Indonesia

From Worldatplay

Revision as of 09:01, 25 January 2008

Republik Rakyat Indonesia People's Republic of Indonesia
Flag	Coat of arms
Motto "Para Pekerja di Seluruh Dunia, Bersatulah!" (Indonesian) "Workers of the World, Unite!"
Anthem Internasionale
Capital (and largest city)	Jakarta 6°10.5′S, 106°49.7′E
Official languages	Indonesian
Independence  - Declared  - Recognized	August 17, 1945 December 27, 1949
Government  - President  - Vice President  - Governing party	Unitary socialist republic Ishak Makarim Halim Pangestu Partai Komunis Indonesia (Communist Party of Indonesia)
Area  - Total  - Water (%)	2,271,166 km² 870,949 sq mi 0.42
Population  - July 2007 estimate  - Density	265,527,840 116.91 /km² 304.87 /sq mi
GDP (PPP)  - Total  - Per capita	2007 estimate $3.73 trillion $14,061
Gini (2002)	31.4 (medium)
HDI (2007)	0.812 (high)
Currency	Indonesian rupiah (IDR)
Time zone	various (UTC +7 to +9)
Internet TLD	.id
Calling code	+62

The People's Republic of Indonesia (IPA: /ˌɪndoʊˈniːziːə/, /ˌɪndəˈniːziːə/) (Indonesian: Republik Rakyat Indonesia) is a nation in Southeast Asia. In addition to comprising the world's largest archipelago, it is also one of the world's most populous countries, boasting a population of over 265 million. It is one of the most diverse countries in the world, both culturally and geologically, home to a variety of languages, ethnic groups, and cultures; the diversity of its people is matched by a similarly high level of biodiversity (Indonesia is, in fact, considered a megadiverse country). The country is richly endowed with natural resources, and the standard of living is fairly high.

Nevertheless, due to the government's leftist orientation, relations remain periodically troubled with neighboring states, in particular the Philippines and the Australasian Union. While its internal and external politics are tempered by pragmatism and realism, the government nevertheless remains committed to the cause of socialism. President Ishak Makarim is the current head of state and head of government, and the Communist Party of Indonesia (Partai Komunis Indonesia, or PKI) is the governing party.

History

Homo erectus, popularly known as the "Java Man", suggest the Indonesian archipelago was inhabited two million to 500,000 years ago. Austronesian people, who form the majority of the modern population, migrated to South East Asia from Taiwan. They arrived in Indonesia around 2000 BCE, and confined the native Melanesian peoples to the far eastern regions as they expanded. Ideal agricultural conditions, and the mastering of wet-field rice cultivation as early as the eighth century BCE, allowed villages, towns, and small kingdoms to flourish by the first century CE. Indonesia's strategic sea-lane position fostered inter-island and international trade. For example, trade links with both Indian kingdoms and China were established several centuries BCE. Trade has since fundamentally shaped Indonesian history.

From the seventh century CE, the powerful Srivijaya naval kingdom flourished as a result of trade and the influences of Hinduism and Buddhism that were imported with it. Between the eighth and 10th centuries CE, the agricultural Buddhist Sailendra and Hindu Mataram dynasties thrived and declined in inland Java, leaving grand religious monuments such as Sailendra's Borobudur and Mataram's Prambanan. The Hindu Majapahit kingdom was founded in eastern Java in the late 13th century, and under Gajah Mada, its influence stretched over much of Indonesia; this period is often referred to as a "Golden Age" in Indonesian history.

Although Muslim traders first traveled through South East Asia early in the Islamic era, the earliest evidence of Islamized populations in Indonesia dates to the 13th century in northern Sumatra. Other Indonesia areas gradually adopted Islam which became the dominant religion in Java and Sumatra by the end of the 16th century. For the most part, Islam overlaid and mixed with existing cultural and religious influences, which shaped the predominant form of Islam in Indonesia, particularly in Java. The first Europeans arrived in Indonesia in 1512, when Portuguese traders, led by Francisco Serrão, sought to monopolize the sources of nutmeg, cloves, and cubeb pepper in Maluku. Dutch traders followed. In 1602 the Dutch established the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and became the dominant European power. Following bankruptcy, the VOC was formally dissolved in 1800, and the government of the Netherlands established the Dutch East Indies as a nationalized colony.

For most of the colonial period, Dutch control over these territories was tenuous; only in the early 20th century did Dutch dominance extend to what was to become Indonesia's current boundaries. The Japanese invasion and subsequent occupation during World War II ended Dutch rule, and encouraged the previously suppressed Indonesian independence movement. Two days after the surrender of Japan in August 1945, Sukarno, an influential nationalist leader, declared independence and was appointed president. The Netherlands tried to reestablish their rule, and a bitter armed and diplomatic struggle ended in December 1949, when in the face of international pressure, the Dutch formally recognized Indonesian independence.

Sukarno moved from democracy towards authoritarianism, and maintained his power base by balancing the opposing forces of the Military, Islam, and the Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI). An attempted coup on 30 September 1965 was countered by the army, who led a violent anti-communist purge, during which the PKI was blamed for the coup. However, when the army attempted to crack down on the PKI, it rallied its massive supporter base and rose up against the government, leading to a civil war between the masses and the army. Between 500,000 and one million people were killed. The head of the military, General Suharto, out-maneuvered the politically weakened Sukarno, and was formally appointed president in March 1968. His New Order administration was supported by the US government. However, the authoritarian "New Order" was widely accused of corruption and suppression of political opposition, and in December of that year, Suharto himself deposed when massive public protests in Jakarta, combined with mass defections of army troops to the Communist forces, drove him from office. On January 1st, 1969, the People's Republic of Indonesia was declared.

As the Communist Party of Indonesia was, at this point, closer ideologically to Democratic Socialism than to Stalinism in that it focused more on personal liberties than the state and to democracy (although the state is still considered higher than the average person and democracy is only in low levels), there were far less acts of retribution against supporters of the old regime than in other Socialist nations (although they did happen). Likewise, after the communist takeover, Indonesia did not try to cut itself off from the World Market as the Soviet Union and China had once done, and did not nationalise all industries. While all "vital" industries were nationalised (such as power, water, military weapon production, telecommunications, and oil), most other industries remained privately owned (although the government had companies in certain areas, such as construction, which it used mainly in projects regarding the government).

The Land Reform program was also much more toned down than in other nations. While in the initial stages of the Transition to the New Order particularly notorious landowners were killed by angry mobs or revolutionary cadres, afterwards the government took a more diplomatic stance. Instead of completely confiscating the land outright, the government gave large landowners the choice to give up most of their land in return for payment from the government (about half of what the land was worth) or to convert their entire state into a collective farming community that they would nominally be overseers of (although the farmers could vote to remove them if they were particularly heavy-handed). While the government supported collective farming, it did not force it, and because of this both collective and private farms were more productive, as only those who wanted to work in a collective farm did (leading to high moral), and those who didn't were free to work in their respective field.