I N D O N E S I A

INDONESIA

A country in Southeast Asia located between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It is an archipelago of 17,508 islands. The government system is a republic, with the president serving as both chief of state and head of government. Indonesia has a mixed economic system that combines various levels of personal freedom with centralized economic planning and government regulation. Indonesia belongs to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Indonesia was formerly known as the "Dutch East Indies" (or Netherlands East Indies). Although Indonesia did not become the country’s official name until the time of independence, the name was used as early as 1884 by a German geographer; it is thought to derive from the Greek indos, meaning “India,” and nesos, meaning “island.” After a period of occupation by the Japanese (1942–45) during World War II, Indonesia declared its independence from the Netherlands in 1945.

FLAG OF INDONESIA

The flag's colours are derived from the banner of the 13th century Majapahit Empire. However, it has been suggested that the red and white symbolism can trace its origin to the older common Austronesian mythology of the duality of Mother Earth (red) and Father Sky (white). The red band represents the courage and blood of the Indonesian people, while the white band represents purity and the spirits of the people.

INDONESIA IN A NUTSHELL:

A country with the largest muslim population in the world
The largest buddhist temple in the world
Colonized by a christian nation, and having a hindu-majority Island as the most famous tourist destination.
Largest archipelago in the world (18,307 islands).
There are 100 active volcanoes in Indonesia.
Indonesia has over 600 ethnic groups.

— short historical background of Indonesia

The Dutch began colonizing Indonesia in the early 17th century, and Japan occupied the islands from 1942 to 1945. After Japan surrendered, Indonesia declared independence, but it took four years for the Netherlands to relinquish its colony.
Homo erectus fossils, also known as the “Java Man,” indicate that the Indonesian archipelago was inhabited two million to 500,000 years ago.
Austronesian peoples arrived in Indonesia around 2000 BCE. They pushed the indigenous Melanesian peoples to the far east.
By the first century CE, ideal agricultural conditions and the mastery of rice cultivation had allowed villages, towns, and small kingdoms to flourish.
The strategic sea-lane position of Indonesia has facilitated inter-island and international trade. Several centuries BCE, for example, trade links were established with both Indian kingdoms and China. Since then, trade has fundamentally shaped Indonesian history.
The powerful Srivijaya naval kingdom flourished in the seventh century CE due to trade and Hindu and Buddhist influences.
The agricultural Buddhist Sailendra and Hindu Mataram dynasties thrived and declined in inland Java between the eighth and tenth centuries CE, leaving grand religious monuments such as Borobudur and Prambanan.
In the late 13th century, the Majapahit kingdom was established in eastern Java. Its influence spanned much of Indonesia under Gajah Mada. In Indonesian citizen’s this period is often referred to as the “Golden Age.”

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