Indonesians

Indonesians (Indonesian: orang Indonesia) are citizens or people of Indonesia, regardless of their racial, ethnic or religious background. There are about 300 ethnicities in Indonesia, a multicultural archipelagic country with a diversity of languages, culture and religious beliefs. The population of Indonesia according to the 2010 national census was 237.64 million, and it was estimated to reach 255.4 million in 2015. 51% live on the island of Java, the world's most populous island. Around 95% of Indonesians are Native Indonesians (formerly grouped as "Pribumi"), with Javanese forming the majority, while the other 5% are Indonesians with ancestry from foreign origin, such as Chinese Indonesians.

Population 

As of 2018, Indonesians make up 3.5% of world total population, and Indonesia is the fourth most populous country after China, India and the United States.

Despite a fairly effective family planning program that has been in place since the 1967, for the decade ending in 2010, Indonesia's population growth was 1.49 percent. At that rate, Indonesia's population is projected to surpass the present population of the United States and would - if the current US population did not rise – become the world's third biggest after China and India by 2043. The family planning already revitalised based on the 1967 program to avoid Indonesia becoming the world's third most populous country.

With a population of 150 million, Java is home to 51 percent of the Indonesian population, and is the most populous island on Earth. The Indonesian capital city, Jakarta, is located on western Java. Much of Indonesian history took place on Java. It was the centre of powerful Hindu-Buddhist empires, the Islamic sultanates, and the core of the colonial Dutch East Indies. Java was also the centre of the Indonesian struggle for independence during the 1930s and 1940s. Java dominates Indonesia politically, economically and culturally.

The other major islands of Indonesia are Sumatra, Kalimantan, Sulawesi and Papua, which are home to the other 49 percent of Indonesian population. There are also other small populated island(s) such as Bali, Bangka, Madura, Nias, Maluku, Lesser Sunda Islands, Riau Islands and others.

Ethnic groups 

There are over 300 ethnic groups in Indonesia. 95% of those are of Native Indonesian ancestry.

The largest ethnic group in Indonesia is the Javanese who make up nearly 51% of the total population. The Javanese are concentrated on the island of Java but millions have migrated to other islands throughout the archipelago because of the transmigration program. The Sundanese, Malay, and Madurese are the next largest groups in the country. Many ethnic groups, particularly in Kalimantan and Papua, have only hundreds of members. Most of the local languages belong to Austronesian language family, although a significant number, particularly in Maluku Islands and West Papua belong to Papuan languages. The Chinese Indonesians population makes up a little less than 1% of the total Indonesian population according to the 2000 census. Some of these Indonesians of Chinese descent speak various Chinese dialects, most notably Hokkien and Hakka.

The classification of ethnic groups in Indonesia is not rigid and in some cases unclear due to migrations, cultural and linguistic influences; for example some may consider Bantenese and Cirebonese to be members of Javanese people, however some others argue that they are different ethnic groups altogether since they have their own distinct dialects. This is the same case with Baduy people that share many cultural similarities with the Sundanese people. An example of hybrid ethnicity is the Betawi people, descended not only from marriages between different peoples in Indonesia but also with foreign origin like Arab, Chinese and Indian migrants since the era of colonial Batavia (Jakarta).

Culture

Language 

The Indonesian language ( ) is the official language of Indonesia. It is a standardized register of Malay, an Austronesian language that has been used as a lingua franca in the Indonesian archipelago for centuries. Most Indonesians also speak one of more than 700 indigenous languages.

Most Indonesians, aside from speaking the national language, are fluent in another regional language (examples include Javanese, Sundanese and others), which are commonly used at home and within the local community. Most formal education, and nearly all national media and other forms of communication, are conducted in Indonesian. In East Timor, which was an Indonesian province from 1975 to 1999, Indonesian is recognised by the constitution as one of the two working languages (the other being English), alongside the official languages of Tetum and Portuguese.

Religion 

Indonesia is constitutionally a secular state and the first principle of Indonesia's philosophical foundation, Pancasila, is "belief in the one and only God". A number of different religions are practised in the country, and their collective influence on the country's political, economic and cultural life is significant. The Indonesian Constitution guarantees freedom of religion. However, the government recognises only six official religions (Islam, Protestantism, Catholicism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Confucianism). Although based on data collected by the Indonesian Conference on Religion and Peace (ICRP), there are about 245 non-official religions in Indonesia. Indonesian law requires that every Indonesian citizen hold an identity card that identifies that person with one of these six religions, although citizens may fill in 'believer' on that section in case that person adhere to other religion than six recognized religion or leave that section blank. Indonesia does not recognise agnosticism or atheism, and blasphemy is illegal. In the 2010 Indonesian census, 87.18% of Indonesians identified themselves as Muslim (with Sunnis more than 99%, Shias 0.5%, Ahmadis 0.2%), 6.96% Protestant, 2.91% Catholic, 1.69% Hindu, 0.72% Buddhist, 0.05% Confucianism, 0.13% other, and 0.38% unstated or not asked.

Indonesia's political leadership has played an important role in the relations between groups, both positively and negatively, promoting mutual respect by affirming Pancasila but also promoting a Transmigration Program, which has caused a number of conflicts in the eastern region of the country.

Literature 

Indonesian literature can refer to literature produced in the Indonesian archipelago. It is also used to refer more broadly to literature produced in areas with common language roots based on the Malay language (of which Indonesian is one scion). This would extend the reach to the Maritime Southeast Asia, including Indonesia, but also other nations with a common language such as Malaysia and Brunei, as well as population within other nations such as the Malay people living in Singapore.

There are also works written in and about Indonesia in unrelated languages. There are several languages and several distinct but related literary traditions within the geographical boundaries of the modern nation of Indonesia. For example, the island of Java has its own Javanese pre-national cultural and literary history. There are also Sundanese, Balinese, and Batak or Madurese traditions. Indonesia also has a colonial history of Dutch, British and Japanese occupation, as well as a history of Islamic influence that brought its own texts, linguistic and literary influences. There is also an oral literature tradition in the area.

The phrase Indonesian literature is used in this article to refer to Indonesian as written in the nation of Indonesia, but also covers literature written in an earlier form of the Indonesian language i.e. Malay language written in the Dutch East Indies.

Architecture 

The Architecture of Indonesia reflects the diversity of cultural, historical and geographic influences that have shaped Indonesia as a whole. Invaders, colonizers, missionaries, merchants and traders brought cultural changes that had a profound effect on building styles and techniques.

Traditionally, the most significant foreign influence has been Indian. However, Chinese, Arab, and European influences have also played significant roles in shaping Indonesian architecture. Religious architecture varies from indigenous forms to mosques, temples, and churches. The sultans and other rulers built palaces. There is a substantial legacy of colonial architecture in Indonesian cities. Independent Indonesia has seen the development of new paradigms for postmodern and contemporary architecture.

Cuisine 

Indonesian cuisine is one of the most vibrant and colourful cuisines in the world, full of intense flavor. It is diverse, in part because Indonesia is composed of approximately 6,000 populated islands of the total 18,000 in the world's largest archipelago, with more than 300 ethnic groups calling Indonesia their home. Many regional cuisines exist, often based upon indigenous culture and foreign influences. Indonesia has around 5,350 traditional recipes, with 30 of them considered the most important.

Indonesian cuisine varies greatly by region and has many different influences. Sumatran cuisine, for example, often has Middle Eastern and Indian influences, featuring curried meat and vegetables such as gulai and kari, while Javanese cuisine is mostly indigenous, with some hint of Chinese influence. The cuisines of Eastern Indonesia are similar to Polynesian and Melanesian cuisine. Elements of Chinese cuisine can be seen in Indonesian cuisine: foods such as bakmi (noodles), bakso (meat or fish balls), and lumpia (spring rolls) have been completely assimilated.

Genetics 

Writing in 1985, Archaeologist Peter Bellwood noted several theories for Indonesian ancestry including "Australo-Melanesian and Mongoloid Evolution". The "Southern Mongoloid Replacement Model" and the "Indo-Malaysian Continuity Model" concluding that "research still has a long way to go in this region".

Most Indonesian people are genetically close to Asians while the more eastern one goes how more people show Melanesian affinity. Geneticist Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza claims that there is a genetic division between East and Southeast Asians. Other geneticists have found evidence for four separate populations, carrying distinct sets of non-recombining Y chromosome lineages, within the traditional Mongoloid category: North Asians, Han Chinese, Japanese and Southeast Asians. The complexity of genetic data has led to doubt about the usefulness of the concept of a Mongoloid race itself, since distinctive East Asian features may represent separate lineages and arise from environmental adaptations or retention of common proto-Eurasian ancestral characteristics.

See also 
 List of Indonesian people
 Native Indonesians (Pribumi)
 Ethnic groups in Indonesia
 Culture of Indonesia
Non-indigenous Indonesians:
 African Indonesians
 Arab Indonesians
 Chinese Indonesians
 Filipino Indonesians
 Indian Indonesians
 Indo people (mixed European-Indonesians)
 Jewish Indonesians
 Pakistani Indonesians
 Totok (Dutch Indonesians)

References