Indonesia

Indonesia is a country in Southeast Asia. It is part of the Malay Archipelago. It has 18,108 islands. 6,000 of these islands are inhabited. The most important islands of Indonesia are Java, Bali, Borneo, Sulawesi, and Sumatra. The capital of Indonesia is Jakarta, on Java. The current president is Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. Modern Indonesia began on the 17th of August 1945. At 10 o'clock on that Friday morning, Ir. Soekarno read Indonesia's Declaration of Independence. Indonesia Independence Day is a national holiday.

Indonesia is the fourth most populous country in the world with a population of 238,452,952 (2004 est.) There are 111 inhabitants per km². The official language of Indonesia is Bahasa Indonesia. Other languages spoken in Indonesia include Javanese, Balinese and Sundanese. The closest countries are Papua New Guinea, Malaysia, and East Timor which share land borders with Indonesia. Other neighbouring countries are Australia to the south, Singapore to the north-west, and Phillipines to the north-east.

The religion that most people follow is Islam. Other religions include Christianity (Protestant, and Roman Catholic), Hinduism, and Buddhism.

1 History
- 1.1 Pre World War II
- 1.2 Modern Indonesia
2 Indonesian people and culture
3 Gallery

[change] History

[change] Pre World War II

Indonesia has written history dating to the 7th century. Before the colonial Dutch came in the 1700s, Indonesia consisted of many kingdoms in perpetual warfare. Indonesia was ruled by the Netherlands from the 17th century until World War II.

[change] Modern Indonesia

During World War II, the Japanese drove out the Dutch and took charge of Indonesia. After the Japanese surrender, Indonesia claimed its independence on the 17th of August 1945. The proclamation was read by Ir. Soekarno in Jakarta. Soekarno later became Indonesia's first President.

British troops came into Indonesia to restore peace and to rescue Europeans who had been prisoners of the Japanese. The British troops also had the job of shipping home 300,000 Japanese troops. The Indonesian Republicans fought the British troops, because it was expected that the British would give Indonesia back to the Dutch. The Indonesian Republicans killed many of the Japanese prisoners, before they could be sent home. They also began killing people from minority groups who might be against the new Republic. Many European and Indonesian European people were killed. Many Chinese business people and other minority groups were killed or made homeless. In Java there were many thousands of homeless people.

In 1946, the Dutch came back. When the British left in 1947, there were 55,000 Dutch soldiers in Indonesia. The Dutch action was called "Operatie Product" or "Politionele Acties". The Indonesian Republicans fought the Dutch until 1949. But the Indonesian Republicans were badly organised and often fought among themselves. As the Dutch forced the Republican soldiers out of different areas, they moved in more troops until there was 100,000 Dutch troops. The Dutch refused to obey the United Nations who said they should stop the fighting in Indonesia. The United States of America organised for meetings between Dutch and Indonesian leaders. The Dutch finally agreed to recognise Indonesia's independence in November 1949.

Because of the fighting and the bad organistion, it took a long time for the country to become peaceful, and for the economy to get better. Many Indonesian soldiers had died, between 45,000 and 100,000. Also, a very large number of civilian (people not in the army), Indonesians, Europeans and Chinese, had died; perhaps as many as 200,000.

[change] Indonesian people and culture

There are people of many different cultural groups living in Indonesia.

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[change] Gallery

The parliament in session	The Great Mosque of Banda Aceh	Bank of Indonesia in Jakarta	University of Indonesia
Plowing with water buffalo	An amusement ride	Village children from Lombok	Fruit of Indonesia- Papaya, banana and pineapple
A traditional Batak house of Sumatra	The Sipisopiso Waterfall	A traditional sampan	The Heritage Site at Borobudur
A shop selling batik textiles	Brightly painted fishing boats	Mountains of Sulawesi	Terraced fields in Bali