in academic circles outside the Netherlands, and native nationalist groups adopted it for political expression. Adolf Bastian of the University of Berlin popularised the name through his book Indonesien oder die Inseln des Malayischen Archipels, 1884–1894. The first native scholar to use the name was Ki Hajar Dewantara, who established a press bureau in the Netherlands, Indonesisch Pers-bureau, in 1918.
History
Early history
The Indonesian archipelago has been inhabited since prehistoric times. Fossils of Homo erectus date back between 2 million and 500,000 BCE, while Homo sapiens arrived around 50,000 BCE. Archaeological discoveries, including cave paintings in Sulawesi and Borneo and megalithic sites across Sumatra, Sulawesi, and eastern Indonesia, reflect early human settlement and ritual practices.Around 2000 BCE, Austronesian peoples migrated into the archipelago from Taiwan, gradually spreading eastward and shaping much of Indonesia's linguistic and cultural foundations. By the 8th century BCE, favourable agricultural conditions and the development of wet-field rice cultivation supported the emergence of villages and early polities by the first century CE. The archipelago's strategic location facilitated sustained contact with civilisations from the Indian subcontinent and mainland China, profoundly influencing Indonesian history and culture through trade.
From the 7th century, maritime kingdoms such as Srivijaya rose to prominence on trade, adopting Hindu and Buddhist influences. Between the 8th and 10th centuries, the Sailendra and Mataram dynasties left enduring architectural legacies, including Borobudur and Prambanan. Following a failed Mongol invasion of Java, the Majapahit empire emerged in the late 13th century, dominating much of the archipelago. Islam began to take root around the same time in northern Sumatra, and gradually became the dominant religion in Java and Sumatra by the 16th century. It blended with existing local traditions, producing a distinct Islamic culture, particularly in Java.
Colonial era
European involvement in the archipelago began in the early 16th century with Portuguese traders seeking control of the spice trade. The Dutch soon followed, establishing the Dutch East India Company in 1602. Over time, the VOC became the dominant European power until its dissolution in 1800, after which its possessions were transferred to the Dutch state as the Dutch East Indies. Dutch control over the archipelago was tenuous and uneven, facing resistance across Java, Sumatra, Bali, and Aceh. Consolidation of colonial rule over Indonesia's modern boundaries was largely completed only in the early 20th century, after the establishment of Dutch posts in western New Guinea.Japanese invasion and occupation during World War II ended Dutch rule and encouraged Indonesia's independence movement. Shortly after Japan's surrender, Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta issued the Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, and they became the country's first president and vice-president, along with Sutan Sjahrir as Prime Minister. The Netherlands attempted to reassert control, prompting the start of Indonesia's war of independence against the Dutch. The conflict lasted until 1949 when the Dutch recognised Indonesian independence amid international pressure.
Post-World War II
Sukarno shifted Indonesia from democracy to authoritarianism, and maintained power by balancing the opposing forces of political Islam, the military, and the Communist Party of Indonesia. Rising tensions culminated in an attempted coup in 1965, followed by a violent, widespread and military-led anti-communist purge. The PKI was blamed for the coup and destroyed, and Sukarno's power weakened. Major General Suharto capitalised on this and assumed the presidency in 1968, establishing a US-backed "New Order" military dictatorship, which fostered foreign direct investment and drove three decades of substantial economic growth.Indonesia's invasion and occupation of East Timor in 1975 drew international condemnation, and the regime came under growing criticism for human rights abuses after the Cold War ended. The New Order was destabilised when Indonesia became affected by the 1997 Asian financial crisis, bringing out widespread discontent with the New Order's corruption and political suppression and ultimately ended Suharto's rule. In 1999, East Timor voted to secede after a 24-year military occupation that some scholars classified as genocide.
In the post-Suharto era since 1998, Indonesia has undertaken democratic reforms including the introduction of regional autonomy and the first direct presidential election. Instability and terrorism were persistent in the 2000s but the economy has performed strongly since 2004 despite pervasive corruption. Relations among the diverse population are mostly harmonious, but sectarian discontent and violence remain problematic in some areas. A political settlement to a separatist insurgency in Aceh was achieved in 2005.
Geography
Indonesia's physical geography is defined by its vast archipelagic extent and diverse landforms. It lies between latitudes 11°S and 6°N and longitudes 95°E and 141°E, and is the world's largest archipelagic state, stretching from east to west and from north to south. The exact number of Indonesia's islands varies according to different sources, usually ranging from 13,000 to 17,000, with around 922 permanently inhabited. Its five main islands are Sumatra, Java, Borneo, Sulawesi, and New Guinea.The country features diverse topography, including towering mountains, vast lakes, and extensive river systems. At, Puncak Jaya in New Guinea is Indonesia's highest peak, while Lake Toba in Sumatra, covering, is the largest lake. The country's major rivers, primarily in Kalimantan, include Kapuas, Barito and Mahakam, serving as vital transportation and communication routes for remote riverine communities.
Climate
Indonesia's climate is shaped by its equatorial position and monsoon systems. The former helps ensure a relatively stable climate year-round, characterised by two main seasons: the dry season from May to October and the wet season from November to April, with no extremes of summer and winter. The climate is predominantly tropical rainforest, with cooler climates in higher areas over above sea level.There is a variation in rainfall patterns, with regions like western Sumatra, Java, and the interiors of Kalimantan and Papua receiving more precipitation, while areas closer to Australia, such as Nusa Tenggara, are drier. The warm waters covering 81% of Indonesia's area keep land temperatures stable, with high humidity and moderate, predictable winds influenced by monsoon cycles. Major weather hazards include strong currents in straits, such as the Lombok and Sape Straits, rather than tropical cyclones.
Several studies consider Indonesia to be at severe risk from the projected effects of climate change. A temperature rise of could intensify droughts, disrupt rainfall patterns critical to agriculture, and increase occurrences of food shortages, diseases, and wildfires. Rising sea levels would threaten densely populated coastal regions, particularly given Indonesia's extensive coastlines. Impoverished communities are expected to be disproportionately affected.