Archipels, 18841894.

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.[20]

History

Main article: History of Indonesia

Early history

Austronesian peoples, migrated from Taiwan to Southeast Asia, form the majority
of Indonesian population.

Fossils and the remains of tools show that the Indonesian archipelago was
inhabited by Homo erectus, popularly known as "Java Man", between 1.5 million
years ago and 35,000 years ago.[25][26][27] Homo sapiens reached the region
by around 45,000 years ago.[28] Austronesian peoples, who form the majority of
the modern population, migrated to Southeast Asia from Taiwan. They arrived in
Indonesia around 2000 BCE, and as they spread through the archipelago,
confined the indigenous Melanesian peoples to the far eastern regions.[29]

Ideal agricultural conditions and the mastering of wet-field rice cultivation as

early as the 8th century BCE,[30] allowed villages, towns, and small kingdoms to
flourish by the 1st century CE. Indonesia's strategic sea-lane position fostered
inter-island and international trade, including links with Indian kingdoms and
China, which were established several centuries BCE.[31] Trade has since
fundamentally shaped Indonesian history.[32][33]

A Borobudur ship carved on Borobudur Mahayana Buddhist temple, c. 800 CE.

Indonesian outrigger boats may have made trade voyages to the east coast of
Africa as early as the 1st century CE.[34]

From the 7th 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.[35] 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 Borobudur, Sewu and Prambanan.
This period marked a renaissance of Hindu-Buddhist art in ancient Java.[36]
Around the first quarter of the 10th century, the centre of the kingdom was
shifted from Mataram area in Central Java to Brantas River valley in East Java by
Mpu Sindok, who established the Isyana Dynasty.[37]:128 Subsequently, series
of Javanese Hindu-Buddhist polities rise and fall, from Kahuripan kingdom ruled
by Airlangga to Kadiri and Singhasari. In West Java, Sunda Kingdom was re-
established circa 1030 according to Sanghyang Tapak inscription. In Bali, the
Warmadewas established their rule on the Kingdom of Bali in the 10th century.
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.
[38]

Colonial era

The submission of Prince Diponegoro to General De Kock at the end of the Java
War in 1830.

Although Muslim traders first travelled through Southeast Asia early in the
Islamic era, the earliest evidence of Islamised populations in Indonesia dates to
the 13th century in northern Sumatra.[39] 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.[40]

The first regular contact between Europeans and the peoples of Indonesia began
in 1512, when Portuguese traders led by Francisco Serro, sought to monopolise
the sources of nutmeg, cloves, and cubeb pepper in Maluku.[41] Dutch and
British traders followed. In 1602, the Dutch established the Dutch East India
Company (VOC), and in following decades, the Dutch has gained foothold in
Batavia and Amboina. Throughout 17th and 18th centuries, the company
became the dominant European power in the archipelago.[42]

Following bankruptcy, the VOC was formally dissolved in 1800, and the
government of the Netherlands established the Dutch East Indies as a
nationalised colony.[43] For most of the colonial period, Dutch control over the
archipelago was tenuous outside of coastal strongholds; only in the early 20th
century did Dutch dominance extend to what was to become Indonesia's current
boundaries.[44] Despite major internal political, social and sectarian divisions
during the National Revolution, Indonesians, on the whole, found unity in their
fight for independence. Japanese occupation during World War II ended Dutch
rule,[45] and encouraged the previously suppressed Indonesian independence
movement.[46]
Modern era

Sukarno, the founding father and first President of Indonesia.

A later UN report stated that four million people died in Indonesia as a result of
famine and forced labour during the Japanese occupation.[47] Two days after the
surrender of Japan in August 1945, Sukarno, an influential nationalist leader,
declared independence and was appointed president.[48] 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
recognised Indonesian independence[49] (with the exception of the Dutch
territory of West New Guinea, which was incorporated into Indonesia following
the 1962 New York Agreement, and the UN-mandated Act of Free Choice of
1969).[50]

Sukarno moved Indonesia from democracy towards authoritarianism, and

maintained his power base by balancing the opposing forces of the military and
the Communist Party of Indonesia (Partai Komunis Indonesia, PKI).[51] 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.[52][53][54] Large-scale killings took place which targeted
communists, ethnic Chinese and alleged leftists. The most widely accepted
estimates are that between 500,000 and one million people were killed, with
some estimates as high as two to three million.[55][56][57]

The head of the military, General Suharto, outmaneuvered the politically

weakened Sukarno and was formally appointed president in March 1968. His New
Order administration[58] was supported by the US government,[59][60][61] and
encouraged foreign direct investment in Indonesia, which was a major factor in
the subsequent three decades of substantial economic growth. However, the
authoritarian "New Order" was widely accused of corruption and suppression of
political opposition.[62][63][64]

Indonesia was the country hardest hit by the late 1990s Asian financial crisis.[65]
This increased popular discontent with the New Order and led to popular protest
across the country. Suharto resigned on 21 May 1998.[66] In 1999, East Timor
voted to secede from Indonesia, after a twenty-five-year military occupation that
was marked by international condemnation of repression of the East Timorese.
[67]
Since Suharto's resignation, a strengthening of democratic processes has
included a regional autonomy program, and the first direct presidential election
in 2004, which was won by Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who went on to win a
second term in 2009. Political and economic instability, social unrest, corruption,
and terrorism slowed progress; however, in the last five years the economy has
performed strongly. Although relations among different religious and ethnic
groups are largely harmonious, sectarian discontent and violence have persisted.
[68] A political settlement to an armed separatist conflict in Aceh was achieved
in 2005.[69]

Geography

Main article: Geography of Indonesia

Puncak Jaya in Papua, the highest summit in Indonesia and Oceania.

Indonesia lies between latitudes 11S and 6N, and longitudes 95E and 141E. It
is the largest archipelagic country in the world, extending 5,120 kilometres
(3,181 mi) from east to west and 1,760 kilometres (1,094 mi) from north to
south.[70] According to a geospatial survey conducted between 2007 and 2010
by National Coordinating Agency for Survey and Mapping (Bakosurtanal),
Indonesia has 13,466 islands,[71] about 6,000 of which are inhabited.[9] These
are scattered over both sides of the equator. The largest are Java, Sumatra,
Borneo (shared with Brunei and Malaysia), New Guinea (shared with Papua New
Guinea), and Sulawesi. Indonesia shares land borders with Malaysia on Borneo,
Papua New Guinea on the island of New Guinea, and East Timor on the island of
Timor. Indonesia shares maritime borders across narrow straits with Singapore,
Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Palau to the north, and with Australia to
the south. The capital, Jakarta, is on Java and is the nation's largest city, followed
by Surabaya, Bandung, Medan, and Semarang.[72] Indonesia average population
density is 134 people per square kilometre (347 per sq mi), 79th in the world,
[73] although Java, the world's most populous island,[74] has a population
density of 940 people per square kilometre (2,435 per sq mi).

Mount Semeru and Mount Bromo in East Java. Indonesia contains the most
volcanoes in the world.[75]

At 4,884 metres (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 km2 (442 sq mi).
Indonesia'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.[76]
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,[77] 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,[78] 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.[79]

Climate

Main article: Climate of Indonesia

Typical Indonesian rainforest, mostly found in Kalimantan and Sumatra.

Lying along the equator, Indonesia's climate tends to be relatively even year-
round.[80] Indonesia has two seasonsa wet season and a dry seasonwith no
extremes of summer or winter.[81] For most of Indonesia, the dry season falls
between April and October with the wet season between November and March.
[81] Indonesia's climate is almost entirely tropical, dominated by the Tropical
rainforest climate found in every major island of Indonesia, followed by the
Tropical monsoon climate that predominantly lies along Java's coastal north,
Sulawesi's coastal south and east, and Bali, and finally the tropical Savanna
climate, found in isolated locations of Central Java, lowland East Java, coastal
southern Papua and smaller islands to the east of Lombok. However, cooler
climate types do exist in mountainous regions of Indonesia 1,300 to 1,500
metres (4,300 to 4,900 feet) above sea level. The oceanic climate (Kppen Cfb)
prevail in highland areas with fairly uniform precipitation year-round, adjacent to
rainforest climates, while the subtropical highland climate (Kppen Cwb) exist in
highland areas with a more pronounced dry season, adjacent to tropical monsoon
and savanna climates.

Rinca, Lesser Sunda Islands. The islands closest to Australia, including Nusa
Tenggara and the eastern tip of Java tend to be dry.

Some regions, such as Kalimantan and Sumatra, experience only slight

differences in rainfall and temperature between the seasons, whereas others,
such as Nusa Tenggara, experience far more pronounced differences with
droughts in the dry season, and floods in the wet. Rainfall in Indonesia is
plentiful, particularly in West Sumatra, West Kalimantan, West Java, and Papua.
Parts of Sulawesi and some islands closer to Australia, such as Sumba is drier.
The almost uniformly warm waters that make up 81% of Indonesia's area ensure
that temperatures on land remain fairly constant. The coastal plains averaging
28 C (82.4 F), the inland and mountain areas averaging 26 C (78.8 F), and
the higher mountain regions, 23 C (73.4 F). The area's relative humidity ranges
between 70 and 90%.

Winds are moderate and generally predictable, with monsoons usually blowing in
from the south and east in June through October and from the northwest in
November through March. Typhoons and large scale storms pose little hazard to
mariners in Indonesia waters; the major danger comes from swift currents in
channels, such as the Lombok and Sape straits.

Geology

Main article: Geology of Indonesia

See also: Volcanoes of Indonesia

A chart with the heading "Major Volcanoes of Indonesia (with eruptions since
1900 A.D.)". Depicted below the heading is an overhead view of a cluster of
islands.

Major volcanoes in Indonesia. Indonesia is in the Pacific Ring of Fire area.

Tectonically, Indonesia is highly unstable. It lies on the Pacific Ring of Fire where
the Indo-Australian Plate and the Pacific Plate are pushed under the Eurasian
plate where they melt at about 100 kilometres (62 miles) deep. A string of
volcanoes stretches from Sumatra to the Banda Sea.[82] While the volcanic ash
has resulted in fertile soils, it makes agricultural conditions unpredictable in
some areas.[83] The string of volcanoes runs through Sumatra, Java, Bali and
Nusa Tenggara, and then loops around through to the Banda Islands of Maluku to
northeastern Sulawesi. Of the 400 volcanoes, approximately 150 are active.[84]

The most massive supervolcano eruption was the Toba eruption that took place
at the present location of Lake Toba, about 75000 years Before Present.[85] The
supervolcano eruption is believed to had caused volcanic winter and cooling of
the climate, and subsequently led to a genetic bottleneck in human evolution
about 50,000 years ago.[86]

Between 1972 and 1991, 29 volcanic eruptions were recorded, mostly on Java.
The two most violent volcanic eruptions in modern times occurred in Indonesia;
in 1815 Mount Tambora in Sumbawa erupted killing 92,000 people.[87] Tambora
produced the largest eruption known on the planet during the past 10,000 years.
[87] Also the eruption created an umbrella of volcanic ash which spread and
blanketed Southeast Asia, plunging it into darkness for a week, and made a
whole world without a summer in 1815.[87] The 1883 eruption of Krakatoa was
one of the deadliest and most destructive volcanic events in recorded history.
Nearly 40,000 deaths are attributed to the eruption itself and the tsunamis it
created. Significant additional effects were also felt around the world in the days
and weeks after the volcano's destruction.[88]

Biodiversity

Main articles: Fauna of Indonesia and Flora of Indonesia

Species endemic to Indonesia. Clockwise from top: Rafflesia arnoldii, orangutan,

greater bird-of-paradise, and Komodo dragon.

Indonesia's size, tropical climate, and archipelagic geography, support the

world's second highest level of biodiversity after Brazil.[89] Its flora and fauna is
a mixture of Asian and Australasian species.[90] The islands of the Sunda Shelf
(Sumatra, Java, Borneo, and Bali) were once linked to the Asian mainland, and
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.[91] 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
landmasseshave developed their own unique flora and fauna.[92] 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.[93]

Indonesia is second only to Australia in terms of total endemic species, with 36%
of its 1,531 species of bird and 39% of its 515 species of mammal being
endemic.[94] Indonesia's 80,000 kilometres (50,000 miles) 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, seagrass beds, coastal
mudflats, tidal flats, algal beds, and small island ecosystems.[19] Indonesia is
one of Coral Triangle countries with the world's greatest diversity of coral reef
fish with more than 1,650 species in eastern Indonesia only.[95]

The British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace described a dividing line between the
distribution of Indonesia's Asian and Australasian species.[96] Known as the
Wallace Line, it runs roughly northsouth along the edge of the Sunda Shelf,
between Kalimantan and Sulawesi, and along the deep Lombok Strait, be

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