Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia (Indonesian: Republik Indonesia), is a nation of islands consisting of more than 18,000 islands located in the South East Asian Archipelago. It is the world's largest archipelagic nation. It is bordered by the nations of Papua New Guinea, East Timor, and Malaysia. Indonesia (from Greek: indus = India nesos = islands) is home to more than 200 million people, and thus is the most populous Muslim-majority nation in the world and the fourth most populous overall. The area now comprising the archipelago of Indonesia, specifically Java, was inhabited by Homo erectus - the Java Man - approximately 500,000 years ago, while the island of Flores was home to a newly discovered species of hominid, Homo floresiensis. The region was an important trade route to China, thriving in trade of spices. Regional Hindu kingdoms expanded religious and cultural influences of Hinduism as well as Buddhism, and in the middle ages the islands came under the influence of Islam.

The region was colonized by the Netherlands as the Dutch East Indies. The people across many islands rebelled in the early 20th century against Dutch control. Following 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. Indonesia is a unitary state, and was governed by Sukarno, leader of the national freedom struggle, and military dictator Suharto for most of its modern history. Democracy was restored following the revolution of 1998. Although the national language is Indonesian (called Bahasa Indonesia in 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.

History

The area now comprising the archipelago of Indonesia, specifically Java, was inhabited by Homo erectus approximately 500,000 years ago, while the island of Flores was home to a newly discovered species of hominid, Homo floresiensis until approximately 10,000 years ago. The date of the earliest arrival of Homo Sapiens into the area was between 40,000 and 100,000 years ago (US Library of Congress [1]). The earliest historical mention of the area was of the Jawa Dwipa Hindu kingdom in Java and Sumatra around 200 BC by Indian scholars, and various archeological sites show the influence of the Hindu religion in the area from the first century AD to the fifth century AD. Under the influences of Hinduism and Buddhism, several kingdoms formed on the islands of Sumatra and Java from the 7th to 14th century. The arrival of Arabs trading in spices later brought Islam, which became the dominant religion in many parts of the archipelago after the collapse of Hindu and Buddhist kingdoms. When the Portuguese came in early 16th century, they found a multitude of small states, vulnerable to the Portuguese, and later other Europeans wanting to dominate the spice trade. In the 17th century, the Dutch became the most powerful of the Europeans, ousting the Spanish and Portuguese (except for their colony of Portuguese Timor on the island of Timor). Dutch influence started with trading by the Dutch East India Company (VOC), a chartered private enterprise constituting a state in all but name, complete with its own fleet and army, which gradually expanded its influence and grip on political matters. Like the British, the Dutch mainly relied on indirect rule, using traditional native elites as vassals, while imposing their will and extracting major income under supervision by their colonial officials. After VOC was dissolved in 1799 by the Batavian Republic (Napoleon's Dutch satellite state) and the political instability from the Napoleonic Wars including partial British occupation, the East Indies were awarded to the United Kingdom of the Netherlands in 1815. Since then, the East Indies were officially ruled as the major colonies of the Dutch crown. Under the 19th-century Cultivation System (Cultuurstelsel), large plantations and forced cultivation were established on Java, finally creating the profit for the Netherlands that the VOC had been unable to produce. In a more liberal period of colonial rule after 1870, the Cultivation System was abolished, and after 1901 the Dutch introduced the Ethical Policy, which included limited political reform and increased investment in the colony.

Geography

Indonesia's 18,108 islands, of which about 7,000 are inhabited, are scattered around the equator, giving the country a tropical climate. The most populated islands are Java (one of the most densely populated regions on Earth, where about half of the population lives), Sumatra, Borneo (shared with Malaysia and Brunei), New Guinea (shared with Papua New Guinea) and Sulawesi, also known as Celebes. Indonesia borders Malaysia on the island of Borneo (Indonesian: Kalimantan), Papua New Guinea on the island of New Guinea and East Timor on the island of Timor. In addition to the capital city of Jakarta, principal cities of high population include Surabaya, Bandung, Medan, Palembang, and Semarang.

Its location on the edges of tectonic plates, specifically the Pacific, Eurasian, and Australian, means Indonesia is frequently hit by earthquakes and the resulting tsunamis. Indonesia has at least 66 volcanoes [1], the most famous being the now-vanished Krakatau (Krakatoa), which was located between Sumatra and Java.

Flora and fauna differ markedly between Kalimantan, Bali, and western islands on the one hand and Sulawesi (Celebes), Lombok, and islands further east on the other. This ecological boundary has been called the Wallace line after its discoverer. The line is often given as the boundary between Asia and Australasia, as such making Indonesia a bicontinental country.

Administrative Divisions

Indonesia currently has 33 provinces, of which three have special status and one is a special capital region. The provinces are subdivided into regencies and cities, which are further subdivided into sub-districts.

The provinces are: Aceh*, Bali, Bangka-Belitung, Banten, Bengkulu, Gorontalo, Irian Jaya Barat (Indonesian: West Irian Jaya), Jakarta*, Jambi, Jawa Barat (Indonesian: West Java), Jawa Tengah (Indonesian: Central Java), Jawa Timur (Indonesian: East Java), Kalimantan Barat (Indonesian: West Kalimantan), Kalimantan Selatan (Indonesian: South Kalimantan), Kalimantan Timur (Indonesian: East Kalimantan), Kalimantan Tengah (Indonesian: Central Kalimantan), Kepulauan Riau (Indonesian: Riau Islands), Lampung, Maluku, Maluku Utara (Indonesian: North Maluku), Nusa Tenggara Barat (Indonesian: West Nusa Tenggara), Nusa Tenggara Timur (Indonesian: East Nusa Tenggara), Papua*, Riau, Sulawesi Barat (Indonesian: West Sulawesi), Sulawesi Selatan (Indonesian: South Sulawesi), Sulawesi Tengah (Indonesian: Central Sulawesi), Sulawesi Tenggara (Indonesian: South East Sulawesi), Sulawesi Utara (Indonesian: North Sulawesi), Sumatera Barat (Indonesian: West Sumatra), Sumatera Selatan (Indonesian: South Sumatra), Sumatera Utara (Indonesian: North Sumatra), Yogyakarta*.

(*) The provinces which have special status.

The special territories have more autonomy from the central government than other provinces, and so have unique legislative privileges: the Acehnese government has the right to create an independent legal system, and instituted a form of sharia (Islamic Law) in 2003; Yogyakarta remains a sultanate whose sultan (currently the widely popular Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono X) is the territory's de facto governor for life. Papua (formerly called Irian Jaya) has had special status since 2001.

The special capital region is Jakarta. Though Jakarta is a single city, it is administered much as any other Indonesian province. For example, Jakarta has a governor (instead of a mayor), and is divided into several sub-regions with their own administrative systems.

(References : Wikipedia)