Indonesia
Capital : Jakarta
Dialing code : 62+
Spoken language: Indonesian; Malay; English; Javanese; 700 others
Capital and largest city: Jakarta; 6°10.5′S 106°49.7′E / 6.1750°S 106.8283°E
Etymology
The name Indonesia derives from the Greek name of the Indós (Ἰνδός) and the word nèsos (νῆσος), meaning "Indian islands".[21] The name dates to the 18th century, far predating the formation of independent Indonesia.[22] In 1850, George Windsor Earl, an English ethnologist, proposed the terms Indunesians—and, his preference, Malayunesians—for the inhabitants of the "Indian Archipelago or Malayan Archipelago".[23] In the same publication, one of his students, James Richardson Logan, used Indonesia as a synonym for Indian Archipelago.[24][25] However, Dutch academics writing in East Indies publications were reluctant to use Indonesia; they preferred Malay Archipelago (Maleische Archipel); the Netherlands East Indies (Nederlandsch Oost Indië), popularly Indië; the East (de Oost); and Insulinde.[26]
After 1900, Indonesia became more common in academic circles outside the Netherlands, and Indonesian nationalist groups adopted it for political expression.[26] Adolf Bastian, of the University of Berlin, popularised 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 in 1913 he established a press bureau in the Netherlands, Indonesisch Pers-bureau.[22]
History
Early history
Fossils and the remains of tools show that the Indonesian archipelago was inhabited by Homo erectus, known as "Java Man", between 1.5 million years ago and 35,000 years ago.[28][29][30] Homo sapiens reached the region by around 45,000 years ago.[31] 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.[32]
Ideal agricultural conditions and the mastering of wet-field rice cultivation as early as the 8th century BCE,[33] 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.[34] Trade has since fundamentally shaped Indonesian history.[35][36]
From the 7th century CE, the powerful Srivijaya naval kingdom flourished as a result of trade and the influences of Hinduism and Buddhismthat were imported with it.[37] 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.[38]
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.[39]: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.[40]
The earliest evidence of Islamised populations in Indonesia dates to the 13th century in northern Sumatra, although Muslim traders first traveled through Southeast Asia early in the Islamic era.[41] 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.[42]
Colonial era
The first regular contact between Europeans and the peoples of Indonesia began in 1512, when Portuguese traders, led by Francisco Serrão, sought to monopolise the sources of nutmeg, cloves, and cubeb pepper in Maluku.[43] Dutch and British traders followed. In 1602, the Dutch established the Dutch East India Company (VOC), and in following decades, the Dutch gained foothold in Batavia and Amboina. Throughout 17th and 18th centuries, the company became the dominant European power in the archipelago.[44]
Following bankruptcy, the VOC was formally dissolved in 1800, and the government of the Netherlands established the Dutch East Indies as a nationalised colony.[45] 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.[46] Japanese occupation during World War II ended Dutch rule,[47] and encouraged the previously suppressed Indonesian independence movement.[48] Despite major internal political, social and sectarian divisions during the National Revolution, Indonesians, on the whole, found unity in their fight for independence.
Modern era
A UN report stated that four million people died in Indonesia as a result of famine and forced labour during the Japanese occupation.[49] Two days after the surrender of Japan in August 1945, Sukarno and Hatta, the influential nationalist leaders, declared Indonesian independence.[50][51][52][53][incomplete short citation] After independence, Soekarno was selected as Indonesia's first president by the PPKI, accompanied with Hatta who had been elected as first vice-president. Whereas, the first parliamentary cabinet, led by Sutan Sjahrir as prime minister.[54] 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[51][55] (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).[56]
Sukarno moved Indonesia from democracy towards authoritarianism, and maintained his power base by balancing the opposing forces of the militaryand the Communist Party of Indonesia (Partai Komunis Indonesia, PKI).[57] An attempted coup on 30 September 1965 was countered by the army, which led a violent anti-communist purge, during which the PKI was blamed for the coup and effectively destroyed.[58][59][60] 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.[61][62][63]
The head of the military, General Suharto, outmaneuvered the politically weakened Sukarno and was formally appointed president in March 1968. His New Order administration[64] was supported by the US government,[65][66][67] 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.[68][69][70]
Indonesia was the country hardest hit by the 1997 Asian financial crisis.[71] This increased popular discontent with the New Order and led to popular protest across the country. Suharto resigned on 21 May 1998.[72] 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.[73]
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 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.[74] A political settlement to an armed separatist conflict in Aceh was achieved in 2005.[75]
Geography
Indonesia lies between latitudes 11°S and 6°N, and longitudes 95°E and 141°E. 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.[76] According to a geospatial survey conducted between 2007 and 2010 by National Coordinating Agency for Survey and Mapping (Bakosurtanal), Indonesia has 13,466 islands,[77] about 6,000 of which are inhabited.[13] These are scattered over both sides of the equator. The largest are Java, Sumatra, Borneo(shared with Brunei and Malaysia), Sulawesi, and New Guinea (shared with Papua New Guinea). 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 country's largest city, followed by Surabaya, Bandung, Medan, and Semarang.[78]
Indonesia average population density is 134 people per km2 (347 per sq mi), 79th in the world,[79] although Java, the world's most populous island,[80] has a population density of 940 people per km2 (2,435 per sq mi).
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 New Guinea, and include the Kapuas, Barito, Mamberamo, Sepik and Mahakam; such rivers are communication and transport links between the island's river settlements.[82]
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,[83] 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,[84] 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.[85]
Climate
Lying along the equator, Indonesia's climate tends to be relatively even year-round.[86] Indonesia has two seasons—a wet season and a dry season—with no extremes of summer or winter.[87] For most of Indonesia, the dry season falls between April and October with the wet season between November and March.[87] 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 (Köppen Cfb) prevail in highland areas with fairly uniform precipitation year-round, adjacent to rainforest climates, while the subtropical highland climate (Köppen Cwb) exist in highland areas with a more pronounced dry season, adjacent to tropical monsoon and savanna climates.
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
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.[88] While the volcanic ash has resulted in fertile soils, it makes agricultural conditions unpredictable in some areas.[89] The string of volcanoes runs through Sumatra, Java, Bali and Nusa Tenggara, and then to the Banda Islands of Maluku to northeastern Sulawesi. Of the 400 volcanoes, approximately 150 are active.[90]
The most massive supervolcano eruption was the Toba eruption that took place at the present location of Lake Toba, about 75000 yearsBefore Present.[91][incomplete short citation] The supervolcano eruption is believed to have caused volcanic winter and cooling of the climate, and subsequently led to a genetic bottleneck in human evolution about 50,000 years ago.[92][incomplete short citation]
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.[93] Tambora produced the largest eruption known on the planet during the past 10,000 years.[93] 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.[93] 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.[94]
Biodiversity
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Indonesia's size, tropical climate, and archipelagic geography, support the world's third highest level of biodiversity after Brazil and Colombia.[16] Its flora and fauna is a mixture of Asian and Australasian species.[95] 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.[96] 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.[97] 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.[98]
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.[99] 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.[21] 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.[100]
The British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace described a dividing line between the distribution of Indonesia's Asian and Australasian species.[101] 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 until the tipping point at the Weber Line. In his 1869 book, The Malay Archipelago, Wallace described numerous species unique to the area.[102] The region of islands between his line and New Guinea is now termed Wallacea.[101]
Environment
Indonesia's high population and rapid industrialisation present serious environmental issues, which are often given a lower priority due to high poverty levels and weak, under-resourced governance.[103] 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 urbanisation and economic development, including air pollution, traffic congestion, garbage management, and reliable water and waste water services.[103]
Deforestation and the destruction of peatlands make Indonesia the world's third largest emitter of greenhouse gases.[104] Habitat destruction threatens the survival of indigenous and endemic species, including 140 species of mammals identified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as threatened, and 15 identified as critically endangered, including the Bali starling,[105] Sumatran orangutan,[106] and Javan rhinoceros.[107]
Much of Indonesia's deforestation is caused by forest clearing for the palm oil industry, which has cleared 18 million hectares of forest for palm oil expansion. Palm oil expansion requires land reallocation as well as changes to the local and natural ecosystems. Palm oil expansion can generate wealth for local communities, but it can also degrade ecosystems and cause social problems.[108]
Indonesia has a below average but slightly improving performance in the global Environmental Performance Index (EPI) with an overall ranking of 107 out of 180 countries in 2016. This is also below average in the Asia Pacific region, behind Thailand but slightly ahead of China.[109]
Politics
Government
Indonesia 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[c] have revamped the executive, judicial, and legislative branches.[110]
The president of Indonesia is the head of state and head of government, commander-in-chief of Tentara Nasional Indonesia (Indonesian National 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.[111] The president may serve a maximum of two consecutive five-year terms.[112]
The highest representative body at national level is Majelis Permusyawaratan Rakyat (People's Consultative Assembly) or MPR. Its main functions are supporting and amending the constitution, inaugurating the president, and formalising broad outlines of state policy. It has the power to impeach the president.[113] The MPR comprises two houses; Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat (People's Representative Council) or DPR, with 560 members, and Dewan Perwakilan Daerah (Regional Representative Council) or DPD, with 132 members.[114] The DPR passes legislation and monitors the executive branch; party-aligned members are elected for five-year terms by proportional representation.[110] Reforms since 1998 have markedly increased the DPR's role in national governance.[d] The DPD is a new chamber for matters of regional management.[115]
Most civil disputes appear before Pengadilan Negeri (State Court); appeals are heard before Pengadilan Tinggi (High Court). Mahkamah Agung is the country's highest court, and hears final cessation appeals and conducts case reviews. Other courts include the Commercial Court, which handles bankruptcy and insolvency; Pengadilan Tata Negara (State Administrative Court) to hear administrative law cases against the government; Mahkamah Konstitusi (Constitutional Court) to hear disputes concerning legality of law, general elections, dissolution of political parties, and the scope of authority of state institutions; and Pengadilan Agama (Religious Court) to deal with codified Sharia Law cases.[116] In addition, the Komisi Yudisial (Judicial Commission) monitors the performance of judges.
Parties and elections
Since 1999, Indonesia has had a multi-party system. In the two legislative elections since the fall of the New Order regime, no political party has managed to win an overall majority of seats, resulting in coalition governments. The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (Partai Demokrasi Indonesia Perjuangan), which secured the most votes in the 2014 elections, is the party of the current Indonesian President, Joko Widodo.[117] The Great Indonesia Movement Party (Partai Gerakan Indonesia Raya) is the third largest political party.[118] Other notable parties such as Party of the Functional Groups (Golongan Karya), Democratic Party (Partai Demokrat), and National Awakening Party (Partai Kebangkitan Bangsa). The current Indonesian DPR consists of 10 political parties, with a parliamentary threshold of 3.5% of the national vote.[119]
Indonesia held its first general election in 1955 to elect members of the People's Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat, DPR) and the Constitutional Assembly of Indonesia (Konstituante). At the national level, Indonesian people did not elect a head of state – the president – until 2004. Since then, the president is elected for a five-year term, as are the 560-member People's Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat, DPR) and the 128-seat Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah).[120] Starting from the 2015 unified local elections, Indonesia start to elect governors and mayors simultaneously on the same date.
Administrative divisions
Administratively, Indonesia consists of 34 provinces, five of which have special status. Each province has its own legislature (Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat Daerah/DPRD) and an elected governor. The provinces are subdivided into regencies (kabupaten) and cities (kota), led by regents (bupati) and mayors (walikota) respectively and also their own legislature (DPRD Kabupaten/Kota). These are further subdivided into districts (kecamatan or distrik in Papua and West Papua), and again into administrative villages (either desa, kelurahan, kampung, nagari in West Sumatra, or gampong in Aceh). This number has evolved over time, the most recent change being the split of North Kalimantan from East Kalimantan in October 2012.[121]
The village is the lowest level of government administration in Indonesia. Furthermore, a village is divided into several community groups (rukun warga (RW)) which are further divided into neighbourhood groups (rukun tetangga (RT)). In Java the desa (village) is divided further into smaller units called dusun or dukuh (hamlets), these units are the same as rukun warga. 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 neighbourhood 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 certain elements of an independent legal system and several regional parties only participate in elections within the province.[122] In 2003, it instituted a form of sharia (Islamic law).[123]
Yogyakarta was granted the status of Special Region in recognition of its pivotal role in supporting Indonesian Republicans during the Indonesian Revolution and its willingness to join Indonesia as a republic.[124] Papua, formerly known as Irian Jaya, was granted special autonomy status in 2001 and was split into Papua and West Papua in February 2003.[125][126] Jakarta is the country's special capital region (Daerah Khusus Ibukota).
