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INDONESIA, the largest archipelago in the world to form a single state consists of five main islands and some 30 smaller archipelagoes, totaling about 17,508 islands and islets of which about 6,000 are inhabited, stretching for 5,150 km between the Asian and Australian continental mainlands and dividing the Pacific and Indian Oceans at the Equator. Indonesia's national territory consists 84% of sea and 16% of land. The Indonesian sea area is four times larger than its land area, which is about 1.9 million sq. km and the sea area is about 7.9 million sq km.
Five main islands and 30 smaller archipelagos are home to the majority of the population. The main islands are Sumatra (are 473,6O6 sq. km), Kalimantan (are 539,400 sq. km), Sulawesi (are 189,216 sq. km), Papua (are 421,981 sq. km) and the last but not least Java including Madura (are 132,187 sq. km), home to 70 percent of the country's population. Indonesia shares Papua with Papua New Guinea and two-thirds of Kalimantan island with Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam.
Indonesia has several hundred volcanoes, about 70 of these are still active. During the centuries eruptions and earthquakes have caused thousands of human lives, but the volcanoes are also the main reason for the extremely fertile soil on islands like Java and Bali. The landscape changes between tropical rainforests, plains, swamps, mountains, volcanoes and even glaciers (on Papua). The highest mountains are found in Papua: Puncak Jaya (4.884m), Puncak Trikora (4.730m) and Puncak Mandala (4.640m). Gunung Rinjani (3.726 m) in Lombok is the highest mountain outside Papu.
The name "INDONESIA" is composed of the two Greek words: "Indos" meaning Indian, and "Nesos" meaning islands. The Indonesian archipelago forms a crossroad between two oceans, the Pacific and Indian oceans and a bridge between two continents, Asia and Australia. Because of its strategic position, therefore, Indonesia's cultural, social, political and economic patterns have always been conditioned by its geographical position.
History
The strategic position of Indonesia, has had distinctive influences on both the political and economic history of the islands. Fossils of "Java Man" (Pithecanthropus Erectus) which date back some 500,000 years, were discovered near the village of Trinil in East Java by Dr. Eugene Dubois in 1809. This discovery was followed by other finds in later years which are evidence of Java's earliest inhabitants. Major migration movements to the Indonesian archipelago have been traced as far back as 3,000- 500 B.C. These first migrants were of Mongoloid stock from China and Tonkin and have been credited with introducing new Stone, Bronze and Iron Age cultures as well as the Austronesian language.
Indonesia came under the influence of a mighty Indian civilization through the gradual influx of Indian traders in the first century A.D., when great Hindu and Buddhist empires were beginning to emerge. By the seventh century, the powerful Buddhist Kingdom of Sriwijaya was expanding and it is thought that during this period the spectacular Borobudur Buddhist sanctuary was built in Central Java.
The thirteenth century saw the rise of the fabulous Majapahit Hindu empire in East Java, which united the whole of what is now modern day Indonesia and parts of the Malay peninsula, and ruled for two centuries. Many monuments spread through Java such as the Prambanan temple complex near Yogyakarta, the Penataran temple complex in East Java as well as the ethereal temples on the Dieng Plateau are remnants of this glorious period in Indonesia's history.
First recorded attempts to invade Indonesia were by the notorious Mongol Emperor Kubilai Khan who was driven back in 1293. Arab traders and merchants laid the foundations for the gradual spread of Islam to the region which did not replace Hinduism and Buddhism as the dominant religions until the end of the 16th century. Small Moslem kingdoms developed and grew, but none anticipated the strength and persistence of European invasions which followed.
In 1292, Marco Polo became one of the first recorded Europeans to set foot on the islands, but it wasn't until much later that the Portuguese arrived in pursuit of spices. In 1509, Portuguese trading posts were established in the strategic commercial centre of Malacca on the Malay peninsula and it was from here that they began to control trade Routes.
The Dutch followed at the turn of the 16th century and succeeded in ousting the Portuguese to the easternmost islands where some ports were controlled by another major European power, Spain. The Dutch expanded their control of the entire area into the 17th and 18th centuries and retained it for the most part until the outbreak of World War 11 in 1939. The Dutch East Indies, as it was known at this time, fell under British rule for a short period during the Napoleonic Wars of 1811-1816, when Holland was occupied by France and Dutch power overseas was limited. While under British control the Lt. Governor for Java and its dependencies was Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, who was known for his liberal attitude towards the people under colonial rule and his research on the history of Java. With the return of the Dutch a relative calm was interrupted by long and bloody wars launched by the local people against the Dutch colonial government. It was from this period that the independence movements of the 20th century, became stronger and more purposeful.
The surrender of the Japanese in 1945 signalled the end of the Second World War in Asia and also the start of independence. In the wake of global perceptions of freedom, Indonesia proclaimed its independence on August 17 that same year. But the returning Dutch bitterly resisted Indonesian nationalist movements and intermittent fighting followed. Under the auspices of the United Nations at the Hague, an agreement was finally reached on December 9, 1949, It was from this time that Indonesia's sovereignty over the former Dutch East Indies was officially recognized.
People
Unity in Diversity is the motto of Indonesia, this phrase is the only to describe Indonesia variety of culture, there are about 500 ethical groups with various local custom and culture (languages, ceremony, dance, music, architecture, clothes, etc.) which have been inherit from their ancestors. The ethnic groups spread from Sabang (the northernmost tip of Sumatra) to Merauke in Papua. The Javanese community is the largest number of Indonesia's total population, followed by the Sundanese, Madurese, Minangkabau, Buginese, Bataknese, Balinese, Ambonese, Dayaks, Sasaks, the Acehnese, etc. Apart from the indigenous communities, other sub-communities of foreign descent are the Chinese, Arabs and Indians. These variety of ethnic groups has also spoken the differently local languages and dialects (Indonesia has 600 local languages and spoken in various dialects)
The first inhabitant of Indonesia dates back 500,000 years ago, named Pithecanthropus erectus by Eugene Dubois who found the fossils at several places on the island of Java in the vicinity of the Bengawan Solo River. The fosil found in 1891 and 1892 in the village of Trinil, were called Homo Soloensis, while those found in Wajakkensis. Homo Soloensis with the same characteristic as the Austro Melanosoid people had roamed to the West (Sumatra) and to the East (Papua).
In the period of 3,000-500 BC, Indonesia was inhabited by Sub-Mongoloid migrants from Asia who later inter-married with the indigenous people. ln 1,000 BC, inter-marriage still occurred with Indo-Arian migrants from the South-Asian sub-continent of India. The influx of the Indian settlers until the seventh century AD brought about the Hindu religion spread throughout the archipelago. Moslem merchants from Gujarat and Persia began visiting Indonesia in the 13th century and established trade links between this country and India and Persia. While conducting trade, the Gujarat and the Arab people also spread the Islamic religion in this area.
The first to accept the Islamic religion were the coastal kingdoms, which before had embraced Hinduism.
In Aceh, Islam was widely accepted by the community with the Pasai and Perlak Kingdoms becoming the first Moslem kingdoms in the archipelago. First accepted by court circles, Islam found its way to the community at a later stage. Particularly in Java, the "Wali Songo" (Islamic preachers) had played a very important role.
It was in 1511, that Portuguese arrived in Indonesia. The arrival of the Portuguese should be linked to the European demand for spices. They were followed by Spaniards, the Dutch and the British. Besides search for spices, they propagated Christianity. In the rivalry that ensued, the Dutch ultimately succeeded in gaining the trade monopoly in spices throughout the archipelago, thus making the beginning of 350 years of Dutch colonialism over the country.
In the period preceding independence, Indonesia's community was made up of a large variety of ethnic groups or rural communities. The members of each group are tied to each other by a sense of solidarity and identity which finds its roots in the land, language, art, culture and customs they share. Early immigrants from the Indian subcontinent, China, the Arab peninsula and Persia have left their mark on culture and religion followed by influences of Portuguese, Spanish, English and Dutch traders and colonials.
The islands and people of Indonesia constitute the fourth most populated nation in the world (220 Millions People). As a democratic republic, Indonesia was divided into 35 provinces and special territories and classified geographically into four groups. The first one is the Greater Sundas, made up of the larger islands of Sumatra, Java, Kalimantan and Sulawesi. The second group is the Lesser Sundas, consists of smaller islands from Bali eastward to Timor. The Third is Maluku which includes all the islands between Papua and Sulawesi. The fourth group is Papua which is in the extreme eastern part of the country. |
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