![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/09\/Indonesia-on-the-Globe-300x300.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>The sovereign state is a presidential, constitutional republic with an elected legislature. It has 34 provinces, of which five have special status. The country’s capital, Jakarta<\/a>, is the second-most populous urban area in the world. The country shares land borders with Papua New Guinea<\/a>, East Timor<\/a>, and the eastern part of Malaysia<\/a>. Other neighboring countries include Singapore<\/a>, Vietnam<\/a>, the Philippines<\/a>, Australia<\/a>, Palau<\/a>, and India’s<\/a> Andaman and Nicobar Islands<\/a>. Despite its large population and densely populated regions, Indonesia has vast areas of wilderness that support one of the world’s highest levels of biodiversity.<\/p>\n The Indonesian archipelago has been a valuable region for trade since at least the 7th century when Srivijaya<\/a> and later Majapahit<\/a> traded with entities from mainland China and the Indian subcontinent. Local rulers gradually absorbed foreign influences from the early centuries and Hindu<\/a> and Buddhist<\/a> kingdoms flourished. Sunni<\/a> traders and Sufi<\/a> scholars brought Islam, while Europeans introduced Christianity through colonization. Although sometimes interrupted by the Portuguese<\/a>, French and British<\/a>, the Dutch<\/a> were the foremost colonial power<\/a> for much of their 350-year presence in the archipelago. The concept of “Indonesia” as a nation-state emerged<\/a> in the early 20th century and the country proclaimed its independence in 1945<\/a>. However, it was not until 1949 that the Dutch recognized Indonesia’s sovereignty<\/a> following an armed and diplomatic conflict<\/a> between the two.<\/p>\n Indonesia consists of hundreds of distinct native ethnic and linguistic groups, with the largest one being the Javanese<\/a>. A shared identity has developed with the motto “Bhinneka Tunggal Ika<\/a>” (“Unity in Diversity” literally, “many, yet one”), defined by a national language, ethnic diversity, religious pluralism within a Muslim-majority population, and a history of colonialism and rebellion against it. The economy of Indonesia is the world’s 16th largest by nominal GDP and 7th by GDP at PPP. The country is a member of several multilateral organisations, including the United Nations<\/a>, World Trade Organization<\/a>, International Monetary Fund<\/a>, G20<\/a>, and a founding member of Non-Aligned Movement<\/a>, Association of Southeast Asian Nations<\/a>, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation<\/a>, East Asia Summit<\/a>, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank<\/a>, and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation<\/a>.<\/p>\n Fossilised remains of Homo erectus<\/a>, popularly known as the “Java Man<\/a>“, suggest the Indonesian archipelago was inhabited two million to 500,000 years ago. Homo sapiens reached the region around 43,000 BCE. Austronesian peoples, who form the majority of the modern population, migrated to Southeast Asia from what is now Taiwan. They arrived in the archipelago around 2,000 BCE and confined the native Melanesian<\/a> peoples to the far eastern regions as they spread east. Ideal agricultural conditions and the mastering of wet-field rice cultivation<\/a> as early as the eighth century BCE allowed villages, towns, and small kingdoms to flourish by the first century CE. The archipelago’s strategic sea-lane position fostered inter-island and international trade, including with Indian kingdoms and Chinese dynasties, from several centuries BCE. Trade has since fundamentally shaped Indonesian history.<\/p>\n From the seventh century CE, the Srivijaya<\/a> naval kingdom flourished as a result of trade and the influences of Hinduism and Buddhism. Between the eighth and tenth centuries CE, the agricultural Buddhist Sailendra<\/a> and Hindu Mataram<\/a> dynasties thrived and declined in inland Java, leaving grand religious monuments such as Sailendra’s Borobudur<\/a> and Mataram’s Prambanan<\/a>. The Hindu Majapahit kingdom was founded in eastern Java in the late 13th century, and under Gajah Mada<\/a>, its influence stretched over much of present-day Indonesia. This period is often referred to as a “Golden Age” in Indonesian history.<\/p>\n The earliest evidence of Islamized populations in the archipelago<\/a> dates to the 13th century in northern Sumatra. Other parts of the archipelago 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.<\/p>\n The first Europeans arrived in the archipelago in 1512, when Portuguese traders, led by Francisco Serr\u00e3o<\/a>, sought to monopolize the sources of nutmeg<\/a>, cloves<\/a>, and cubeb pepper<\/a> in the Maluku Islands<\/a>.<\/p>\n Dutch and British traders followed. In 1602, the Dutch established the Dutch East India Company (VOC)<\/a> and became the dominant European power for almost 200 years. The VOC was dissolved in 1800 following bankruptcy, and the Netherlands<\/a> established the Dutch East Indies<\/a> as a nationalized colony.<\/p>\n For most of the colonial period, Dutch control over the archipelago was tenuous. Dutch forces were engaged continuously in quelling rebellions both on and off Java. The influence of local leaders such as Prince Diponegoro<\/a> in central Java, Imam Bonjol<\/a> in central Sumatra, Pattimura<\/a> in Maluku, and bloody 30-year war in Aceh<\/a> weakened the Dutch and tied up the colonial military forces. Only in the early 20th century did their dominance extend to what was to become Indonesia’s current boundaries.<\/p>\n The Japanese invasion<\/a> and subsequent occupation<\/a> during World War II ended Dutch rule and encouraged the previously suppressed independence movement. Two days after the surrender of Japan<\/a> in August 1945, Sukarno<\/a> and Mohammad Hatta<\/a>, influential nationalist leaders, proclaimed Indonesian independence and were appointed president and vice-president respectively.<\/p>\n The Netherlands attempted to re-establish their rule, and a bitter armed and diplomatic struggle ended in December 1949 when the Dutch formally recognized Indonesian independence in the face of international pressure. Despite extraordinary political, social and sectarian divisions, Indonesians, on the whole, found unity in their fight for independence.<\/p>\n As president, Sukarno moved Indonesia from democracy towards authoritarianism and maintained power by balancing the opposing forces of the military, political Islam, and the increasingly powerful Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI)<\/a>. Tensions between the military and the PKI culminated in an attempted coup in 1965<\/a>. The army, led by Major General Suharto<\/a>, countered by instigating a violent anti-communist purge<\/a> that killed between 500,000 and one million people. The PKI was blamed for the coup and effectively destroyed. Suharto capitalized on Sukarno’s weakened position, and following a drawn-out power play with Sukarno<\/a>, Suharto was appointed president in March 1968. His “New Order<\/a>” administration, supported by the United States, encouraged foreign direct investment, which was a crucial factor in the subsequent three decades of substantial economic growth.<\/p>\n Indonesia was the country hardest hit by the 1997 Asian financial crisis<\/a>. It brought out popular discontent<\/a> with the New Order’s corruption and suppression of political opposition and ultimately ended Suharto’s presidency. In 1999, East Timor seceded from Indonesia, following its 1975 invasion by Indonesia<\/a> and a 25-year occupation<\/a> that was marked by international condemnation of human rights abuses.<\/p>\n In the post-Suharto era, democratic processes have been strengthened by enhancing regional autonomy and instituting the country’s first direct presidential election in 2004<\/a>. Political, economic and social instability, corruption, and terrorism<\/a> remained problems in the 2000s; however, in recent years, the economy has performed strongly. Although relations among the diverse population are mostly harmonious, acute sectarian discontent and violence remain a problem in some areas. A political settlement to an armed separatist conflict in Aceh<\/a> was achieved in 2005 following the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami<\/a> that killed 130,000 Indonesians. In 2014, Joko Widodo<\/a> became the first directly elected president from outside the military and political elite<\/a>.<\/p>\n Indonesia 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. According to the country’s Coordinating Ministry for Maritime and Investments Affairs, Indonesia has 17,504 islands (16,056 of which are registered at the UN), scattered over both sides of the equator, around 6,000 of which are inhabited. 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<\/a>, and maritime borders with Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Palau, and Australia.<\/p>\n At 4,884 metres (16,024 ft), Puncak Jaya<\/a> is Indonesia’s highest peak, and Lake Toba<\/a> in Sumatra is the largest lake, with an area of 1,145 km2 (442 sq mi). Indonesia’s largest rivers are in Kalimantan and New Guinea and include Kapuas<\/a>, Barito<\/a>, Mamberamo<\/a>, Sepik<\/a> and Mahakam<\/a>. They serve as communication and transport links between the island’s river settlements.<\/p>\n Indonesia has a mixed economy in which both the private sector and government play vital roles. As the only G20 member state in Southeast Asia, the country has the largest economy in the region and is classified as a newly industrialized country. As of 2019, it is the world’s 16th largest economy by nominal GDP and 7th in terms of GDP at PPP, estimated to be US$1.100 trillion and US$3.740 trillion respectively. The services are the economy’s largest sector and account for 43.4% of GDP (2018), followed by industry (39.7%) and agriculture (12.8%). Since 2009, it has employed more people than other sectors, accounting for 47.7% of the total labour force, followed by agriculture (30.2%) and industry (21.9%).<\/p>\n Over time, the structure of the economy has changed considerably. Historically, it has been weighted heavily towards agriculture, reflecting both its stage of economic development and government policies in the 1950s and 1960s to promote agricultural self-sufficiency. A gradual process of industrialization and urbanization began in the late 1960s and accelerated in the 1980s as falling oil prices saw the government focus on diversifying away from oil exports and towards manufactured exports. This development continued throughout the 1980s and into the next decade despite the 1990 oil price shock, during which the GDP rose at an average rate of 7.1%. As a result, the official poverty rate fell from 60% to 15%. Reduction of trade barriers from the mid-1980s made the economy more globally integrated. The growth, however, ended with the 1997 Asian financial crisis, which affected the economy severely.<\/p>\n Indonesia has abundant natural resources like oil and natural gas, coal, tin, copper, gold, and nickel, while agriculture produces rice, palm oil, tea, coffee, cacao, medicinal plants, spices, and rubber. These commodities make up a large portion of the country’s exports, with palm oil and coal briquettes as the leading export commodities. In addition to refined and crude petroleum as the main imports, telephones, vehicle parts and wheat cover the majority of additional imports. China, the United States, Japan, Singapore, India, Malaysia, South Korea and Thailand are Indonesia’s principal export markets and import partners.<\/p>\n Indonesia’s transport system has been shaped over time by the economic resource base of an archipelago, and the distribution of its 250 million people highly concentrated on Java. All transport modes play a role in the country’s transport system and are generally complementary rather than competitive.<\/p>\n The road transport system is predominant, with a total length of 542,310 kilometres (336,980 miles) as of 2018. Jakarta has the most extended bus rapid transit system in the world<\/a>, boasting some 251.2 kilometres (156.1 miles) in 13 corridors and ten cross-corridor routes. Rickshaws<\/a> such as bajaj and becak and share taxis<\/a> such as Angkot and Metromini are a regular sight in the country. Most of the railways are in Java, used for both freight and passenger transport, such as local commuter rail services complementing the inter-city rail network in several cities. In the late 2010s, Jakarta and Palembang were the first cities in Indonesia to have rapid transit systems, with more planned for other cities in the future. In 2015, the government announced a plan to build a high-speed rail, which would be a first in Southeast Asia.<\/p>\n Indonesia’s largest airport, Soekarno\u2013Hatta International Airport<\/a> is the busiest in the Southern Hemisphere, serving 66 million passengers in 2018. Ngurah Rai International Airport<\/a> and Juanda International Airport<\/a> are the country’s second- and third-busiest airport respectively. Garuda Indonesia<\/a>, the country’s flag carrier since 1949, is one of the world’s leading airlines and a member of the global airline alliance SkyTeam<\/a>. Port of Tanjung Priok<\/a> is the busiest and most advanced Indonesian port, handling more than 50% of Indonesia’s trans-shipment cargo traffic.<\/p>\n The Flag of Indonesia is a simple bi-color with two equal horizontal bands, red (top) and white (bottom) with an overall ratio of 2:3. It was introduced and hoisted in public during the Proclamation of Indonesian Independence<\/a> on 17 August 1945 in at 56 Jalan Proklamasi (formerly Jalan Pegangsaan Timur) in Jakarta<\/a>, and again when the Dutch formally transferred sovereignty<\/a> on 27 December 1949. The design of the flag has remained unchanged since.<\/p>\n The flag of Indonesia is graphically similar to the Flag of Monaco<\/a>, with a slight difference in the shade of red, and ratio of its dimensions. The flag of Poland<\/a> has similar dimensions but has the colors reversed: white on top and red on the bottom. In both, the red is of a slightly darker shade.<\/p>\n The flag’s colors are derived from the banner of the 13th century Majapahit Empire<\/a>. However, it has been suggested that the red and white symbolism can trace its origin to the older common Austronesian<\/a> mythology of the duality of Mother Earth (red) and Father Sky (white). This is why these colors appear in so many flags throughout Austronesia, from Tahiti<\/a> to Madagascar<\/a>. The earliest records of the red and white panji or pataka (a long flag on a curved bamboo pole) can be found in the Pararaton<\/a> chronicle; according to this source, the Jayakatwang<\/a> troops from Gelang-Gelang hoisted the red and white banner during their invasion of Singhasari<\/a> in the early 12th century. This suggests that even before the Majapahit era, the red and white colors were already revered and used as the kingdom’s banner in the Kediri era (1042-c.1222).<\/p>\n In the early 20th century these colors were revived by students and then nationalists, as an expression of nationalism against the Dutch. The modern red and white flag which was first flown in Java in 1928, was prohibited under Dutch rule. Upon Indonesia’s declaration of independence on 17 August 1945 it was adopted as the national flag, and has been in use ever since. After Indonesia’s independence was recognized, Monaco, which had a similar flag, filed a complaint which was largely ignored.<\/p>\n Several opinions have been expressed on the meaning of the red and white in the Indonesian flag. One opinion is that the red stands for courage, while the white stands for purity. Another is that red represents the human body or physical life, while white represents the soul or spiritual life; together they stand for a complete human being.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 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). This is why these colours appear in so many flags throughout Austronesia, from Tahiti to Madagascar. The earliest records of the red and white panji or pataka (a long flag on a curved bamboo pole) can be found in the Pararaton chronicle; according to this source, the Jayakatwang troops from Gelang-Gelang hoisted the red and white banner during their invasion of Singhasari in the early 12th century. This suggests that even before the Majapahit era, the red and white colours were already revered and used as the kingdom’s banner in the Kediri era (1042-c.1222).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6372,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[36,59,5,6,7,31,29,76,60],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5987"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5987"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5987\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6372"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5987"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5987"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/09\/Provincial-Map-of-Indonesia-300x113.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>History:<\/h2>\n
Early History:<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/09\/Borobudur-Temple-300x225.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/09\/Prambanan-300x203.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Colonial Era:<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/09\/Francisco-Serr\u00e3o-294x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/09\/Sukarno-209x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/09\/Mohammad-Hatta-243x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Modern Era:<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/09\/Suharto-234x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/09\/Joko-Widodo-249x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Geography:<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/09\/Topographic-Map-of-Indonesia-300x122.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Economy:<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/09\/Jakarta-Commercial-Center-300x147.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/09\/Oil-Palm-Plantation-on-Java-300x225.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Transportation:<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/09\/Soekarno-Hatta-International-Airport-300x177.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Flag of Indonesia:<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/09\/Flag-of-Indonesia-300x200.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/09\/Flag-of-the-Majapahit-Empire-300x177.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>