Official language: Indonesian
Currency: Rupiah (IDR)
Calling Code: +62
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia
(Indonesian: Republik Indonesia), is an island country located
between Southeast Asia and Oceania. The Republic of Indonesia
comprises about 17 508 islands and according to statistics for 2015
it has more than 255 million people, making it the fourth most
populous country in the world. In addition, Indonesia is the country
with the most Muslims on the planet.
Indonesia is a republic with a legislative power and a president
elected by suffrage, the government has its headquarters in the
capital of Jakarta. Being mostly an archipelago, the country shares
land borders with Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Malaysia. Other
countries near Indonesia include Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, the
Philippines, Palau, Australia and the Indian Territory of the
Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
The Indonesian archipelago has been an important region for world
trade since the seventh century, when the kingdom of Srivijaya began
trade with China and India. Gradually, local rulers adopted the
culture, religion and political model of the Indians and in the
first century AD. Several Hindu and Buddhist kingdoms began to
flourish in the region. Indonesian history has been influenced by
foreign powers that sought to exploit their natural resources. After
Muslim merchants brought Islam and during the Age of Discovery,
European powers began to dispute the monopoly of the spice trade in
the Moluccan Islands. After three and a half centuries of Dutch
colonialism, Indonesia gained its independence shortly after the
Second World War. Since then, the history of Indonesia has been
turbulent, having confronted the country with the great challenges
posed by natural disasters, corruption, separatism, the process of
democratization and periods of economic change.
Through its many islands, the Indonesian people are made up of
different ethnic, linguistic and religious groups. The Javanese are
the largest and most politically dominant ethnic group. It has
developed a shared identity defined by a national language, by
ethnic diversity, religious pluralism within a majority Muslim
population and a history of constant colonialism and its struggle
against it. Indonesia's national motto, "Bhinneka Tunggal Ika"
("Unity in Diversity"), articulates the diversity that makes up the
nation. However, sectarian tensions and separatism have led to
violent confrontations that have undermined the country's political
and economic stability. Despite its large population, Indonesia has
vast uninhabited areas that make it one of the most biodiverse
countries in the world, so it belongs to the list of mega-diverse
countries.
Information guide for traveling to Bali Island a small paradise famous for its nature and traditions.
Komodo National Park covers an area of 1,733 km² designated to protect largest lizard in the World known as Komodo dragon.
Alas Purwo National Park is a biosphere reserve situated in East Java island in Indonesia. It covers an area of 434.20 km².
Baluran National Park is a nature reserve in East Java island in Indonesia. It covers an total area of 250 km².
Borobudur is ancient religious complex situated in Magelang, Central Java island. It was constructed in 9th- 14th century.
Bromo Tengger Semeru is nature reserve in the East Java Island in Indonesia. It covers an area of 503 sq km.
Gunung Ciremai National Park is a biosphere reserve situated in the West Java Island in Indonesia.
Karimunjawa National Park is famous for its picturesque beaches and diverse underwater ecosystem.
Ujung Kulon National Park is a natural reserve on the Java island in Indonesia. It covers an area of 1,206 km².
Kelimutu National Park is a nature reserve in East Nusa Tenggara, Flora Island in Indonesia. It covers a total area of 50 km².
Danau Sentarum National Park is a protected biosphere in West Kalimantanin Indonesia. It encompasses an area of 1,320 km².
Gunung Palung National Park is a nature reserve in West Kalimantan in Indonesia. It covers an area of 900 km².
Kutai National Park is a protected biosphere in East Kalimantan. It covers an area of 1,986 km².
Tanjung Puting National Park situated in Central Kalimantan is famous for its population of primates.
Gunung Rinjani National Park is a nature reserve in West Nusa Tenggara. It covers several volcanoes and surrounding biosphere.
The name "Indonesia" is compound and comes from the toponym "India" (lat. Indus) in combination with a derivative of the Greek word "nesos" (Greek νῆσος - island), meaning literally "Insular India". The first cases of its use date back to the end of the 18th century. However, the documented introduction of this concept into scientific circulation did not occur until 1850, when the British ethnographer George Windsor Earl (English) Russian. as one of the options for the generalizing name of the inhabitants of the Malay Archipelago, he proposed the ethnonym "Indunesians" (English Indunesians). Later, Earl's student James Richardson Logan in his works first used the toponym "Indonesia" as a synonym for the then used toponym "Indian Archipelago", and the German ethnographer and philosopher Adolf Bastian (German: Adolf Bastian) published a monograph entitled "Indonesia or the islands of the Malay Archipelago" ( German Indonesien oder die Inseln des Malayischen Archipels).
On the territory of Indonesia are some of the earliest areas of
settlement of ancient people. The fossils of one of the subspecies
of Homo erectus, the Pithecanthropus, also known as the Javanese ape
man, discovered in Java by the Dutch anthropologist Eugene Dubois,
belong to the Lower Paleolithic period, their approximate dating is
from 1 million to 700 thousand years ago.
Until recently, the prevailing opinion in science was that the
settlement of Indonesia with reasonable people began about 45,000
years ago. However, the latest paleoanthropological discoveries
suggest a much earlier beginning of this process: for example, the
remains of people of a modern type, found by the same Dubois in
Sumatra, in accordance with recent studies date back to the age of
63,000 to 73,000 years ago. Since that time, there have been several
migration waves during which representatives of various ethnic
groups moved from the continental part of Southeast Asia, the
earliest of which belonged to the australoid race. The penetration
of the Mongoloid peoples, who brought with them a high Neolithic
culture, began in the 2nd millennium BC. The first large wave of
the Mongoloids was formed by the so-called Protomalai, the second,
related to the middle of the 1st millennium BC.
The latter, who were carriers of a highly developed culture of
bronze and spread farming on the settled territory, became the
ancestors of most of the modern Indonesians. The transition to
bronze in the main territory of the country was completed by the
beginning of our era, then in the coastal areas began the transition
to a culture of iron.
The formation of states, the pre-colonial period (I — XV centuries)
The formation of state formations on the territory of Indonesia was
already in the I-III centuries BC, however, the existence of the
first states, the names of which are known to science for certain -
Kutai in eastern Kalimantan and Taruma in western Java, refers only
to the 4th century. The first state, the territory of which spread
to several islands, was Srivijaya, based on southern Sumatra at the
end of the 7th century: having existed until the end of the 14th
century, it controlled the entire territory of Sumatra, most of Java
and the Malay Peninsula, during periods of its maximum power. These
and other states that existed on the territory of Indonesia in the
4th-13th centuries were strongly influenced by India, and Hinduism
was the dominant religion in most of them. At the same time,
Buddhism also received significant development: in particular, it
was the state religion of the East Javanese principality of Mataram.
The largest, powerful and socio-economic state of the pre-colonial
period was the Majapahit empire, founded in 1293 in the eastern part
of Java. By the end of the XIV century, the territory or vassal
possessions of Majapahit included most of the territory of
present-day Indonesia.
In the XIII century, the active spread of Islam began, penetrating
mainly from the Malacca Peninsula and from the east coast of India.
Towards the end of the sixteenth century, Islam became the dominant
religion in most of Indonesia, although in many regions foci of
Buddhism and Hinduism, as well as traditional local beliefs, the
carriers of which, as a rule, coexisted quite non-conflict with
Muslims.
Colonial period (XVI century - 1942)
The penetration of Europeans, the colonization of the NOIC
(1512-1798)
The penetration of European colonizers into Indonesia, which began
in the sixteenth century, was caused by high demand for spices and
spices that grew in the eastern part of the Malay archipelago - the
Moluccas and the Lesser Sunda Islands, Sulawesi - this region was of
main interest to Europeans. The Portuguese were the first to settle
here: in 1512, the explorer Francisco Serran managed to arrange the
supply of spices from Molucc and stay with a part of the crew on the
island of Ternate.
In the 17th century, other European powers joined the struggle to
control the trade in local spices, the Netherlands being the most
active. For several decades, the Dutch managed to oust competitors
from the archipelago - the Portuguese managed to keep only the
eastern part of the island of Timor. In 1602, the Netherlands East
India Company (NOIC) was founded, which began the development of not
only the eastern, but also the western part of present-day
Indonesia. The company had its own armed forces and established in
the territory of its possessions, called the Netherlands East
Indies, a developed system of colonial administration, headed by the
Governor General. In 1619, in the north-west of Java, the Dutch, on
the site of the destroyed Jayakert founded by the Demak Sultanate,
founded the capital of the colony - Batavia (Dutch Batavia).
In the XVII-XVIII centuries, the NOIK gradually expanded its
possessions. In addition to the territories directly belonging to
it, the zone of its influence was many formally independent states
of the archipelago, with which unequal agreements were concluded in
one form or another. As a rule, colonial officials, the so-called
residents, who controlled their foreign relations and economic
activity, were seconded to dependent rulers. The main methods of
operating the colony during this period were the forced production
of various agricultural products (after the fall in Europe, the
demand for spices and spices its main types were coffee, sugar,
tobacco, indigo, valuable wood species) and various forms of
taxation.
At the end of the 18th century, under the influence of the
consequences of the Anglo-Dutch war of 1780–84 and changes in the
international economic situation, the NOIC found itself in a deep
crisis, which became fatal for it: in 1796 the management of the
bankrupt bankruptcy company was transferred to the Dutch government,
in 1798 the Batavian Republic adopted assumed all agreements and
obligations of the NOIC, and in 1800 the latter was liquidated.
Dependence on the Dutch crown (1798-1942)
Dependence on the NOIC was replaced by similar colony relations
directly with the Netherlands, which did not entail any significant
changes in the system of colonial administration - the
administration of the East Indies was still led by the Governor
General, who was no longer the NOIC, but the Dutch government. At
the same time, taking into account the subordination of the
Netherlands to Napoleonic France during this period, the next
governor-general, Herman Willem Dundels, received this appointment
in 1808 from Louis Bonaparte and pursued a course towards securing
French colonial interests.
In 1811, the colony came under British control, occupying the Dutch
East Indies, to prevent their final capture by France. The British
governor Thomas Stamford Ruffles carried out a number of significant
administrative transformations in a short time, and the new methods
of management and management, as a rule, significantly outperformed
the Netherlands. In addition, during the period of British
occupation, the administrative center of the colony was moved from
Batavia to Beitensorg.
The East Indies were returned to the Netherlands freed from Napoleon
under the terms of the London Convention of 1814. During the
restoration of the Dutch administration, a significant part of the
British reforms was canceled. The Dutch continued to expand their
holdings and limit the autonomy of formally independent local
states. Along with the export of products manufactured in the
colony, it was transformed into a market for Dutch goods. At the
same time, the Dutch still had to overcome the active resistance of
the local population: the Padri war of 1821–37 years was the most
large-scale anti-colonial demonstrations. in western Sumatra, the
Javan war of 1825-1830 and the Aceh war of 1873-1913. After joining
the Dutch East Indies in 1906, Aceh, and in 1920 the western part of
the island of New Guinea, it united the entire territory of
present-day Indonesia.
The methods of economic exploitation of the colony changed with the
economic development of the Netherlands themselves: the system of
forced crops was replaced by a plantation economy in the second half
of the 19th century, and the sale of Dutch goods became increasingly
important. From the beginning of the 20th century, monopolies of
other European countries and the USA were allowed to participate in
the development of the Netherlands East Indies by The Hague.
The origin of the institutionalized national liberation movement in
the colony dates back to the same period: in the 1900s - 1910s, a
number of organizations were created that proclaimed their goal to
achieve state independence. Under the influence of the processes
taking place in Europe, a very active left wing of the movement was
formed: in 1914 the first Social Democratic unit was formed, in 1920
- the Communist Party of Indonesia. In 1927, the National Party was
created, headed by Sukarno, the future president of the country, who
formulated the principles of Marhaenism - a doctrine providing for
the independent development of Indonesia along the socialist path
with national characteristics, which became the ideology of the most
powerful movement within the framework of the national liberation
movement.
At the beginning of World War II, due to the neutrality of the
Netherlands, Indonesia was not involved in hostilities or
preparations. However, after the German occupation of the
Netherlands in May 1940, the Dutch government, having moved to
London, announced the participation of its armed forces remaining in
the colonies in the war on the side of the Anti-Hitler coalition.
The period of Japanese occupation (1942-1945)
In February - March 1942, after a short resistance from the
US-British-Dutch-Australian forces stationed there, the Dutch East
Indies were occupied by Japanese forces. The occupation
administration was decentralized and carried out through the
appropriate structures of various formations of the Japanese armed
forces: Java and Madura were assigned to the occupation zone of the
16th army, Sumatra and a number of adjacent islands to the
occupation zone of the 25th army, the rest of the territory to the
occupation zone of the 2nd fleet.
As in other conquered territories of Southeast Asia, the Japanese
administration, seeking to enlist the support of the local
population, pursued a policy in Indonesia to promote anti-European
sentiments, emphasizing the ethnocultural affinity between the
Indonesians and the Japanese. The leaders of the national liberation
movement were involved in cooperation: under the control of the
occupation authorities, they were allowed to create socio-political
organizations of a nationalist nature.
At the final stage of the war, amid major defeats by the Japanese
armed forces inflicted by the Allied forces, the Japanese occupation
authorities decided to enlist the support of the Indonesians and
take steps to meet their desires to create an independent state. In
1945, the Japanese administration announced the beginning of
practical preparations for granting Indonesia independence. To this
end, in March, a Research Committee for the Preparation of
Indonesian Independence was formed (indone. Badan Penyelidik Usaha
Persiapan Kemerdekaan Indonesia, BPUPKI), uniting activists of the
local national liberation movement (including Sukarno and future
vice president Mohammad Hatta), which prepared a draft of the
Indonesian constitution. At its June meeting, Soekarno proclaimed
the principles of Pancha Sila, which later became Indonesia's state
ideology. In August 1945, the Commission for the Preparation of the
Independence of Indonesia (indonesian Panitia Persiapan Kemerdekaan
Indonesia, PPKI) was formed under the chairmanship of Sukarno to
consider the work of the Research Committee.
Formally, the Japanese occupation of Indonesia ended on August 15,
1945, after the official announcement by Emperor Hirohito of
acceptance of the terms of surrender. However, Japanese troops
continued to remain on Indonesian territory for some time before
they were disarmed and evacuated by Allied forces.
During the
Japanese occupation, about four million Indonesians died.
The
period of state independence (1945 - present)
The period of the
struggle for independence (1945-1950)
On August 17, 1945, Sukarno
and Hatta declared the independence of the country. As a temporary
representative body of the state, on the basis of the Commission for
the Preparation of Independence, the Central National Committee of
Indonesia (Indon. Komite Nasional Indonesia Pusat, KNIP) was formed,
which elected Sukarno and Hatta, respectively, as president and vice
president of the country and approved a constitution providing for
the construction of a unitary presidential republics.
In
August-September 1945, the Sukarno government managed to form the
main state institutions. However, in October, the armed formations
of the Republic came into conflict with the British troops who
landed in Java to disarm the Japanese, and in January 1946 they
began hostilities against the Dutch who returned to the former
colony - The Hague refused to recognize the country's independence.
From Jakarta occupied by the Dutch, the capital of the Republic was
moved to Yogyakarta.
After ten months of hostilities, in
November 1946, the Lingajat Agreement was signed, under which the
Netherlands de facto recognized the sovereignty of the Republic of
Indonesia within Java, Sumatra and Madura. However, in July 1947,
their troops again invaded Java and Sumatra. After large-scale
hostilities, during which the Dutch occupied most of the territory
of the Republic, the intervention of the UN followed, which led to
the signing of the Renville Peace Agreement in January 1948, which
restored the main provisions of the Lingadzhat agreement. However,
the implementation of this agreement was also disrupted - in
December 1948, the Dutch resumed hostilities, capturing Yogyakarta
(the capital of the Republic was moved to Bukittinggi).
After
a new intervention by the UN, the parties returned to negotiations.
Following the results of the Hague Round Table Conference in
November 1949, the creation of the United States of Indonesia, USI,
was proclaimed - a federal entity, which, along with the Republic of
Indonesia, whose territory was cut to most of Sumatra and about half
of Java, included a group of quasi-independent states created under
patronage of the Dutch in the East Indian territories held by them.
The existence of the SHI turned out to be short-lived: from
February to May 1950, almost all states voluntarily or after short
military clashes became part of the Republic of Indonesia. On August
17, 1950, in Jakarta, the Republic of Indonesia was again proclaimed
as a unitary state, including the main part of the former
Netherlands East Indies (the accession of the southern part of the
Moluccas to the Republic was completed in October, the western part
of New Guinea remained under Dutch control).
Periods of
"Liberal Democracy" and "Guided Democracy" (1950-1965)
The
reconstituted Republic of Indonesia inherited the multi-party system
formed during the years of the struggle for independence, which
determined the high role of the legislative authorities.
Simultaneously with the proclamation of a unitary republic, Sukarno,
under pressure from the largest parties, agreed to the adoption of a
new interim constitution, which provided for the transformation of
Indonesia into a parliamentary republic. The powers of the president
were significantly narrowed, and the role of the prime minister
increased. In view of such political transformations, the ensuing
seven-year period of Indonesia's development was called "Liberal
Democracy".
This period was characterized by a low level of
political stability, due to both the acuteness of socio-economic
problems and conflict relations between various political parties.
The active and independent activity of the parliament often came
into conflict with the interests of the executive branch. From the
mid-1950s, Sukarno increasingly leaned towards the introduction of
socialist methods of economic management and political rapprochement
with the Soviet Union, which caused rejection by right-wing and
Muslim parties. At the same time, a foreign policy course was
pursued aimed at consolidating Indonesia's leadership among
developing countries - the most important step in this direction was
the holding of the Conference of Asian and African Nations in
Bandung in April 1955.
In February 1957, in the context of another political crisis caused
by the confrontation between the president and parliament, Sukarno, with
the support of the military, promulgated the Nasakom doctrine, which
provided for the virtual rejection of parliamentarism, and announced the
country's transition to the so-called "Guided Democracy", which
expressed primarily in the expansion of presidential powers while
significantly limiting the role of legislative bodies. Within a year,
the 1945 constitution was restored declaring Indonesia a presidential
republic, the post of prime minister was abolished, and parliament was
dissolved. The new composition of the parliament, approved personally by
Sukarno, was attended only by representatives of parties loyal to the
president.
As Sukarno's personal power strengthened, Indonesia's
foreign policy tilt towards the socialist camp intensified while its
relations with the West cooled. In 1960, with military-technical
assistance and political support from the USSR, Indonesia entered into a
military confrontation with the Netherlands, which held the western part
of New Guinea, which ended in 1962 with the transfer of this territory
under UN control (in 1963 it was officially included in the Republic of
). Another manifestation of Sukarno's anti-imperialist policy was the
confrontation with Malaysia initiated by him in 1963 - Jakarta was
categorically opposed to the formation of this country by uniting the
liberated British colonies on the Malay Peninsula and Kalimantan,
fearing that it would become a conductor of Western influence in the
region.
Such a bias in Sukarno's domestic and foreign policy was
actively supported by the Communist Party, which significantly increased
its influence during this period, but caused a sharp rejection from the
right-wing parties and a significant part of the military elite. This
situation culminated in September 1965 in an acute political crisis,
culminating in the September 30 Movement and the ensuing military
counter-coup.
"New Order" period (1965-1998)
After the
suppression of the September 30 coup attempt, the military group under
the leadership of Major General Suharto began to gradually usurp power
and suppress their political opponents. The military obtained from
Sukarno a ban on the activities of the Communist Party and launched a
large-scale campaign of terror against its supporters, during which,
according to various sources, from 500 thousand to 2 million people
died.
The removal of President Sukarno from power was gradual: in
March 1966, under pressure from the military, he granted Suharto the
right to take any measures necessary to maintain security and order in
the country, and in March 1967, an emergency session of the People's
Consultative Congress dismissed him, appointing Suharto acting duties of
the president. In March 1968, another extraordinary session of the GCC
elected Suharto as President of Indonesia. The government he formed
launched large-scale transformations in all spheres of the country's
life: the era that began after the suppression of the coup on September
30, 1965, was officially called the "New Order".
In a short time,
a rigid vertical of executive power was built in the country, in which
the army, officially endowed with a "socio-political function", played a
key role. At the same time, the role of the legislature was
significantly reduced. In the economy, a course was taken for the
accelerated development of market mechanisms while ensuring the active
role of the state. A sharp turn also took place in foreign policy: even
before Suharto formally came to power, Indonesia began an all-round
rapprochement with the United States and the West as a whole, while
relations with the USSR, China and most of the socialist countries
cooled. At the same time, the new authorities achieved the normalization
of relations with Malaysia and other neighboring states, the active
involvement of the country in the processes of regional integration - in
August 1967, with the initiative role of Jakarta, the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations was created.
As part of the
liberalization of the domestic political life of the country, the
Suharto government tightened control over the activities of political
parties. As their own “political superstructure”, the military and
right-wing civil forces close to them used the Golkar organization,
which since 1964 has united a significant part of public organizations
loyal to the executive branch - it was significantly enlarged and
transformed into a political bloc, which subsequently received an
absolute majority of votes in all parliamentary elections. elections
held since 1971 every five years. A faction of the armed forces was
introduced into the parliament, whose members were appointed by the
president.
In December 1975, Indonesian troops captured East Timor, which had
recently declared independence from Portugal. In July 1976, this
territory was officially incorporated into Indonesia as a province.
The economic policy of the "New Order" turned out to be very
effective: by the mid-1980s, the country managed to attract large flows
of foreign investment, develop many modern industries, and achieve a
qualitative increase in the average standard of living of the
population. In the context of growing social prosperity, the
infringement of political freedoms did not cause any large-scale
discontent: manifestations of civil protest were, as a rule, local in
nature and were quickly suppressed. Greater efforts were required from
the authorities in the fight against separatist movements in a number of
regions - Aceh, East Timor, West Irian - however, even there the
situation was generally managed to be kept under control.
The
Asian financial and economic crisis of 1997-1998 led to fundamental
changes, which had an extremely painful effect on the Indonesian
economy. The collapse of entire industries, a sharp decline in the
incomes of the population led to an aggravation of social tension, mass
discontent, and an escalation of ethno-confessional extremism. In a
short time, an active anti-government movement was formed, the backbone
of which was student and youth organizations. After a series of mass
protests and riots on May 21, 1998, President Suharto resigned, handing
over the presidency to Vice President B. Y. Habibie.
Post-Sukhart
period (1998 - present)
The government formed by Habibie launched a
program of broad political reforms, a key element of which was the
liberalization of the party system and electoral legislation. At the
same time, under strong international pressure, Jakarta was forced to
agree to a referendum on the self-determination of East Timor in August
1999, during which the majority of the inhabitants of this territory
spoke in favor of independence. The process of sovereignization of East
Timor, which took place under the control of the UN, was completed in
May 2002.
Following the results of the parliamentary elections
held in June 1999, the largest faction in the People's Representative
Council was formed by the opposition Democratic Party of Struggle of
Indonesia, headed by Sukarno's daughter Megawati Sukarnoputri. In
October 1999, during the session of the NCC, the leader of the moderate
Muslim National Awakening Party, Abdurrahman Wahid, was elected
president of the country, and Megawati Sukarnoputri was elected vice
president.
During the presidency of Wahid, some of the
socio-economic problems were solved. However, the political situation in
the country remained quite complicated: almost immediately there was a
tendency for confrontation between the head of state, who strove for
maximum confidentiality in making important state decisions, and the
parliament. This confrontation ended in an acute political crisis in
June-July 2001. On July 22, Wahid declared a state of emergency in the
country and ordered the armed forces to prevent an extraordinary session
of the NCC, initiated by parliamentarians, to consider a vote of no
confidence in the president. The presidential order was ignored by the
military, who sided with the parliamentarians, as a result of which, on
July 23, the NCC decided to resign Wahid and transfer the powers of the
head of state to Megawati Sukarnoputri.
The government of
Megawati Sukarnoputri continued the course aimed at improving the
socio-economic situation and the systematic liberalization of the
political system. Direct presidential elections were introduced, and the
process of phased dismantling of the "socio-political function" of the
armed forces was completed. At the same time, ethno-confessional
contradictions remained acute in various regions of the country, and
Islamist terrorist groups were active.
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono,
leader of the Democratic Party, a retired army general who held various
positions in the governments of Wahid and Megawati Sukarnoputri, won the
first direct presidential elections in Indonesia in two rounds in July
and September 2004. His government managed to achieve significant
success in resolving ethno-confessional problems: in particular, in
August 2005, through the mediation of the European Union, a peace
agreement was concluded with the most powerful of the separatist
structures - the Free Aceh Movement. In the second half of the 2000s,
significant progress was made in the economic direction: the country's
investment attractiveness was largely restored, and economic growth
rates in most sectors approached the pre-crisis level.
In July 2009, Yudhoyono was re-elected as head of state. On the
whole, his new government continued the policy typical of the period of
Yudhoyono's first presidency, with an emphasis on settling
ethno-confessional conflicts and improving the economy.
During
the presidential elections held in July 2014, the victory was won by the
tandem Joko Widodo-Yusuf Kalla, representing the Indonesian Democratic
Party of Struggle and Golkar, respectively. Their inauguration took
place on October 20, 2014.
Following the results of the regular
presidential elections held on April 17, 2019, Joko Widodo was
re-elected to the post of head of state. His second presidential term
began on October 20, 2019. Maaruf Amin, a non-partisan Islamic
theologian, took over as Vice President for the upcoming five years on
the same day.
In 2019, the Indonesian leadership launched a plan
to move the country's capital to a new city, which was decided to be
built in the province of East Kalimantan. This move is motivated by
overcrowding in Jakarta, as well as serious environmental and
infrastructural problems of this metropolis. In January 2022, the
capital under construction was named Nusantara. The transfer of central
government bodies to a new location is expected to be completed in 2024.
Fundamentals of the state system
Indonesia is a unitary republic
of the presidential type. The basic law of the state is the constitution
adopted in 1945. The 1945 constitution was abolished in 1950, restored
in 1959 and is currently in force with a number of amendments, the main
ones being adopted in 1998, 1999 and 2001. These amendments, which were
of a liberal-democratic nature, received significant international
resonance. In particular, they gave grounds to the international human
rights organization "Freedom House" to classify Indonesia as a "free
country".
The main institutions of Indonesian statehood were
formed in the first years of the country's independent development. At
the same time, the legal norms for their functioning have undergone
significant changes in the course of the liberal democratic reforms of
the late 1990s and early 2000s. These changes were carried out both by
introducing the mentioned amendments to the constitution, and through
the adoption of a package of legal acts, known in Indonesia as
"Political Laws" (Indon. Undang-Undang Politik). The main results of the
reforms were the withdrawal of the armed forces from political activity,
the introduction of a real multi-party system and direct presidential
elections in the country, and an increase in the role of the legislative
authorities.
executive branch
The head of state and head of
the executive branch of government is the president, currently Joko
Widodo. In the performance of the duties of the head of state, the
president is assisted by the vice president, currently Maaruf Amin. The
vice-president assumes the office of president in the event of the death
or resignation of the latter.
The president and vice president
are elected for a term of five years by secret ballot in direct
universal suffrage, the same person cannot hold the presidency for more
than two consecutive terms. Constitutional norms providing for the
direct popular election of the president and limiting his term of office
were introduced in 2001; previously, the head of state was elected every
five years during the session of the People's Consultative Congress and
could be re-elected to this post an unlimited number of times.
The president forms and leads the government. The government consists of
coordinating ministers (supervise several ministries and departments),
ministers (head ministries), state ministers (head various departments,
or supervise various government programs, or perform special
assignments), the secretary of state (head of the presidential
administration) and heads of departments who do not have a ministerial
position, but are officially equated to ministers in status. The
quantitative composition and structure of the government are not
regulated by law and are determined by the president.
Legislature
The supreme legislative body is the People's Consultative Congress, NCC.
The NCC, which is not a permanent structure, convenes at a session at
least once every five years, and consists of two chambers: the Council
of People's Representatives, SNP and the Council of Representatives of
the Regions, SPR.
At its regular sessions, the ICC inaugurates
the elected President and Vice President and approves the President's
proposed public policy guidelines for a five-year term. The President is
accountable to the GCC, and Congress can impeach him by meeting for this
in an extraordinary session.
The quantitative composition of the
NCC is not formally regulated and is determined by the composition of
its SNP and SPR. The NCC of the last convocation, sworn in in October
2014, has 692 deputies. The chairman of the NCC is Zulkifli Hassan, a
representative of the National Mandate Party.
Between sessions of
the NCC, the current legislative functions are performed by the Council
of People's Representatives, which in fact is a permanent unicameral
parliament. The competence of the SNP includes the development, adoption
and control over the implementation of laws, approval of the state
budget, ratification of part of international agreements. Deputies of
the SPC are elected for a five-year term in the course of direct general
parliamentary elections held under the proportional system in
multi-member constituencies. The quantitative composition of the
Council, regulated by the current legislation, has varied many times
over the years of the existence of this body. The current composition of
the SNP, formed following the results of the 2014 parliamentary
elections and sworn in in October 2014, consists of 560 people. The
deputies of the 10 parties that entered the parliament formed 10
factions. Chairman of the SNP - Novanto Network.
The Council of Representatives of the Regions is a new formation in
the political system of Indonesia that has existed since 2004. Prior to
this, in addition to the deputies of the SNP, the NCC included
representatives of local legislative bodies, various public
organizations, as well as political parties and the armed forces in
proportion to the presence of the deputies of the latter in the SNP,
while the totality of the deputies of the NCC, not included in the SNP,
was not an independent political Institute and did not have any name.
In terms of the scope of powers, the SPR is significantly inferior
to the SNP. Its competence includes the development of draft laws
concerning the issues of the administrative-territorial structure of the
country, regional self-government, economic, social and cultural
development of the regions for their subsequent transfer to the SNP.
The SWP is formed from representatives of the provinces and
administrative-territorial units of Indonesia equal to the provinces - 4
delegates from each territory. Members of the SNP are elected on a
non-partisan basis at the same time as the deputies of the SNP. The
current composition of the Council, formed following the parliamentary
elections of 2014 and sworn in in October 2014, consists of 132 deputies
representing 31 provinces and 2 special districts.
Judicial
branch
The supreme judicial power belongs to the Supreme Court
(Indon. Mahkamah Agung). It administers the criminal, civil,
administrative, commercial and tax justice systems and is the highest
court of appeal for relevant cases.
The maximum number of judges
of the Supreme Court is 60 people. Judges of the Supreme Court are
appointed by the President on the basis of proposals from the Council of
People's Representatives. The chairman is elected by the judges, but is
confirmed in office by the president. The current Chief Justice of
Indonesia is Hatta Ali, who took up the position in February 2012.
In 2003, the Constitutional Court (Indon. Mahkamah Konstitusi) was
established in Indonesia, to which matters related to the interpretation
of the constitution and determining the conformity of legislative acts
with constitutional norms were transferred from the jurisdiction of the
Supreme Court. It consists of 9 judges appointed by the President. At
the same time, 3 judges are appointed on the proposal of the Council of
People's Representatives, 3 - on the proposal of the Supreme Court and 3
- on the proposal of the president himself. The President of the
Constitutional Court is elected by the judges and confirmed in office by
the President. The current President of the Constitutional Court of
Indonesia is Arif Hidayat, who took up this position in January 2015.
Political parties
Indonesia's modern party system took shape in
the late 1990s. Then, as a result of liberal-democratic transformations,
instead of a nominal multi-party system (in 1973-99, in addition to the
ruling Golkar bloc, there were two political parties in the country,
formally oppositional, but in fact completely dependent on state power),
a real multi-party system was introduced.
The activities of
political parties are regulated by the current legislation: as of July
2011, the law on political parties, adopted in January 2008, as amended
in January 2011, is in force. In accordance with it, any 30 citizens of
the country have the right to create a party, and the proportion of
women among the founders of the party must be at least 30%. The party is
subject to registration with the Ministry of Justice and must present a
certificate of membership in all provinces of the country in order to
start political activity. An exception is made for the province of Aceh:
political parties registered there are not required to have members in
other regions of the country, while they have the right to compete for
seats in the SNP, but only Acehnese voters can vote for them. All
parties are required to recognize the principles of "Pancha Sila" as the
state ideology of Indonesia. The creation of a communist party remains
under the ban.
As of 2012, there were over 70 officially
registered political parties in Indonesia. 12 of them took part in the
last parliamentary elections held on April 9, 2014.
Гeneral characteristics
The Indonesian legal system is mixed. Most
of the legal norms are established according to classical European
models, inherited mainly from the Dutch colonizers, and belong to the
Romano-Germanic legal family. At the same time, in some areas, the norms
of customary law (mainly adat) and / or Islamic law apply everywhere or
in certain regions. Adat and Islamic regulation are practiced to the
greatest extent, in particular, in relation to issues of family and
marriage, inheritance, and land ownership. The region of wide, but,
nevertheless, limited application of Sharia is the special province of
Aceh. Adat law is not unified; at the beginning of the 2000s, there were
19 historical regions with its own variants.
After the collapse of the Suharto regime, in the context of the
process of democratic transformation, a large-scale reform of the legal
system takes place, the main goal of which is proclaimed to ensure the
rule of law and the independence of the judiciary. At the same time,
against the background of the general liberalization of legislation,
there has been a tendency towards some expansion of the scope of
application of Islamic norms, despite the fact that the period from the
moment of gaining independence to the second half of the 1990s was
characterized by a gradual strengthening of the dominance of
European-style law. So, in 1998, polygamy was officially allowed for
Muslims (subject to the fulfillment of a significant number of
conditions by the spouses). At the same time, measures are being taken
to establish clearer boundaries for the application of the norms of
European, customary and Islamic law.
Ensuring human rights
Provisions for ensuring fundamental human rights and freedoms were
originally laid down in the Indonesian constitution. At the same time,
in the 1960s-1990s, various legislative acts were adopted in the country
that officially restricted the rights and freedoms of certain groups of
citizens: in particular, members of the Communist Party and other
left-wing organizations, their family members, and representatives of
the Chinese community. In addition, there were systematic illegitimate
infringements of the rights and freedoms of citizens, taking on the
largest scale in the fight against political dissent and ensuring
control over problem areas - Ache, the western part of the island of New
Guinea, East Timor. In 1993, by order of President Suharto, the National
Human Rights Commission (Indon. Komisi Nasional Hak Asasi Manusia) was
established, formally independent of state authorities, but in fact
tightly controlled by the government.
Measures to improve the
human rights situation have become one of the main directions of liberal
reforms carried out since the late 1990s. Relevant legislation was
adopted (Law No. 39 of 1999 on fundamental human rights), the work of
the National Human Rights Commission was activated, this direction in
the work of the Ministry of Justice was strengthened, while the
department itself was officially renamed the Ministry of Justice and
Human Rights (Indon. Kementerian Hukum dan Hak Azasi Manusia). A number
of investigations have been carried out into cases of human rights
violations committed in the past.
Such efforts generally have a
positive resonance both in the country and abroad. At the same time,
according to the assessments of such international non-governmental
organizations as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, they are
insufficient: they blame the Indonesian authorities, in particular, for
the continued arbitrariness on the part of representatives of law
enforcement agencies and the armed forces in conflict areas, failure to
adequately ensure freedom of religion and freedom of speech, the
exploitation of child labor, as well as the inhibition of investigations
of committed offenses. In a more restrained way, the lack of human
rights measures is pointed out, in particular, in the corresponding
report of the US State Department - while acknowledging the significant
progress made by Indonesia in this area.
The state symbols of Indonesia are regulated by the constitution and
current legislation (Law on the State Flag, State Language, State Emblem
and National Anthem, the latest version of which was adopted in 2009).
The flag of Indonesia is a rectangular panel with 3:2 proportions,
divided into two horizontal stripes of equal size - red at the top and
white at the bottom. Legislatively approved different sizes of the flag
for various government agencies, vehicles, political and public events,
while the proportion of 3:2 remains unchanged.
The red and white
flag was first used by the activists of the national liberation
movement. The history of the creation of the flag and the meaning of its
colors are not documented. According to the most common version, he
inherited the colors of the flag of the medieval state of Majapahit, red
symbolizes courage, white - purity of intentions. There is also a
version of the origin of the Indonesian flag from the Dutch, from which
two of the three colors were taken.
The national emblem of
Indonesia is the golden mythical bird Garuda with a heraldic shield on
its chest. Garuda plumage symbolizes August 17, 1945 - the date of the
proclamation of the Republic of Indonesia: 19 feathers in the lower body
and 45 on the neck - 1945, 8 feathers in the tail - the month of August,
17 feathers in each of the wings - the 17th. In its claws, Garuda holds
a silver ribbon with the national motto, written in black capital
letters in Old Javanese, "Unity in diversity" (Jav. Bhinneka Tunggal
Ika, literally "diversity is one").
The shield on the chest of
Garuda is four-part, with a small shield in the heart. The five elements
of the coat of arms symbolize the five principles of the state ideology
of Pancha Sil: a golden five-pointed star in a black field in the heart
of the coat of arms - faith in one God; the head of a banteng in the
first part in a scarlet field - a nationality led by representative
bodies; banyan tree in the second in silver - national unity; a rice
shoot and a sprig of cotton in the third, also in silver - universal
social justice, a chain of round and rectangular links in the fourth in
scarlet - fair and civilized humanism (all figures are natural in
color). The upper and lower parts of the shield are separated by a black
narrow belt, symbolizing the equator, passing through the territory of
Indonesia.
The coat of arms was designed by the Sultan of
Pontianak Hamid II during his tenure in the government of the United
States of Indonesia and adopted as the national emblem of the Republic
of Indonesia on February 11, 1950.
The anthem of the Republic of
Indonesia "Greater Indonesia" (Indon. Indonesia Raya) was written by the
composer Wage Rudolf Supratman in 1924 and was first publicly performed
during the congress of youth organizations on October 28, 1928. It was
adopted as the national anthem on the day of the country's independence
on August 17, 1945.
Since the first years of statehood, independence and activity, as
well as equidistance from confrontational blocs, have been declared as
the main principles of Indonesia's foreign policy. In the 1950s, Jakarta
was among the main initiators of the creation of the Non-Aligned
Movement and to this day remains one of its most active participants (in
1991-1995 she chaired the Movement). However, if the period of Sukarno's
presidency was characterized by the country's rapprochement with the
USSR and other countries of the socialist bloc, then after 1965 a course
was set for a close political and economic partnership with the West. At
the same time, full-fledged diplomatic relations were maintained with
the USSR even after 1965 and systematic contacts were made in various
fields, albeit at a less intensive level than before, while ties with
China were completely frozen: accusing the PRC of complicity in the
attempted coup d'état on September 30, 1965 year, the Suharto government
severed diplomatic relations with her (restored in 1990) and interrupted
contacts in the political, economic and cultural fields.
In
addition, since the mid-1960s, regional cooperation has occupied the
most important place in the scale of Indonesia's foreign policy
priorities. In 1967, with the initiative role of Indonesia, the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was created - since then
it has always remained the informal leader of this organization,
advocating the intensification of integration processes, the development
of new forms of intra-ASEAN cooperation and interaction of the
Association with partners outside the Southeast Asia. East Asia - in
particular, within the framework of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) and
various dialogue mechanisms. The role of Jakarta in other multilateral
structures of the Asia-Pacific region is also noticeable, including
APEC, CICA, and the Asia Cooperation Dialogue.
The main goal of
Jakarta's international activity at present is to create favorable
external conditions for the socio-economic development of Indonesia, its
formation as a democratic moderate Muslim country, as well as to promote
the construction of a multipolar world order. Traditionally, its active
position is in favor of nuclear disarmament and the peaceful settlement
of regional conflicts: Jakarta, in particular, provided active mediation
services in the process of intra-Cambodian settlement (1989-1991), came
up with peacekeeping initiatives in the context of the settlement of the
border dispute between Cambodia and Thailand (2011 year), has been
actively involved in UN peacekeeping since the 1960s. Since the end of
the 20th century, the tasks of combating climate change and combating
terrorism have become especially relevant for Indonesians.
Following these guidelines, Indonesia actively participates in the work
of the United Nations, periodically raising the issue of granting it the
status of a permanent member of the Security Council, as well as the
G20, the Organization of the Islamic Conference, and other international
organizations and forums. For several decades, Indonesia's key foreign
partners have been the United States, Japan, ASEAN countries and the
European Union. At the same time, since the late 1990s, a course has
been taken to diversify external relations. In particular, serious
efforts are being made to strengthen relations with Russia — Megawati
Sukarnoputri visited Moscow in 2003, Yudhoyono visited Moscow in 2006,
and Vladimir Putin visited Jakarta in 2007.
Intercommunal contradictions, extremism and terrorism
According to the assessments of the government and the leadership of
the country's law enforcement agencies, the main threats to its
national security are of an internal nature. The most important of
these are inter-ethnic and inter-religious conflicts and related
manifestations of terrorism and extremism.
Inter-communal
contradictions, which were contained under the conditions of rigid
state power and sustainable socio-economic growth of the
1970s-1990s, sharply escalated against the backdrop of a severe
economic crisis and political instability that accompanied the
collapse of the Suharto regime. One of their first large-scale
manifestations was the bloody pogroms of ethnic Chinese in Jakarta
in May 1998. Subsequently, the most conflict situation was in areas
of mixed residence of large Muslim and Christian communities, in
particular, in the north of Sumatra, in Sulawesi and the Moluccas:
for several years there were clashes on religious grounds, murders
and terrorist acts, leading to numerous victims.
In a short
period, there has been a sharp increase in religious, primarily
Islamic extremism and terrorism: several relevant organizations have
formed or emerged from the deep underground, establishing ties with
the structures of international terrorism. The largest and most
influential of them was the Jemaah Islamiya, which established
interaction with al-Qaeda and created its cells not only in various
regions of Indonesia, but also in other countries of Southeast Asia.
Among the most large-scale and high-profile terrorist attacks
committed by Jemaah Islamiya and other extremist groups are the
explosions on the island of Bali in October 2002 (202 killed) and in
October 2005 (at least 19 killed), explosions near the Marriott
hotel in August 2003 ( 12 killed) and at the Australian embassy in
September 2004 (at least 9 killed) in Jakarta.
By the
mid-2000s, the authorities managed to deal serious blows to the
Islamist underground by eliminating or arresting a number of its
leaders and activists (primarily from the Jemaah Islamiya), as well
as minimizing manifestations of intercommunal violence.
Nevertheless, the terrorist threat remains at a high level, the
situation in a number of regions with a population of diverse
ethno-confessional composition remains quite tense.
The criminal situation in Indonesia also escalated significantly
after the economic crisis and the period of political instability in the
late 1990s and early 2000s. At the same time, the growth was mainly due
to non-violent crimes (theft, fraud, etc.), while the number of crimes
against human life and dignity remains relatively small in the context
of relevant international statistics. Thus, the number of annual murders
per 100,000 people, according to Interpol, has remained low and fairly
stable throughout the 2000s - 0.6-0.7 cases per year. This situation is
largely due to the maintenance of tight control over firearms, ensuring
their almost complete absence among the civilian population. At the same
time, the factor of unregistered crimes can also play its role in such a
statistical picture.
Piracy is among the violent crimes that are
on the rise. In 2010, 40 ships were attacked in Indonesian territorial
waters. The most dangerous area is the Strait of Malacca and the waters
adjacent to it.
As of 2013, there were over 114,332 prisoners in
the country - 59 prisoners per 100,000 inhabitants. The prison occupancy
rate was 148.3%. The country has the death penalty by firing squad, used
as capital punishment for a number of criminal articles (including
murder, terrorism, drug trafficking). In 2010, 7 death sentences were
carried out.
History and role in the life of the country
The armed forces,
officially created on October 5, 1945, traditionally play an
exceptionally large role in the life of Indonesia. The need to defend
independence in a long war with the Netherlands initially predetermined
a special place for the army in the scale of national development
priorities. After the events of 1965, in the hands of the military, the
state power, in fact, turned out to be: General Suharto, who took the
presidential post, legislated for them the so-called dual function
(Indon. Dwifungsi), which implied responsibility not only for defense,
but also for the socio-political development of the country . Moreover,
on a legal basis, commercial activities were established by the
military, both on a private and institutional basis.
After the
resignation of Suharto in 1998, the most important direction of the
liberal transformations unfolded in Indonesia was the systematic
withdrawal of the military from politics. At the same time, having lost
the leverage of direct influence on government decision-making, the army
remains an influential and authoritative force.
Structure,
number, equipment and financing
The armed forces of the Republic of
Indonesia are officially called the "Indonesian National Army". They are
divided into ground forces, naval forces, and air forces. Until 1999,
they also included the police as a separate type of armed forces, while
the armed forces were officially called the Armed Forces of the Republic
of Indonesia (Indon. Angkatan Bersenjata Republik Indonesia).
The
Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces is the President, who leads them
through the Minister of Defense (as of March 2018 - Ryamizard Ryakudu)
and the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces (as of March 2018 -
General Gatot Nurmantio). The total number of the Armed Forces for 2011
is about 428 thousand people. In addition, about 400 thousand people are
in the reserve of the first stage.
The number of ground forces in
2011 is 326 thousand people. In addition to regular units and
formations, they include strategic reserve forces (Indon. Komando
Cadangan Strategis Angkatan Darat, KOSTRAD) - more than 26 thousand
people, as well as special forces (Indon. Komando Pasukan Khusus,
KOPASSUS) - more than 6 thousand people. The commander of the SV for
March 2018 is General Mugliono (English) Russian .. The armament
consists of 315 tanks, 691 armored personnel carriers and infantry
fighting vehicles, 565 field artillery pieces, 730 mortars, 12 MLRS, 160
anti-tank and 370 anti-aircraft weapons, 17 aircraft and 64 helicopters
army aviation.
The personnel of the naval forces for 2011 - 67
thousand people, including the Marine Corps (Indon. Korps Marinir) -
about 20 thousand people. Commander of the Navy, as of March 2018 -
Admiral Ade Supandi (English) Russian .. The fleet has 136 pennants,
including 6 frigates, 2 submarines, 1 corvette, 4 missile boats, 12
patrol ships. There are 48 aircraft and 45 helicopters of naval
aviation.
The personnel of the Air Force in 2011 is 34 thousand
people. Commander of the Air Force, as of March 2018 - Marshal Agus
Supriyatna. The Air Force is armed with 88 combat aircraft and 136
auxiliary aircraft, 44 auxiliary aviation helicopters.
The armed
forces are recruited according to a mixed contract-draft principle.
Military appropriations for 2010 amounted to about 4.7 billion US
dollars (about 4.5% of GDP). In addition, part of the needs of the armed
forces is covered by income from the entrepreneurial activities of the
military.
Participation in hostilities and peacekeeping
operations
The Indonesian armed forces began their history with
confronting the aggression of the Netherlands, who were trying to regain
control over the former colony in 1945-49. In the 1950s, they fought
against various separatist and anti-government groups, in the 1960s they
took part in a military confrontation with the Netherlands and Malaysia.
The largest military conflict was the capture in 1975 of East Timor
and opposition to partisan activities in this territory, which continued
until the restoration of its independence. The army was also involved in
the fight against separatist movements in Aceh and West Irian in the
1970s-1990s and the suppression of serious sectarian riots that took
place in the 1990s-2000s.
Indonesia takes an active part in UN
peacekeeping: since the 1950s, its contingents of a total of more than
15,800 people have taken part in UN missions to establish or maintain
peace in 18 countries. As of 2011, Indonesian Blue Helmets are stationed
in Sierra Leone, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Kuwait.
The administrative division of Indonesia is governed by the
constitution and current legislation. The main legal act in this area is
Law No. 32 of 2004 on local self-government. In addition, the status of
each of the special districts and provinces with special status is
regulated by separate laws.
Indonesia is subdivided into 37
first-level administrative divisions, including 35 provinces and two
special administrative divisions equivalent in status to a province,
Jakarta Special Capital Region and Yogyakarta Special Region. Each
province and each special district is headed by a governor (Indon.
gubernur), elected by the population for a term of 5 years (until 2005
he was elected by the local legislative body). The highest organs of
legislative power in the provinces and special districts are local
councils of people's representatives, also elected by the population for
a term of five years.
The province of Indonesia in 1969 was
declared the western part of the island of New Guinea, occupied as a
result of the conflict with the Netherlands in 1961-1962 (names - "West
Irian" in 1969-1973, "Irian Jaya" in 1973-2002). East Timor, occupied by
Indonesia in 1975, also had the status of a province until the
separation of this territory from Indonesia in 1999.
The sharp
exacerbation of ethno-confessional contradictions and the growth of
separatist sentiments in a number of regions in the context of the
political and socio-economic crisis of the late 1990s prompted the
Indonesian authorities to take a set of measures to decentralize state
power and disaggregate the administrative-territorial division of the
country. Between 1999 and 2007, five new provinces were created - Papua,
West Papua, Banten, Riau Archipelago, Gorontalo. In addition, the status
of a province was granted to Aceh, which had previously been a special
district. In 2012, the province of North Kalimantan was created. In
2022, another step was taken to disaggregate the administrative units of
the Indonesian part of New Guinea: at the expense of the territories of
the two provinces that existed there, three more were created: Central
Papua, Papua Pegunungan and South Papua.
All five provinces
located on the territory of New Guinea, as well as Aceh, which occupies
the northwestern tip of Sumatra, have a special status, which implies
the empowerment of the authorities of these regions with some additional
powers in the social, cultural, spiritual and other spheres. In Aceh, in
particular, Sharia law operates (with restrictions) along with the
national legislation of Indonesia.
Provinces and special
districts are divided into districts (kabupaten, Indon. kabupaten) and
municipalities equated to districts (koty, Indon. kota), into which
large cities are allocated. As of early 2020, there were 416 districts
and 98 municipalities in the country. Districts are governed by regents
(bupati, Indon. bupati), municipalities - by mayors (valikota, Indon.
walikota). The powers of regents and mayors are identical, and both are
elected by the population for five years. The highest legislative bodies
of the districts and municipalities are local councils of people's
representatives, also elected by the population for five years. The
Jakarta metropolitan area has a special administrative structure: it is
subdivided into five urban administrative districts (Indon. kota
administrasi) and one administrative district (Indon. kabupaten
administrasi). These administrative divisions have a somewhat lesser
degree of self-government than regular city municipalities and
districts, their mayors and by extension the regent being appointed by
the Governor of Jakarta.
Counties and municipalities are
subdivided into districts (kecamatans, Indon. kecamatan), governed by
leaders (chamats, Indon. camat), appointed by the regent or mayor. The
districts also have bodies of legislative power - councils of people's
representatives. In the provinces of Papua and West Papua, the district
is called distrik (Indon. distrik), its head is the head of the district
(kepala distrik, Indon. kepala distrik).
Districts are divided
into the lowest administrative-territorial units of two types: villages
(in most of the territory they are called desa (Indon. desa), in some
regions local names are legally fixed) and settlements - kelurahans
(Indon. kelurahan). Villages enjoy more self-government than
settlements, their heads, in most places called kepala desa (Indon.
kepala desa), are elected by the local population, in contrast to the
heads of settlements - lurahs (Indon. lurah), appointed by the heads of
districts.
The territory of Indonesia is 1,919,440 km² (14th largest in terms of
area among the countries of the world and the first among the countries
of Southeast Asia). Located on both sides of the equator on the islands
of the Malay Archipelago and the western part of the island of New
Guinea and washed by the waters of the Pacific and Indian Oceans, it is
the largest island nation in the world. The country includes at least
17,508 islands, of which about 6,000 are inhabited, the area of
controlled sea area (inland sea, territorial and archipelagic waters,
exclusive economic zone) is 7.9 million km A significant part of the
islands belongs to the Sunda Islands, which in turn are subdivided into
the Greater Sunda and Lesser Sunda Islands. The Greater Sunda Islands
include the largest islands of Indonesia - Java, Sumatra, Sulawesi and
Kalimantan (on the latter, in addition to Indonesian territory, there is
part of the territory of Malaysia and the state of Brunei Darussalam).
Indonesia shares land borders with Malaysia (on the island of
Kalimantan), Papua New Guinea (on the island of New Guinea), and East
Timor (on the island of Timor). At the same time, there is a border with
the latter in two different sections: with the main territory of this
country in the central part of the island of Timor and with the East
Timorese exclave of Ocusi-Ambeno, surrounded by the territory of the
Indonesian province of East Lesser Sunda Islands. There are maritime
borders with the mentioned countries, as well as with Singapore, the
Philippines, Australia and India.
Geological structure
Most of
the Indonesian territory is an area of Cenozoic folding, only some
regions are geologically older - the north of Sumatra and the southwest
of Kalimantan belong to the area of Mesozoic folding, the southwest
of the island of New Guinea and some nearby islands - to the area of
pre-Mesozoic folding. The structure is dominated by metamorphic rocks,
Paleozoic, Mesozoic and Paleogene-Neogene effusive-sedimentary deposits
of various compositions. Characteristic elements of the geological
structure are extended island arcs and associated deep ocean trenches.
Almost the entire territory is part of the so-called "Pacific Ring
of Fire", which leads to a high degree of tectonic activity. Earthquakes
occur periodically in various regions of the country, often very strong.
The most destructive for the historical period was the earthquake that
occurred on December 26, 2004 off the western coast of Sumatra, when,
according to various estimates, from 130 to 170 thousand people died as
a result of tremors and, mainly, the tsunamis caused by them on various
islands of Indonesia. In addition, there are about 150 active volcanoes
in the country, the largest of which are Merapi, Bromo, Salak, Semeru
(Java Island), Krakatau (Sonda Strait), Tambora (Sumbawa Island). The
most powerful eruption in the historical period of Indonesia's
development - and one of the most powerful in world history in general -
was produced in 1883 by Krakatau: as a result of the eruption and the
tsunami caused by it in Java, Sumatra and the small islands of the Java
Sea, at least 36 thousand people died, almost 300 were destroyed.
settlements.
The interior regions of all large islands are mountainous: Java and
Sumatra are characterized by straight continuous mountain ranges along
almost the entire length of the island, while Sulawesi and the
Indonesian territories of Kalimantan and New Guinea have more complex
configurations of mountain systems. The highest peak in Indonesia (it is
also the highest peak in Oceania) is Mount Punchak Jaya (4884 m),
located in the western part of New Guinea. The largest flat areas are in
Kalimantan.
Inland waters
Rivers in most regions form a dense
network and, as a rule, are full of water all year round, although
seasonal fluctuations in debit are noticeable. The longest and deepest
flow in Kalimantan: Kapuas (1143 km), Mahakam (920 km), Barito (900 km).
These and other rivers in mountainous areas form rapids and waterfalls.
The channels of lowland rivers in many areas have unstable outlines due
to abundant sedimentation. The flow rate of rivers, as a rule, is
subject to significant seasonal fluctuations: spills occur during the
rainy season, often leading to large-scale floods. The largest lake is
Toba in the northern part of the island of Sumatra (about 1145 km²),
which is the largest volcanic lake on the planet and, with a depth of
more than 500 m, is one of the deepest lakes in the world.
The country is rich in various minerals. Oil reserves have been
explored in one volume or another in almost all regions, in particular,
in Sumatra, Java, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Seram, as well as on the shelf
of these islands. Natural gas fields are located in North Sumatra (Arun)
and East Kalimantan (Badak), as well as on the coastal shelves of West
Irian and Java - the latter include the largest gas field in Southeast
Asia, Natuna D-Alpha, located in the Java Sea about 1000 km north of
Jakarta. According to forecasts, explored reserves of natural gas should
be enough for the country for 50 years. In addition, in various regions
of the country there are significant reserves of coal methane, the total
volume of which is about 13 trillion cubic meters.
On Kalimantan
and Sulawesi there are deposits of iron ores, on the islands of Banka,
Belitung, Singkep - tin, on the island of Bintan - bauxite and aluminum,
on Sulawesi - nickel, on Java - manganese.
Soils
Approximately
80% of the territory of Indonesia is dominated by red-yellow lateritic
and mountainous lateritic soils; tropical swamp soils are also common in
the flat regions of Kalimantan and Sumatra; lateritic gley soils are
also common in the western part of the island of New Guinea. On a number
of islands in the southeastern part of the country, there are red
lateritic soils.
Climate
The climate in most of Indonesia is
equatorial, humid, in some regions it has signs of subequatorial. In the
flat areas, the average monthly temperature is about 26 °C, while its
seasonal fluctuations are very small - no more than 3 °C. In the
mountains, with a natural decrease in temperature as the height above
sea level increases (about 1 ° C per 100 m), an equally small amplitude
of average monthly temperatures remains, and frosts occur at altitudes
above 1500 m.
The humidity level is very high, on average about
80%. The annual precipitation varies from 1800 mm to 3200 mm in the
plains, in some mountainous areas it reaches 6100 mm. At the same time,
most of the territory is characterized by a more or less pronounced
alternation of two seasons - rainy (from November - December to March -
April) and dry (from April - May to October - November) - associated
with the change of equatorial monsoons. During the dry period, there is
either no precipitation or much less precipitation. The rains are often
torrential in nature and are usually accompanied by thunderstorms.
Flora and fauna
General characteristics, zoning
The nature of
Indonesia is exceptionally diverse: here, on an area that makes up no
more than 1.3% of the world's land, about 17% of the planet's biological
species are found. In terms of the number of biological species found on
its territory, the country ranks second in the world after Brazil.
The most important feature of the Indonesian ecosystem is its
biogeographic zoning, defined by the Wallace line, which runs from north
to south between the islands of Kalimantan and Sulawesi and then between
the islands of Bali and Lombok. Most of the islands to the west of it,
being in prehistoric times connected with continental Southeast Asia and
forming with it the biogeographic region of Sundaland, inherited mainly
the flora and fauna of the Asian type. Located to the east of the
Wallace line, New Guinea and a number of islands adjacent to it, which
in the past constituted a single continent with Australia - Sahul, are
inhabited by species predominantly close to those of Australia. At the
same time, the most peculiar in natural terms are the areas adjacent on
both sides to the Wallace line - the so-called Wallace region, which
includes the Sulawesi, Mollukki and most of the Lesser Sunda Islands.
Wallaceia, which is a biogeographical transition zone between the
Sundaland and Sahul regions, has to varying degrees the features of
both, as well as a number of unique features - it is here that most of
the species that are endemic to Indonesia are found.
Vegetation
At the beginning of the 21st century, the number of plant species found
in Indonesia was estimated at about 28,000. At least 60% of the
country's area is covered with humid evergreen equatorial forests, with
the most forested areas being the Indonesian territories of Kalimantan
and New Guinea, and the smallest areas in relative terms of forests
occupying Java.
Equatorial forests are characteristic of both flat and mountainous
areas. Up to an altitude of about 1500 m above sea level, the main types
of vegetation in them are ficuses, various dipterocarp, althingia,
pandanus, palm, tree ferns, bamboo. At altitudes up to 2500-3000 m,
mountain tropical forests are common, with a predominance of evergreen
broad-leaved and coniferous species, and even higher - upland crooked
forests, shrubs and various grasses. In low-lying coastal areas (in
Kalimantan, New Guinea and, to a lesser extent, in Sumatra), mangroves
are widespread. The islands in the southeastern part of the country also
have deciduous rainforests and savannahs, which are often formed after
deforestation. The area of forests is decreasing under the influence
of human economic activity - this process is going on at the highest
rate in Java and Sumatra.
Animal world
Indonesia has the
richest fauna of any country in the world. Almost all the main classes
of animals living in Indonesia are distinguished by diversity. At the
beginning of the 21st century, 515 species of mammals, 1531 species of
birds, 122 species of butterflies, more than 600 species of reptiles and
more than 270 species of amphibians were recorded here. At the same
time, 39% of mammals and 36% of birds are endemic. Among the most famous
endemics are the Komodo monitor lizard, the Kul deer, the babirussa, and
the Tonka macaque.
Many animals are endangered, and the
populations of some species are declining at a very rapid pace. Thus,
only 140 species of mammals are classified as endangered by the
International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), 15 of them are
considered to be on the verge of extinction. Among the latter are such
animals as the orangutan, Javan rhinoceros, Sumatran tiger.
Number, resettlement
According to the results of the national
census conducted in 2020, the population of Indonesia was 270,203,917
people. Indonesia is thus the most populous country in Southeast Asia
and the fourth largest in the world in terms of population.
The
average population density for 2020 is about 141 people per km², while
the population is extremely unevenly distributed: 56.1% of Indonesians
live in Java, which makes up less than 7% of the territory, making this
island one of the most densely populated places on the planet (more 1000
people per km²). Among the administrative-territorial units, the highest
population density is registered in the Special Capital Region - 15,947
people per km², the lowest - in the province of North Kalimantan - less
than 8 people per km².
To ensure a more even distribution of the
population across the country, the Indonesian authorities have been
implementing a large-scale transmigration program since the 1950s - the
resettlement of residents of densely populated areas (Java, Madura,
Bali) to sparsely populated islands (Kalimantan, New Guinea, Moluccas).
As part of this program, by the beginning of the 2000s, at least 5.5
million people were resettled, of which almost half were resettled in
the 1970s and 1980s.
The share of the urban population is 44%. As
of 2010, 11 cities have a population of over 1 million people, the
largest of which is the country's capital, Jakarta, with a population of
9,607,787.
Growth rates, age and gender structure
Over the
entire period of independent development of Indonesia, it was
characterized by a fairly high population growth, which has been
somewhat declining since the 1980s as a result of the implementation of
the state family planning program. The average annual population growth
rate for the decade from 2010 to 2020 was 1.25%. According to the
forecasts of UN subject matter experts, in the coming decades, the
population growth rate in Indonesia will gradually decrease and, having
reached its maximum in 2055 (295 million people), the population of
Indonesia will begin to decrease.
The age structure of the population is typical for developing
countries: the main feature is the high proportion of young people - the
average age of an Indonesian is 31 years old. 23.3% of Indonesians are
under 15, 70.7% are aged 15-65, and 6% are over 65.
The gender
composition of the population is quite even, the sex ratio is 1.02 in
favor of men. Changes in this indicator in different age groups
generally correspond to the global trend: 1.07 at birth, 1.06 for
persons under 25 years of age, 1.02 - from 25 to 39 years old, 1.00 -
from 40 to 54 years old, 0. 98 - from 55 to 54 years old, 1.03 - from 65
to 69 years old, 0.88 - from 70 to 74 years old and 0.79 - over 75 years
old. At the same time, its fluctuations in different regions of the
country are very noticeable: if in the province of Papua and West Papua
it is 1.14, then in the special district of Yogyakarta it is 0.98.
National composition
About 300 peoples live in Indonesia, most of
which belong to the Austronesian group. Austronesian, in particular, are
the most numerous peoples of the country - the Javanese (as of the
beginning of the 21st century they make up more than 40% of the
population), the Sundanese (about 15%), the Madurese (about 4%), the
Minangkabau (about 3%), the Bugis (about 2.5%. Along with this, in the
eastern regions, in particular, in New Guinea and the islands adjacent
to it, peoples belonging to the Melanesian group live, most of which
belong to the Papuans. Most of the indigenous peoples of Indonesia live
in the areas of their historical settlement, but as the migration
dynamics increases, the proportion of people living in non-traditional
areas increases. This process is most noticeable in relation to the
Javanese: occupying, due to their large number, leading positions in
most areas of the country's life and most actively participating in the
transmigration program (for more details, see the subsection "Number,
resettlement"), they live in significant numbers in all regions of the
country .
Among the non-indigenous peoples of Indonesia, the most
numerous are the Chinese, who live in almost all regions of the country,
mainly in large cities: their number, according to various estimates,
ranges from 2.5 to 7 million people. An accurate determination of the
number of Indonesian Chinese is problematic due to the special position
that they occupied for a long time in the life of the country: having
begun to actively settle in Indonesia from the 16th century, they
traditionally controlled a significant part of the economy, which
affected relations with the indigenous population. Socio-cultural
conflicts with the locals, combined with the severe discrimination that
the Chinese were subjected to during the Suharto presidency (including a
complete ban on the use of their native language), led many of them to
abandon their original ethnic self-identification, at least on a public
level.
In various regions of the country, mainly in large cities,
there are also significant communities of immigrants from India and Arab
countries, as well as a small number of people of European and mixed
European-Indonesian origin.
The official language of Indonesia is Indonesian, which belongs to
the Indonesian branch of the Austronesian language family. Its status is
regulated by the constitution and current legislation. Writing is based
on the Latin alphabet.
Indonesian is compulsory for studying in
all secondary educational institutions of the country. In one way or
another, almost the entire adult population of Indonesia owns it, the
number of active carriers as of 2009 is at least 144 million people -
about 60% of the country's inhabitants. At the same time, a small part
of the population uses the state language in everyday life (according to
various estimates, from 12% to 20%) - in the family circle, most
Indonesians communicate in their native local languages. At the same
time, a significant part of the inhabitants are bilingual - they are
equally fluent in their native and state languages, many consider both
languages to be native.
The Indonesian language developed by
the beginning of the 20th century on the basis of a supra-dialectal form
of the Malay language, historically used as a lingua franca on the
islands of the Malay Archipelago. Its popularization was significantly
facilitated by the lack of an alternative means of interethnic
communication - the language of the metropolis, Dutch, was not widely
used among the local population during the colonization. Initially, the
language continued to be called Malay, the concept of "Indonesian" came
into wide use after the congress of youth organizations on October
27-28, 1928.
Like most other contact languages, Indonesian has a
simplified morphology and phonetics. Prior to independence, the
Indonesian language was predominantly written in Arabic and,
alternatively, in Latin, but in 1945 Latin was legislated as the only
script.
As of 2018, there are 707 living languages in
Indonesia. 12 languages are considered extinct because their speakers
were last seen in the 20th century. The most widely spoken local
languages are Javanese, Sundanese, and Madurese, with over 80 million,
30 million, and 13 million native speakers, respectively. The western
part of the island of Irian and the nearby small islands are the most
linguistically diverse - the locals speak at least 270 Papuan languages.
Indonesia is a secular state, the country's constitution guarantees
freedom of religion[66]. At the same time, according to the legislation
adopted in 1965, a special status, providing for the support and
protection of the state, was granted to the main religions of the
country - Islam, Protestantism, Catholicism, Hinduism, Buddhism and
Confucianism - with a reservation about the permissibility of the
existence of other religions. At the same time, from 1967 to 2000, there
was an official ban on the public administration of Confucian services
in the country - during this period, official Indonesian statistics
operated with data on five religions: Islam, Protestantism, Catholicism,
Hinduism and Buddhism, while Confucianism, along with other confessions,
it appeared in population censuses and other official statistical
studies in a number of “other beliefs”.
The vast majority of the
population - more than 88% - profess Islam, which spread here mainly in
the XIII-XVI centuries, which makes Indonesia the largest Muslim state
in the world. Almost all Indonesian Muslims are Sunnis, a small number
of Shiites (about 1 million people) live scattered, mainly in Java.
Representatives of the Shiite minority, as a rule, coexist without
conflict with the surrounding Sunnis. To strengthen mutual understanding
and formalize dialogue between the followers of the two branches of
Islam, in May 2011 in Jakarta, with the support of the Indonesian
government, the Sunni-Shia Theological Council was established.
Christianity spread in the country during the colonial period as a
result of the activities of European, mainly Dutch and Portuguese
missionaries. As of the beginning of the 21st century, 8.7% of
Indonesians profess it, 5.7% of which are Protestants and 3% are
Catholics. Government data on the number of Christians and the data of
the Christian churches themselves differ. Thus, according to the
encyclopedia "Religions of the World" by J. G. Melton, Christians make
up 12.1% of the country's population. The largest denominations are
formed by Pentecostals (9.45 million), Reformed (6.8 million), Catholics
(6.65 million) and Lutherans (5.8 million). Christians live in most
parts of the country, the most significant communities - in Jakarta,
Sulawesi, Moluccas, North Sumatra, West Timor and New Guinea.
About 2% of the population are Hindus, the majority of whom are
Balinese, who at one time, unlike neighboring peoples, did not accept
Islam. Approximately 1% are Buddhists and Confucians - these confessions
belong mainly to ethnic Chinese. Some part of the indigenous population
of the territories least affected by modern civilization - primarily in
Kalimantan, New Guinea, Sulawesi, Moluccas - professes animism and other
forms of paganism. Traditional local beliefs are preserved to varying
degrees in other parts of the country.
General condition, main indicators
Indonesia belongs to the
category of agro-industrial countries. In terms of national
competitiveness in 2017, it ranked 36th in the world. It belongs to the
category of the most economically promising developing countries - the
so-called group of eleven.
The volume of GDP at PPP for 2017
amounted to 3.243 trillion US dollars - 7th place in the world and the
first - in Southeast Asia (about 12,400 US dollars per capita - 124th
place in the world). The economic growth rate recorded in 2017 is about
5.2% (37th in the world). The revenue side of the state budget for 2017
was $130.6 billion, the expenditure side was $154.8 billion, and the
budget deficit was 2.4% of GDP.
The monetary unit is the
Indonesian rupiah, the average rate for 2016 is 13,240 rupiah per 1 US
dollar. The unit of exchange is sen (Indon. sen), one hundredth of a
rupee (out of circulation in the 1960s, but not officially abolished).
The issue of money is carried out by the central bank of the country -
the Bank of Indonesia.
The inflation rate at the end of 2017 is
4% (156th place in the world). The volume of national gold and foreign
exchange reserves as of December 2015 amounted to $103.4 billion.
The economy, with its market nature, is characterized by the active
role of the state: it owns about 140 large enterprises in various
sectors of the national economy, and also controls the prices of a
number of goods, including basic foodstuffs and fuels and lubricants. In
the volume of GDP, the share of industrial production for 2015 is 42.8%,
services - 43.6%, agriculture - 13.6%. At the same time, 13.2% are
employed in industry, 38.9% in agriculture and 47.9% of the working
population in the service sector. The total working-age population is
122.4 million people (4th place in the world), the unemployment rate is
5.5% (60th place in the world).
The population is characterized
by a significant socio-economic stratification, the incomes of the
richest 10% are almost 11 times higher than the incomes of the poorest
10% of Indonesians. Over 13% live below the poverty line.
Corruption is a serious problem in the economy - in the ratings compiled
by the organization Transparency International, Indonesia has been
ranked at the top of the second hundred for a long time.
On the
whole, Indonesia survived the global financial and economic crisis of
2008-2009 quite well, its main macroeconomic indicators declined very
slightly and quickly returned to pre-crisis levels, after which positive
dynamics recovered. In December 2011, the international rating agency
Fitch upgraded Indonesia's credit rating from "stable" to "investment"
level; in January 2012, a similar upgrade of the country's rating was
made by Moody's.
In Indonesia, there is no single minimum wage
for the whole country, its calculation is within the competence of the
authorities of the provinces and equivalent special districts. As of the
beginning of 2021, the highest corresponding figure was set in the
capital Jakarta - 4,416,186 rupees ($ 313.84), the lowest in Yogyakarta
- 1,765,000 rupees ($ 125.34) per month.
In 2014, the share of industrial production in the structure of GDP
was 45.5%, more than two thirds of this volume falls on the
manufacturing industries. At the same time, the number of people
employed in industry is relatively small - less than 13% of the
able-bodied population. The growth rate is noticeably lower than in the
economy as a whole - about 4.9% in 2014.
In the manufacturing
sector in 2009, more than 25 thousand enterprises were registered with
the status of large or medium and more than 3.2 million small
enterprises and home producers. The most significant sectors are the
food industry (about 19% of all non-primary production, almost 6000
large and medium-sized enterprises), the chemical industry (16%, about
900 enterprises), the textile industry (7%, about 2000 enterprises), the
tobacco industry (7%, more than 1600 enterprises), production of
machinery and equipment (7%, about 600 enterprises), automotive industry
(6%, more than 270 enterprises), pulp and paper industry (6%, more than
530 enterprises), production of ready-made clothes (4%, more 2000
enterprises). Most small enterprises and home-based producers operate in
various sectors of the light and food industries, including traditional
crafts: the production of batik, ceramics, weaving of mats, the
manufacture of carved wood and bone products, and other popular
souvenirs.
In the extractive industry, there are mainly large
national companies, a significant part of which are owned by the state,
as well as Western raw material corporations. The largest of the
national companies is the state monopoly "Pertamina", which controls the
extraction and processing of oil.
Traditionally, hydrocarbon raw materials are produced on a large
scale: oil production in 2009 was more than 1.02 million barrels per day
(37th place in the world), natural gas - 85.7 billion cubic meters per
year (8th place in the world). The extraction of hard coal is also very
significant: in 2014, its volume amounted to 458 million tons (5th place
in the world), and Indonesia ranked 2nd in the world in terms of the
export of this raw material. Also, all the mineral resources listed in
the section "Relief, inland waters, minerals, soils" are mined on an
industrial scale.
Agriculture
Agriculture is historically the
main branch of the local economy, giving no more than 14% of the
national GDP, provides employment for a significant part of the
population - about 32%. At the same time, its share both in the
structure of GDP and in terms of employment is gradually decreasing.
The main agricultural industry is agriculture. Cultivated land makes
up about 13% of the country's territory, and Indonesia ranks 7th in the
world in terms of their area. About 1/3 of cultivated land is irrigated.
The country occupies a leading position in the world in the production
of many agricultural crops.
Main food crops: rice (collection in
2009 - 64.4 million tons, 3rd place in the world), cassava (22 million
tons, 1st place in the world), coconuts (21.5 million tons, 1st place in
the world), corn (16.9 million tons, 4th place in the world), bananas
(6.3 million tons, 6th place in the world), sweet potato (2 million
tons, 4th place in the world) . Oil palm (22.5 million tons of palm oil,
1st place in the world), sago palm (5.2 million tons of sago, 1st place
in the world), sugar cane (26.5 million tons, 1st place in the world)
are grown in large volumes. 10th place in the world), cocoa beans (800
thousand tons, 2nd place in the world), coffee (700 thousand tons of
beans, 4th place in the world), tobacco (181 thousand tons, 6- th place
in the world), tea (160 thousand tons, 7th place in the world), cloves
(81 thousand tons, 1st place in the world), pepper (80 thousand tons,
2nd place in the world) . Of the industrial crops, rubber plants are the
most important (2.8 million tons of natural rubber, 2nd place in the
world).
Animal husbandry is less developed. The total number of
cattle in 2010 is 15.23 million head, including 13.5 million beef cows,
0.53 million dairy cows and 1.2 million buffalo, used mainly as draft
animals. According to 2008 data, the number of goats was 15.8 million
heads, sheep - 10.3 million heads, pigs (raised mainly by non-Muslim
population) - 5.5 million heads. The main poultry is chicken: in 2008
there were 68 million laying hens, more than 1.2 billion broiler
chickens, more than 1 million tons of eggs were produced.
Fishing
has historically been of great importance: in terms of catch of fish and
seafood in 2009 - more than 5.1 million tons - Indonesia ranks third in
the world, the main commercial species are tuna, mackerel, sardine, sea
bass, grouper, shrimp. At the same time, intensively developing fish
farming practically caught up with it in terms of production volumes: in
terms of catch of artificially bred fish and seafood in 2009 - more than
4.7 million tons - the country ranks second in the world. The main
cultivated species are: tilapia, carp, gourami, shrimps, pearl breeding
is widely practiced.
The most important industry is forestry: in
2009, 98.7 million m³ of timber was harvested in Indonesia (8th in the
world), of which 36.4 million m³ were industrial logs. A serious problem
in this area is illegal logging and smuggling of valuable wood species.
Services sector
The service sector has traditionally occupied a
fairly important place in the Indonesian economy (including the colonial
period), but the beginning of its intensive purposeful development dates
back to the period of economic modernization in the 1970s and 1980s. By
2010, the share of the service sector in GDP was 37.6%, it provided
employment for almost half (48.9%) of the working population. At the
same time, the efficiency and competitiveness of this sector in
comparison with the Indonesian economy as a whole remains low, in
particular, due to technological and infrastructural backwardness, and a
lack of qualified personnel.
In 2010, the government adopted a
program for the accelerated development of the service sector. The main
tasks set within its framework are the systematic increase in its share
in the economy to 55% of GDP by 2025, as well as the qualitative
modernization of its main sectors: healthcare, transport and
communications, banking, trade, tourism sectors, and energy.
The credit and financial system of Indonesia, having experienced
severe upheavals during the crisis of 1997-98, generally stabilized in
the first half of the 2000s. In 2005, the Bank of Indonesia (BI)
launched a long-term program aimed at minimizing the number of private
banking institutions operating in the country, in particular, by merging
the smallest of them and absorbing the smaller ones by the larger ones.
As of March 2011, there are 122 commercial banks in Indonesia, including
28 banks that are joint ventures with foreign partners and 10 that are
majority-owned by foreign owners. It is noteworthy that the 10 largest
of them control 63.4% of the banking sector, the total amount of funds
of which is about 353 billion US dollars, while all the others - no more
than 1% (the remaining 35.6% of the sector is accounted for by 4 state
banks, including BI). A number of banks in private hands carry out
Islamic banking, the total volume of operations for which in 2011
amounted to about 3.3% of the total volume of banking operations.
At the end of 2015, the refinancing rate of the Bank of Indonesia
was 6.37% (58th place in the world), the base lending rate for
commercial banks was 12.8% (59th place in the world).
Trade
sector
The volume of domestic trade according to 2010 data is more
than 50 billion US dollars (about 5% of GDP), the number of outlets
exceeds 2.5 million (second place in the world after India). The
intensity of the trading network in different regions of Indonesia is
generally proportional to population density. Thus, 57% of outlets are
located in Java, 22% - in Sumatra, 21% - in the rest of the country.
At the same time, the trade sector is characterized to a very large
extent by infrastructural heterogeneity: if in large cities there are a
large number of modern-type stores, then in small settlements, trade is
provided mainly through small shops and traditional markets. In total,
according to the classification adopted in Indonesia, 18,152 outlets
belong to modern stores in 2010, 154 of them are categorized as
hypermarkets, about 2,000 as specialty stores or supermarkets, and the
rest as “mini-markets”. In the 1990s - 2000s, there was a significant
increase in the number of modern trading enterprises and, at the same
time, a decrease in the number of traditional ones. So, if in 2010 the
total number of outlets in the country decreased by 1.3% compared to
2009, then the number of modern stores increased by 38% over the same
period. However, in general, according to the assessments of the
relevant Indonesian authorities, the infrastructure and technological
support of the trade sector remains unsatisfactory.
The Indonesian authorities traditionally make active efforts to
develop the tourism industry in the country. At the same time, the
emphasis is placed primarily on maximizing the influx of foreign
visitors, who are more promising from an economic point of view. Since
the 1980s, significant funds have been invested in the modernization and
expansion of the hotel stock and other related infrastructure, as well
as in the promotion of national tourist sites. A positive role in this
regard is played by the presence of a significant number of both
historical, cultural and natural attractions, including those of world
importance. In particular, in 2012, the country had 8 UNESCO World
Heritage Sites (in terms of their number, Indonesia ranks first among
the states of Southeast Asia).
At the same time, the
socio-economic crisis, political upheavals, the escalation of tension on
ethno-confessional grounds and the surge of terrorism that took place in
the late 1990s and early 2000s significantly reduced the effectiveness
of the measures taken. A stable growth in the number of foreign tourists
visiting the country began only in 2007, while the dynamics of the
corresponding budget revenues remains rather unstable. According to the
results of 2011, their noticeable growth is predicted - from 7.7 to 8.3
billion dollars (about 8% of GDP).
Among the visitors, the
majority are traditionally citizens of countries that are Indonesia's
neighbors in the Asia-Pacific region: Singapore (in 2010 - about 1.37
million people), Malaysia (1.28 million people), Australia (0.77 million
people). ), China (0.47 million people), Japan (0.42 million people).
About 65% of the country's population is provided with electricity.
National needs for electricity are satisfied solely by their own
capacities - electricity is neither imported nor exported. In 2009,
electricity production amounted to more than 142.2 billion kWh (24th in
the world) with consumption at the level of 127.2 billion kWh (26th in
the world) - the difference between these indicators was only losses
during transportation and distribution - more than 15 billion kWh. About
40.5% of electricity consumption falls on industry and construction,
39.3% - for domestic needs of the population, the rest - for agriculture
and other sectors of the economy. The monopoly on electricity supply is
held by the State Electricity Company.
Most of the electricity -
87.2% - is generated at thermal power plants, including 44.9% using
coal, 26.5% - oil and 15.8% - natural gas. 7.9% of production falls on
the share of hydroelectric power plants, 4.9% - on the share of stations
using alternative energy sources (primarily geothermal, there are also
biofuel stations, the share of others is insignificant). At the end of
2011 there were no nuclear power plants in the country. The issue of
their creation has been actively studied by the Indonesian authorities
since 1997, in 2006 a fundamental decision was made in favor of the
development of nuclear energy. According to the government program, by
2025 it is planned to build four nuclear power plants with a total
electrical capacity of at least 4 GW.
Foreign trade and foreign
investment
The volume of foreign trade in 2017 amounted to 299
billion US dollars with a positive balance of 38.6 billion dollars. The
volume of exports was 168.8 billion dollars, imports were 130.2 billion
dollars (in both indicators - 30th place in the world).
The main
export items are gas, oil, electrical equipment, textiles, timber,
plywood, rubber. Imports are mainly machinery and equipment, oil,
products of the chemical industry and oil refining, and certain types of
food. At the same time, the volume of imported oil since the mid-2000s
has increasingly exceeded the volume of exported oil - this was the
reason for Indonesia's withdrawal in 2008 from OPEC, in which it has
been a member since 1962.
The main consumers of Indonesian
exports are, as of 2017, China - 13.6%, USA - 10.6%, Japan - 10.5%,
India - 8.4%, Singapore - 7.6%, Malaysia - 5 .1%, Republic of Korea -
4.8%. Most imports come from China - 23.2%, Singapore - 10.9%, Japan -
10%, Thailand - 6%, Malaysia - 5.6%, Republic of Korea - 5.3%, USA -
5.2% .
The volume of foreign direct investment in the Indonesian
economy in 2010 is about 85.6 billion dollars (38th place in the world).
Indonesian investors have placed more than $33 billion abroad (37th in
the world).
Water transport
Taking into account the archipelagic position of
the country, water transport historically plays a special role in its
socio-economic life. In terms of the length of officially registered
domestic sea routes - 21,579 km in 2011 - the country ranks 5th in the
world.
There are 1,244 ocean class vessels afloat, 87 of which
are registered in other countries and 65 belong to foreign owners. 17
ships are passenger, 47 are cargo-passenger, the rest belong to various
types of cargo ships. The largest seaports are located in Jakarta,
Surabaya, Banjarmasin, Palembang, Belawan.
River transport is
used to some extent almost everywhere, but it is of great importance as
a means of freight and passenger transportation, first of all, in
Kalimantan: both due to the presence of the most full-flowing rivers
there, and due to the insufficient development of other types of other
types in the Indonesian territories of this island transport.
Automobile transport
By the length of roads - 437,759 km in 2008 -
the country ranks 14th in the world. At the same time, 258,744 km of
them have an asphalt or other road surface, and 179,015 are unpaved. The
frequency and quality of the road network in different regions of the
country is very uneven due to significant differences in the population
and economic development of these regions: the highest corresponding
indicators are in Java, the lowest in the Indonesian territories of
Kalimantan and New Guinea. Traffic is on the left side of the road.
At the end of 2011, over 85.6 million vehicles were officially
registered in Indonesia, of which over 68.8 million were motorcycles,
scooters and mopeds, over 9.5 million were cars, over 4.9 million were
trucks, over 2.2 million - buses.
Railway transport
Railway
transport began to develop during the period of Dutch colonization (the
first railway was laid in 1867). As of 2009, the length of railway
tracks is 5042 km - 35th in the world. Electrified railways 565 km. The
so-called Cape gauge, which has a width of 1067 mm, has been adopted as
the national standard. The development of the railway network is
characterized by the same regional disproportions as for the road
network.
As of the end of 2011, there is no subway in any of the
cities of the country. Since the mid-1990s, plans have been worked out
to establish it in Jakarta. In 2004, the choice was made in favor of
creating a combined high-speed railway system (Jakarta Mass Rapid
Transportation) in the Indonesian capital, combining segments of an
overpass monorail with a subway. The launch of its first stage (15.7 km
section with 7 overground and 6 underground stations) is scheduled for
early 2019.
Air Transport
Civil air service was established
during the colonial period, at the beginning of the 20th century: the
first airfield (Kemayoran in Jakarta) was opened in 1910. As of 2010,
the country has 684 airports (10th in the world), as well as 64
heliports. At the same time, 171 airports have paved or concrete runways
and 513 unpaved ones.
As of 2011, Indonesia has 17 scheduled
passenger airlines, 32 non-scheduled passenger companies, 3 scheduled
cargo companies, and 1 non-scheduled cargo company. In addition, in a
number of regions, as necessary, military transport aviation is involved
in passenger and cargo air transportation.
Other modes of
transport
Significant development has received pipeline transport,
used primarily for the movement of hydrocarbons. As of 2010, 7,165 km of
gas pipelines, 5,984 km of oil pipelines, 885 km of pipelines for
transporting gas condensate and 617 km of product pipelines for other
purposes have been laid across the territory of Indonesia and the
adjacent sea shelf.
In various regions horse-drawn transport
retains some importance - both in rural and urban areas, horse-drawn
and, less commonly, buffalo carts are used. Bicycles are widely used as
personal transport. In addition, cycle rickshaws (Indon. becak) are used
as public transport in many cities.
In terms of providing the population with means of communication,
Indonesia is in the lowest group of moderately developed countries,
however, in the 2000s, this sector was characterized by high positive
dynamics, in particular in the field of telephone communications. Thus,
there are 14.8 fixed telephone lines per 100 people (an increase of
almost 5 times over a decade) and 69.2 contracts for the use of a mobile
phone (an increase of 38 times). 90% of the population lives within the
coverage area of mobile phones. The telephone code of the country is +
62.
The access of the population to the Internet is also
expanding very rapidly: if in 2000 it was available to no more than 1%
of the population, then in 2007 this figure was 8.9%, and in 2009 -
16.1%. This allowed Indonesia to take 4th place in Asia in terms of the
absolute number of Internet users - after China, India and Japan. Access
to broadband high-speed Internet, while remaining very limited, is
expanding at no less rapid pace - 0.72% of the population in 2009
against 0.34% in 2007. At the same time, in 2009, there were only 2
personal computers per 100 people, and 2.1 secure Internet servers per
one million people. The national Internet domain is .id.
Satellite communications are provided within the framework of the
national satellite program "Palapa", implemented since 1976. A total of
10 geostationary satellites have been launched since the beginning of
the program, the last of which, Palapa-D, was launched in August 2009.
The national health system was fully affected by the consequences of
the 1997-98 crisis. By the early 2000s, the government launched a
large-scale program to restore and further improve its efficiency, a key
element of which is the focus on decentralization.
The medical
infrastructure at the grassroots level is expanding. By the end of the
2000s, each district (Kecamatan, see section on Civil divisions) had at
least one health center (so-called public health center, Indong. Pusat
Kesehatan Masyarakat), headed by a certified physician, whose staff
could provide medical assistance in at least 8 areas.
At the
lowest administrative level - in villages and settlements (see the
section "Administrative-territorial division") - in addition to possible
auxiliary first-aid posts, there are obligatory rural obstetric posts
(Indon. Pondok Bersalin Desa, at least one in each), as well as the
so-called integrated service points (Indon. Pos Pelayanan Terpadu)
responsible for providing basic medical services and vaccinations.
In general, there is one doctor for every 5,000 people, and one
hospital bed for every 1,111 people.
Public spending on health in
2013 amounted to about 3.1% of GDP (180th in the world). The average
life expectancy of Indonesians in 2015 is 72.45 years.
Indonesia
is one of the countries with a high level of infectious diseases. The
situation with the spread of HIV infection is relatively favorable. 34%
of the country's population smokes tobacco.
Despite the fact
that, in general, health care is provided everywhere by means of
conventional medicine, methods of traditional Indonesian, as well as
Chinese medicine, are widely practiced.
In total, according to
estimates for 2008, about 100 million Indonesians are provided with some
form of health insurance.
Public spending on education is 2.8% of GDP (for 2008, 139th place in
the world). The literacy rate for 2009 is 94.7% of the adult (over 15
years old) population. The number of illiterates is rapidly declining
(from 2006 to 2009 - by almost a third), most of them are women living
in rural areas. Until 2015, it was planned to completely eliminate
illiteracy.
In terms of the absolute number of children studying
in school - more than 50 million people - Indonesia ranks 3rd in the
world. The national school system has three levels: primary school
(grades 1-6, children aged 7 to 12), secondary school first (grades 7-9,
ages 13 to 15) and secondary school (grades 10-12). , from 16 to 18
years). Along with secular schools (both public and private), there are
private religious schools that have a similar three-stage gradation. In
addition, technical schools are equated with secondary school of the
second stage.
The first two stages of school education, that is,
9 years of study, are obligatory. More than 95.1% of children of the
corresponding age attend primary school, more than 92.5% attend
secondary school of the first stage, and 71.6% attend secondary school
of the second stage. There are 20.1 students per school teacher (85th
place in the world).
About 4.8 million people study at
universities. The coverage of the population aged 19 to 23 years with
higher education in 2010 is 18.4%, by 2014 the government plans to
increase the latter figure to 30%.
As of 2011, there are 83
public and about 3,000 private universities in the country. Leading
among them are:
Bandung Polytechnic Institute (Indon. Institut
Teknologi Bandung)
Gaja Mada University (Yogyakarta)
University of
Indonesia(Depok)
Bogor Institute of Agriculture (Indon. Institut
Pertanian Bogor)
Gunadarma University (Indon. Universitas Gunadarma,
Depok)
Diponegoro University (Indon. Universitas Diponegoro,
Semarang)
10th November Institute of Technology (Indon. Institut
Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Surabaya)
Indonesian Normal University
(Indon. Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia, Bandung)
University
"Eleventh of March" (Indon. Universitas Sebelas Maret, Surakarta)
University of North Sumatra (Indon. Universitas Sumatera Utara, Medan)
The foundations of the local scientific school were laid by the Dutch
colonial administration. The first research institutions were
established by her in the 19th century: the Bogor Botanical Garden,
which was later attached to the Institute of Botanical Research (1884)
and an experimental agricultural station (1876), the Institute of
Geodesy in Bandung (1855), the Institute of Meteorology and Geophysics
in Jakarta (1866), the Aikman Medical Institute and the Institute of
Military Hygiene in Jakarta (both 1888), a branch of the Pasteur
Institute and a geological laboratory in Bandung (both 1890). In the
20th century, in particular, the Veterinary Institute (1908) and the
Institute of Forestry (1913) in Bogor, the Institute of Hydrology and
Hydrometry in Bandung (1914), the Institute of Marine Research in
Jakarta (1919) were founded.
Research in these and other
scientific institutions of the 19th century - the first four decades of
the 20th century was carried out mainly by Dutch specialists, their
tasks were determined by the needs of the colonial economy and the
social needs of the Dutch community. However, after the country gained
independence, a significant part of the academic and research base laid
by the colonialists was involved in the formation of the Indonesian
national scientific infrastructure proper. In particular, under the
influence of the relevant priorities of Dutch scientific activity in the
colony, a range of advanced areas of modern Indonesian science was
formed: agricultural and biological disciplines, veterinary medicine.
A significant part of the scientific institutions created by the
Dutch during the period of independent development was restructured and
enlarged, in parallel, new objects of scientific infrastructure were
created in almost all major cities of the country. Along with
specialized scientific centers, since the late 1940s, scientific
divisions have been formed at various universities in the country. In
accordance with the established administrative practice, most of the
research institutes and large laboratory complexes belong to the
structure of the relevant ministries and departments. Of the
universities, the Indonesian University has the most powerful research
potential (more than 100 scientific departments, priority areas are
genetic engineering, nanotechnology, information technology and
informatics, social sciences), Bandung Polytechnic Institute (priority
areas are various technical sciences, information technology), Bogorsky
Institute of Agriculture (priority areas - various branches of biology,
agricultural disciplines, veterinary medicine, forestry).
At the
government level, the State Ministry of Scientific Research and
Technology is responsible for the development of science. There is no
Academy of Sciences in the country for 2012, the Scientific Society of
Indonesia (NOI) acts as its prototype. (Indon. Lembaga Ilmu Pengetahuan
Indonesia, LIPI). Within the framework of the NOI, research activities
are coordinated in dozens of different natural sciences, technical and
humanitarian areas, the plan to create an Academy of Sciences on its
basis was adopted in 1991 without a specific time frame.
General information
Indonesia - given the multinational nature of
its population - is distinguished by a high degree of ethno-cultural
diversity. The most important factors in the development of local
material and spiritual culture were the successive influence of several
religions - Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, as well as various forms of
paganism - professed in different periods by local residents, and
significant external influence, in particular, Indian, Chinese, Arab and
European. The corresponding diverse heritage can be traced in one way or
another in almost all forms of national art.
Literature
Dozens
of peoples of Indonesia have literature in their own languages. The most
ancient and developed is Javanese, the first works of which -
transcriptions of various parts of the Indian epic Mahabharata - date
back to the 9th century. Later, under the influence of Javanese literary
norms, in particular, Sundanese and Madurese literatures were formed. At
the same time, the literary traditions of the peoples living in Sumatra
and Sulawesi were formed mainly under the influence of Malay and Arab
influence. In the 19th century, as the Malay language spread in
Indonesia as a means of interethnic communication, local Malay
literature appeared. Standing apart in this regard is the work of the
greatest writer of that time, Eduard Douwes Dekker, a Dutchman who wrote
in the Dutch language and is considered a national writer both in the
Netherlands and in Indonesia.
The formation of literature in the
Indonesian language, as well as the Indonesian language itself, dates
back to the 1920s. The most famous authors of that period - Marakh
Rusli, Abdul Muis, Muhammad Yamin - are characterized by an appeal to
romantic and lyrical motives, combined with a rather critical attitude
towards colonial reality. Even more sharply nationalist and
anti-colonial sentiments are reflected in the works of writers of the
1930s and the first two decades of the country's independent
development: Pramudhy Anant Tura, Ahdiat Kartamihardji, Utuya Tatanga
Sontani, Armaine Pane. In the 1950s and the first half of the 1960s,
with the support of the official authorities, the social significance of
literature and its ideological charge were emphasized, and the
principles of socialist realism were actively promoted. Ideological
attitudes changed dramatically after the establishment of a right-wing
military regime in 1965-67: many left-wing writers were repressed or
forced to emigrate. The writers who continued their work generally
either spoke from conformist positions, or expressed emphatically
apolitical sentiments. The latter include the most significant authors
of the late 1960s - 1980s - Mokhtar Lubis, Sutarji Kalzum Bahri, Gunawan
Mohamad, Putu Vijaya - who brought elements of surrealism and
existentialism to Indonesian literature, in particular. In the works of
only a few authors - the poet and playwright Rendra, the publicist Kh.
B. Yassin - there was a veiled criticism of the regime. Notable literary
critics include Kh. B. Yassin and Umar Yunus.
The fall of the
Suharto regime in 1998 and the democratic transformation that followed
provided an opportunity for broad ideological pluralism in Indonesian
literature. The journalistic genre has been greatly developed. A number
of young authors received national and international recognition, in
particular, the publicist and playwright Ayu Utami, and the novelist
Andrea Hirata. At the same time, many authors of the older generation
continued active work in the 2000s.
Art
Historically, the
earliest form of fine art to spread in Indonesia is sculpture. The
oldest surviving sculptures date back to the 7th century. Both during
this period and later, religious - Hindu and Buddhist - themes dominated
in sculpture.
The formation of a national school of painting took
place during the colonial period under Dutch influence. Its founder is
the Javanese Raden Saleh (1807-1880), the author of epic paintings, who
received an art education in the Netherlands. Another major artist of
the 19th century was Abdullah Suryosubroto, a master of the landscape
genre.
The beginning of the 20th century is characterized by the
strengthening of the realistic trend in painting. From this period, the
appeal to nationalistic, patriotic subjects becomes more and more
noticeable, which, after the country gained independence, become
dominant. Like literature, the painting of the 1950s and the first half
of the 1960s is characterized by a rather high ideologization and appeal
to current social topics, while the subsequent stage is markedly
de-ideologized. The most significant phenomenon in the cultural life of
Indonesia during the Suharto era, which had a significant impact on the
further development of national art, was the New Fine Arts Movement
(DNI, Indon. Gerakan Seni Rupa Baru) - an association of artists,
graphic artists and sculptors - nonconformists who combined critical
display of socio-political realities and some nationalist motifs with
non-traditional artistic forms and techniques, sometimes with elements
of shocking. Despite the disintegration of DNI as an organized
association, many of its prominent representatives, such as Jim
Supangkat, Semsar Siakhaan, Hardy and Harsono (Indon. Harsono),
continued active creative activity until the 2000s and after.
The
fine arts of the 2000s are characterized by the presence of two main
trends: the so-called. "traditional", adhering to the principles of
realism, and "modernist", to which it is customary to include
representatives of abstractionism, surrealism, grotesque, etc. The most
famous modernists include Nyoman Masriadi and Made Vianta.
Architecture
The earliest forms of architectural heritage include
Neolithic megalithic structures - menhirs, ledge mounds, dolmens, crypts
(the most famous examples are in Java and South Sumatra). With the
formation of states, the Hindu and Buddhist temples of Chandi become the
most significant architectural structures, the appearance of which is
quite noticeably different from the places of worship of these religions
in continental Asia. The largest and most complex from an architectural
point of view are the Buddhist Borobudur and the Hindu Prambanan, built
in the 9th century in Central Java.
The architectural forms of
the dwellings of various peoples of Indonesia, which developed by the
Middle Ages and are mainly preserved in rural areas to this day, are
very diverse. The most characteristic samples by region are light frame
pile houses made of wood and bamboo with a thatched or tiled roof (Java,
Madura), large elongated barn-type communal houses (Kalimantan), large
communal houses with a high saddle roof of a large offset (Sumatra),
light reed huts (eastern part of the Lesser Sunda Islands, western part
of New Guinea).
During the period of Dutch colonization, European
architectural forms were introduced. Among the largest objects that made
it possible to preserve and develop national architectural styles are
the palace complexes of local rulers - cratons (jav. keraton, kraton).
The period of independent development of the country is characterized by
an even more active widespread development of Western architectural
forms.
Music
From ancient times, starting with the emergence
of musical culture at the household level, it acquired the most diverse
forms among the peoples of Java, who actively perceived external,
primarily Indian cultural influence, from which, in turn, spread to
other parts of the archipelago. The main scales of traditional
Indonesian music are the five-step slendro (Jav. selendero) and the
seven-step pelog (Jan. pelog). In general, developed heterophony and
polyphony, the prevalence of the instrumental melodic component over the
vocal one are characteristic. The national musical tradition is most
clearly expressed in the gamelan genre that has existed since the early
Middle Ages - a folk instrumental orchestra, in which original
percussion musical instruments play the main role. Since the 16th
century, the keronchong (jav. keroncong) song and musical genre has been
developing, in which vocal works are performed to the accompaniment of
an instrument similar to a guitar. During the same period, the dangdut
genre became widespread, combining elements of Malay, Arabic and
Hindustani music.
During the period of Dutch colonization, while
maintaining their own musical traditions at a broad national level, the
Indonesians mastered European musical art at the elite level. European
musical norms, combined with some traditional elements, are generally
characteristic of the development of musical culture in the period of
independent development - this is typical of both classical and popular
music. The National Conservatory was opened in 1960, the National
Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1968.
Early forms of performing arts date back to the theatrical
performances of folk festivals and religious ceremonies. Since at least
the 9th century, there has been a theatrical genre wayang-topeng - the
performance of dances and pantomime in masks of characteristic
characters. The first mentions of wayang-golek and wayang-kulit date
back to the 11th century - respectively, the theater of voluminous
puppets and the theater of flat leather puppets, their shadows are
projected onto a fabric screen, which have remained the most popular
forms of national theatrical art since that time. In all types of
wayang, the dramatic basis of traditional performances are episodes of
local adaptations of the Indian epic Mahabharata with a strictly limited
set of characters. Performances are usually accompanied by a gamelan
game.
Under Dutch influence, from the end of the 19th century,
European genres of performing arts gradually spread, as well as mixed
forms combining European and traditional techniques, in particular,
ketoprak and ludruk. During the period of state independence, there is a
development of all - traditional, European and mixed genres. The
country's largest theaters have been set up in Jakarta, Yogyakarta, and
Surabaya.
The first motion pictures were made in Indonesia in the
1920s by Dutch directors. The formation of the national cinema itself
dates back to the 1930s (the first local director was Anjar Asmara), an
integral national cinematographic school, both fiction and documentary)
- to the 1950s. The cinema of the 1950s and the first half of the 1960s
was characterized by an appeal to anti-imperialist themes and acute
social problems. In the 1980s-1990s, due to the widespread penetration
of foreign production into the Indonesian film market, the local film
industry entered a period of decline, which was overcome only by the
beginning of the 21st century. The 2000s were characterized by a sharp
increase in both quantitative and qualitative indicators of Indonesian
cinema: the volume of film production doubled annually, a number of
films were nominated for awards at international film festivals.
Arts and Crafts
Decorative and applied art fully reflects the
ethno-cultural diversity of the country - different regions in this
regard are characterized by very specific features. The most common
traditional artistic crafts that have gained international fame include
the production of painted batik - both hot and cold (Java, Madura, Bali,
some areas of Sumatra), the manufacture of ritual daggers - kris (Java,
Bali) and kujangs (West Java) , three-dimensional and flat dolls for the
wayang theater, other types of artistic leather processing (Java, Bali,
Madura, Sumatra). Woodcarving and the production of decorative
wickerwork are almost ubiquitous; in many regions (especially in
Sumatra, Sulawesi and the Moluccas), artistic weaving. In Java, the
traditional craft is bronze, in Kalimantan - tin and silver casting, as
well as chasing. The production of decorative pottery and ceramics is
most developed in the Lesser Sunda Islands (especially in Lombok), and
there (especially in Flores) a rich tradition of making wooden figurines
is preserved.
January 1 - New Year according to the Christian chronology (Indon.
Tahun Baru Masehi);
the date is determined according to the Chinese
calendar - Chinese New Year (Indon. Hari Imlek);
the date is
determined according to the Islamic calendar - the birthday of the
Prophet Muhammad (Indon. Maulid Nabi Muhammad);
the date is
determined according to the Balinese calendar [en] - New Year according
to the chronology adopted in the Balinese variation of Hinduism (Indon.
Tahun Baru Saka);
the date is determined according to the Gregorian
calendar - Good Friday (Indon. Wafat Isa Al-Masih);
the date is
determined according to the Buddhist calendar - Buddha's Birthday
(Indon. Waisak);
the date is determined according to the Gregorian
calendar - the Ascension of the Lord (Indon. Kenaikan Isa Al-Masih);
the date is determined according to the Islamic calendar - Miraj (Indon.
Lailat Al Miraj);
August 17 - Independence Day (Indon. Hari
Proklamasi Kemerdekaan);
the date is determined according to the
Islamic calendar - Uraza Bairam (Indon. Idul Fitri);
the date is
determined according to the Islamic calendar - Eid al-Adha (Indon. Idul
Adha);
the date is determined according to the Islamic calendar - the
Muslim New Year (Indon. Tahun Baru Hijriyah);
December 25 - Christmas
(Indon. Natal)
Taking into account the ethno-cultural diversity of the country, its
national cuisine is actually a combination of cuisines from different
regions, which have their own significant features. At the same time,
some dishes, originally specific to a certain area, have gained
nationwide popularity. The culinary traditions of the peoples of
Indonesia were formed with the active influence of the corresponding
traditions of neighboring Asian peoples: the most noticeable in this
regard is the influence of Chinese cuisine.
Rice is the main
carbohydrate food almost everywhere; in some regions, corn, cassava, and
sweet potato occupy a significant place in the diet. Traditionally, the
food of most Indonesians is boiled or fried rice with various additives
- as a rule, chicken, meat, seafood, tempeh, fresh or soaked vegetables
appear in this capacity, which are either cooked with rice or served as
a side dish (in this In the case of additives, they are called lauk-pauk
- indon. lauk-pauk). The most common of these dishes is nasi goreng - a
kind of pilaf filled with almost any product. The most important
ceremonial dish in many regions is tumpeng, a rice-shaped pyramid
surrounded by various garnishes.
Widespread noodles made from
wheat or rice flour, served as a soup or fried with various fillings,
such as mi-goreng (Indon. mie goreng, literally - "fried noodles").
Bread borrowed from European cuisine has not received significant
distribution. The most popular are various types of stuffed dough
products, many of which are also borrowed from the cuisines of other
countries, such as martabak.
Meat and protein products in
general, due to their traditional high cost for most of the population,
are present on the table, as a rule, in a small amount. Chicken, lamb,
goat meat and, in coastal areas, fish and seafood are the most
widespread. Beef is consumed quite rarely, pork is actively consumed in
the Chinese community and among the non-Muslim peoples of Indonesia.
Meat, fish or chicken meatballs - bakso, miniature skewers - sate, most
often made from chicken, goat meat or lamb, as well as otak-otak -
minced fish meatballs baked in banana or palm leaves are popular. In
Java and in some other regions, soups have become widespread - usually
from chicken and offal. Krupuk is produced and consumed everywhere -
chips made from starch, cereal, shrimp, fish or other flour. Various
vegetables are consumed in sufficiently large quantities, taking into
account regional agricultural specifics. In Java, gado-gado is very
popular - a mixture of various vegetables, filled with peanut sauce.
Tropical fruits are a common delicacy.
Spices and spices are
widely used in food - primarily various types of pepper - as well as soy
and peanut sauces. Both tea, which is drunk both hot and cold, and
coffee are very popular. Alcohol is not widely distributed, especially
considering that the majority of Indonesians belong to the Muslim
confession. However, in a number of regions, traditional local spirits
are produced, among which tuaka is especially popular.
Print mass-media
The first periodicals in local languages
(Malay, Javanese) appeared in Indonesia during the colonial period at
the beginning of the 20th century, but print media were widely developed
only after the country gained independence. At the same time, if the
1950s - the first half of the 1960s were characterized by relative
freedom of the press, then the period of Suharto's presidency was
characterized by strict political censorship and a high degree of
control by the authorities. Radical advances in terms of ensuring
freedom of the press occurred during the democratic reforms of the late
1990s and 2000s. During this period, there was a significant increase in
the number of periodicals, the affiliation of certain newspapers and
magazines to various political and social movements was clearly
identified.
As of the late 2000s, over 170 daily newspapers, both
central and local, were published in Indonesia with a total circulation
of about 4.8 million copies, as well as more than 425 non-daily
newspapers and magazines with a total circulation of about 7.8 million
copies. The leading national newspapers are Koran Sindo, Compass, Media
Indonesia, Republika, Jakarta Post.
Electronic media
The first
broadcasting organization was created by the Dutch colonial
administration in 1934. The formation of the actual national
broadcasting system began immediately after the declaration of state
independence. In 2009, more than 700 radio stations operated in the
country. 6 national and about 50 regional stations are state-owned.
There were about 140 radios per 1000 inhabitants.
Indonesian
national television has existed since 1962, when Indonesia's first state
television channel, TVRI, began broadcasting. Color television
broadcasting began in 1979.
As of 2008, there were 2 public and
10 private nationwide channels in the country. In addition, more than
100 regional TV stations broadcast. There were about 60 televisions per
1000 people. Since the end of the 20th century, satellite and cable
television have been developing, but a small proportion of residents
have access to it - respectively, 1.7% and less than 0.1%.
The spread of European sports among Indonesians began during the
period of Dutch colonization - mainly at the elite level. The
authorities of independent Indonesia, as a rule, attached great
importance to the development and popularization of sports, implementing
relevant state programs through the structures of the Ministry of Youth
and Sports and the Indonesian National Sports Committee.
By the
21st century, almost all summer sports, both men's and women's
disciplines, have become widespread in the country to one degree or
another. At the regional level, Indonesian athletes are among the
leaders: at the end of the 2021 Southeast Asian Games held in Vietnam,
they took third place in the team standings with 241 medals after
Vietnam and Thailand. However, on a wider international scale, their
achievements are much more modest: as of 2021, Indonesians have only
managed to win more than one gold medal at the Summer Olympics once.
Traditionally, the most successful are Indonesian badminton players,
especially men. Men's national badminton team - 14-time winner of the
Thomas Cup, women - two-time winner of the Uber Cup. It was the
badminton players who brought Indonesia all 8 Olympic gold medals in the
history of the country. Indonesian weightlifters (both men and women)
are also quite successful at the Olympic Games in the 21st century,
especially in the light weight categories. Eco Yuli Iravan is one of the
leaders in the number of Olympic medals among weightlifters of all
countries: he won medals at 4 Games in a row (2008-2020).
Among
the most popular disciplines among the population are football,
badminton, martial arts, motor sports, chess. Of the traditional
national sports, the wrestling of silat and sepak takraw, a variety of
board games, including mahjong, mancala, as well as kite flying and the
game of spinning top - gasing, which has numerous regional variations,
are the most common and enjoy the attention of the audience.
The
largest stadiums are Jakarta's Gelora Bung Karno (multifunctional, for
100 thousand spectators), Samarinda's Palaran (football, for 60 thousand
spectators), Palembang's Jakabaring (football, for 55 thousand
spectators), Surabay's Bung Tomo ( football, for 50 thousand
spectators).