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Fossils and the remains of tools show that the Indonesian archipelago was inhabited by Homo erectus, popularly known as "Java Man", between 1.5 million years ago and as recently as 35,000 years ago.[19][20][21] Homo sapiens reached the region by around 45,000 years ago.[22] In 2011 evidence was uncovered in neighbouring East Timor showing that 42,000 years ago these early settlers were catching and consuming large numbers of big deep sea fish such as tuna,[23] and that they had the technology needed to make ocean crossings to reach Australia and other islands.
Austronesian peoples, who form the majority of the modern population, migrated to South East Asia from Taiwan. They arrived in Indonesia around 2000 BCE, and as they spread through the archipelago, pushed the indigenous Melanesian peoples to the far eastern regions.[24] Ideal agricultural conditions, and the mastering of wet-field rice cultivation as early as the 8th century BCE,[25] allowed villages, towns, and small kingdoms to flourish by the 1st century CE. Indonesia's strategic sea-lane position fostered inter-island and international trade, including links with Indian kingdoms and China, which were established several centuries BCE.[26] Trade has since fundamentally shaped Indonesian history.[27][28]
Hinduism and Mahayana Buddhism arrived in Indonesia in the 4th and
5th century, as trade with India intensified under the south Indian Pallava dynasty.[29]
From the 7th century, the powerful Srivijaya naval kingdom flourished as a result of trade and the influences of Hinduism and Buddhism that were imported with it.[30][31] Between the 8th and 10th centuries, 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.[32]
Although Muslim traders first traveled through Southeast Asia early in the Islamic era, the earliest evidence of Islamized populations in Indonesia dates to the 13th century in northern Sumatra.[33] Other Indonesian areas gradually adopted Islam, and it was the dominant religion in Java and Sumatra by the end of the 16th century. For the most part, Islam overlaid and mixed with existing cultural and religious influences, which shaped the predominant form of Islam in Indonesia, particularly in Java.[34] The first regular contact between Europeans and the peoples of Indonesia began in 1512, when Portuguese traders, led by Francisco Serrão, sought to monopolize the sources of nutmeg, cloves, and cubeb pepper in Maluku.[35] Dutch and British 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.[36]
For most of the colonial period, Dutch control over the archipelago was tenuous outside of coastal strongholds; only in the early 20th century did Dutch dominance extend to what was to become Indonesia's present boundaries.[37] Japanese occupation during the Second World War ended Dutch rule[38][39] and encouraged the previously suppressed Indonesian independence movement.[40] A later UN report stated that four million people died in Indonesia as a result of the Japanese occupation.[41] Two days after the surrender of Japan in August 1945, Sukarno, an influential nationalist leader, declared independence and was appointed President.[42][43][44] The Netherlands tried to reestablish their rule, and the resulting conflict ended in December 1949, when in the face of international pressure, the Dutch formally recognized Indonesian independence[43][45] with the exception of the Dutch territory of West New Guinea, which was incorporated into Indonesia following the 1962 New York Agreement, and the UN-mandated Act of Free Choice of 1969 [46] which was questionable and has resulted in a longtime independence movement.[47]
Sukarno moved Indonesia from democracy towards authoritarianism, and
maintained his power base by balancing the opposing forces of the military and the Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI).[48] 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 and effectively destroyed.[49][50][51] Around 500,000 people are estimated to have been killed.[52][53] The head of the military, General Suharto, outmaneuvered the politically weakened Sukarno and was formally appointed president in March 1968. His New Order administration[54] was supported by the US government,[55][56][57] and encouraged foreign direct investment
in Indonesia, which was a major factor in the subsequent three decades
of substantial economic growth. However, the authoritarian "New Order"
was widely accused of corruption and suppression of political opposition.[38][58][59]
Indonesia was the country hardest hit by the late 1990s Asian financial crisis.[60] This led to popular protest against the New Order which led to Suharto's resignation in May 1998.[61] In 1999, East Timor voted to secede from Indonesia, after a twenty-five-year military occupation that was marked by international condemnation of repression of the East Timorese.[62] Since Suharto's resignation, a strengthening of democratic processes has included a regional autonomy program, and the first direct presidential election in 2004. Political and economic instability, social unrest, corruption, and terrorism slowed progress; however, in the last five years the economy has performed strongly. Although relations among different religious and ethnic groups are largely harmonious, sectarian discontent and violence have persisted.[63] A political settlement to an armed separatist conflict in Aceh was achieved in 2005.[64]
Indonesia is a republic with a presidential system. As a unitary
state, power is concentrated in the central government. Following the resignation of President Suharto in 1998, Indonesian political and governmental structures have undergone major reforms. Four amendments to the 1945 Constitution of Indonesia[65] have revamped the executive, judicial, and legislative branches.[66] The president of Indonesia is the head of state and head of government, commander-in-chief of the Indonesian National Armed Forces,
and the director of domestic governance, policy-making, and foreign
affairs. The president appoints a council of ministers, who are not
required to be elected members of the legislature. The 2004 presidential
election was the first in which the people directly elected the
president and vice president.[67] The president may serve a maximum of two consecutive five-year terms.[68]
The highest representative body at national level is the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR). Its main functions are supporting and amending the constitution, inaugurating the president, and formalizing broad outlines of state policy. It has the power to impeach the president.[69] The MPR comprises two houses; the People's Representative Council (DPR), with 560 members, and the Regional Representative Council (DPD), with 132 members.[70] The DPR passes legislation and monitors the executive branch; party-aligned members are elected for five-year terms by proportional representation.[66] Reforms since 1998 have markedly increased the DPR's role in national governance.[71] The DPD is a new chamber for matters of regional management.[72]
Most civil disputes appear before a State Court (Pengadilan Negeri); appeals are heard before the High Court (Pengadilan Tinggi). The Supreme Court (Mahkamah Agung) is the country's highest court, and hears final cessation appeals and conducts case reviews. Other courts include the Commercial Court, which handles bankruptcy and insolvency; a State Administrative Court (Pengadilan Tata Negara) to hear administrative law cases against the government; a Constitutional Court (Mahkamah Konstitusi) to hear disputes concerning legality of law, general elections, dissolution of political parties, and the scope of authority of state institutions; and a Religious Court (Pengadilan Agama) to deal with codified Sharia Law cases.[73]
In contrast to Sukarno's anti-imperialistic antipathy to western powers and tensions with Malaysia, Indonesia's foreign relations since the Suharto "New Order" have been based on economic and political cooperation with Western nations.[75] Indonesia maintains close relationships with its neighbors in Asia, and is a founding member of ASEAN and the East Asia Summit.[70]
The nation restored relations with the People's Republic of China in
1990 following a freeze in place since anti-communist purges early in
the Suharto era.[73] Indonesia has been a member of the United Nations since 1950,[76] and was a founder of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC, now the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation).[70] Indonesia is signatory to the ASEAN Free Trade Area agreement, the Cairns Group, and the WTO, and has historically been a member of OPEC,
although it withdrew in 2008 as it was no longer a net exporter of oil.
Indonesia has received humanitarian and development aid since 1966, in
particular from the United States, western Europe, Australia, and Japan.[70]
The Indonesian Government has worked with other countries to apprehend and prosecute perpetrators of major bombings linked to militant Islamism and Al-Qaeda.[77] The deadliest bombing killed 202 people (including 164 international tourists) in the Bali resort town of Kuta in 2002.[78] The attacks, and subsequent travel warnings issued by other countries, severely damaged Indonesia's tourism industry and foreign investment prospects.[79]
Indonesia's armed forces (TNI) include the Army (TNI–AD), Navy (TNI–AL, which includes marines), and Air Force (TNI–AU).[80] The army has about 400,000 active-duty personnel. Defense spending in the national budget was 4% of GDP in 2006, and is controversially supplemented by revenue from military commercial interests and foundations.[81] One of the reforms following the 1998 resignation of Suharto was the removal of formal TNI representation in parliament; nevertheless, its political influence remains extensive.[82]
Separatist movements in the provinces of Aceh and Papua have led to armed conflict, and subsequent allegations of human rights abuses and brutality from all sides.[83][84] Following a sporadic thirty-year guerrilla war between the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and the Indonesian military, a ceasefire agreement was reached in 2005.[85] In Papua, there has been a significant, albeit imperfect, implementation of regional autonomy laws, and a reported decline in the levels of violence and human rights abuses, since the presidency of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.[86]
Fossils and the remains of tools show that the Indonesian archipelago was inhabited by Homo erectus, popularly known as "Java Man", between 1.5 million years ago and as recently as 35,000 years ago.[19][20][21] Homo sapiens reached the region by around 45,000 years ago.[22] In 2011 evidence was uncovered in neighbouring East Timor showing that 42,000 years ago these early settlers were catching and consuming large numbers of big deep sea fish such as tuna,[23] and that they had the technology needed to make ocean crossings to reach Australia and other islands.
Austronesian peoples, who form the majority of the modern population, migrated to South East Asia from Taiwan. They arrived in Indonesia around 2000 BCE, and as they spread through the archipelago, pushed the indigenous Melanesian peoples to the far eastern regions.[24] Ideal agricultural conditions, and the mastering of wet-field rice cultivation as early as the 8th century BCE,[25] allowed villages, towns, and small kingdoms to flourish by the 1st century CE. Indonesia's strategic sea-lane position fostered inter-island and international trade, including links with Indian kingdoms and China, which were established several centuries BCE.[26] Trade has since fundamentally shaped Indonesian history.[27][28]
The nutmeg plant is native to Indonesia's Banda Islands. Once one of the world's most valuable commodities, it drew the first European colonial powers to Indonesia.
From the 7th century, the powerful Srivijaya naval kingdom flourished as a result of trade and the influences of Hinduism and Buddhism that were imported with it.[30][31] Between the 8th and 10th centuries, 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.[32]
Although Muslim traders first traveled through Southeast Asia early in the Islamic era, the earliest evidence of Islamized populations in Indonesia dates to the 13th century in northern Sumatra.[33] Other Indonesian areas gradually adopted Islam, and it was the dominant religion in Java and Sumatra by the end of the 16th century. For the most part, Islam overlaid and mixed with existing cultural and religious influences, which shaped the predominant form of Islam in Indonesia, particularly in Java.[34] The first regular contact between Europeans and the peoples of Indonesia began in 1512, when Portuguese traders, led by Francisco Serrão, sought to monopolize the sources of nutmeg, cloves, and cubeb pepper in Maluku.[35] Dutch and British 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.[36]
For most of the colonial period, Dutch control over the archipelago was tenuous outside of coastal strongholds; only in the early 20th century did Dutch dominance extend to what was to become Indonesia's present boundaries.[37] Japanese occupation during the Second World War ended Dutch rule[38][39] and encouraged the previously suppressed Indonesian independence movement.[40] A later UN report stated that four million people died in Indonesia as a result of the Japanese occupation.[41] Two days after the surrender of Japan in August 1945, Sukarno, an influential nationalist leader, declared independence and was appointed President.[42][43][44] The Netherlands tried to reestablish their rule, and the resulting conflict ended in December 1949, when in the face of international pressure, the Dutch formally recognized Indonesian independence[43][45] with the exception of the Dutch territory of West New Guinea, which was incorporated into Indonesia following the 1962 New York Agreement, and the UN-mandated Act of Free Choice of 1969 [46] which was questionable and has resulted in a longtime independence movement.[47]
Sukarno, Indonesia's founding President.
Indonesia was the country hardest hit by the late 1990s Asian financial crisis.[60] This led to popular protest against the New Order which led to Suharto's resignation in May 1998.[61] In 1999, East Timor voted to secede from Indonesia, after a twenty-five-year military occupation that was marked by international condemnation of repression of the East Timorese.[62] Since Suharto's resignation, a strengthening of democratic processes has included a regional autonomy program, and the first direct presidential election in 2004. Political and economic instability, social unrest, corruption, and terrorism slowed progress; however, in the last five years the economy has performed strongly. Although relations among different religious and ethnic groups are largely harmonious, sectarian discontent and violence have persisted.[63] A political settlement to an armed separatist conflict in Aceh was achieved in 2005.[64]
Government and politics
Main articles: Politics of Indonesia and Elections in Indonesia
A session of the People's Representative Council in Jakarta
The highest representative body at national level is the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR). Its main functions are supporting and amending the constitution, inaugurating the president, and formalizing broad outlines of state policy. It has the power to impeach the president.[69] The MPR comprises two houses; the People's Representative Council (DPR), with 560 members, and the Regional Representative Council (DPD), with 132 members.[70] The DPR passes legislation and monitors the executive branch; party-aligned members are elected for five-year terms by proportional representation.[66] Reforms since 1998 have markedly increased the DPR's role in national governance.[71] The DPD is a new chamber for matters of regional management.[72]
Most civil disputes appear before a State Court (Pengadilan Negeri); appeals are heard before the High Court (Pengadilan Tinggi). The Supreme Court (Mahkamah Agung) is the country's highest court, and hears final cessation appeals and conducts case reviews. Other courts include the Commercial Court, which handles bankruptcy and insolvency; a State Administrative Court (Pengadilan Tata Negara) to hear administrative law cases against the government; a Constitutional Court (Mahkamah Konstitusi) to hear disputes concerning legality of law, general elections, dissolution of political parties, and the scope of authority of state institutions; and a Religious Court (Pengadilan Agama) to deal with codified Sharia Law cases.[73]
Foreign relations and military
Main articles: Foreign relations of Indonesia and Indonesian National Armed Forces
President of Indonesia Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono with Barack Obama, the President of United States, in ceremony at the Istana Merdeka in Jakarta, 9 November 2010. Obama has become popular in Indonesia due to the years he spent in Jakarta as a child.[74]
The Indonesian Government has worked with other countries to apprehend and prosecute perpetrators of major bombings linked to militant Islamism and Al-Qaeda.[77] The deadliest bombing killed 202 people (including 164 international tourists) in the Bali resort town of Kuta in 2002.[78] The attacks, and subsequent travel warnings issued by other countries, severely damaged Indonesia's tourism industry and foreign investment prospects.[79]
Indonesia's armed forces (TNI) include the Army (TNI–AD), Navy (TNI–AL, which includes marines), and Air Force (TNI–AU).[80] The army has about 400,000 active-duty personnel. Defense spending in the national budget was 4% of GDP in 2006, and is controversially supplemented by revenue from military commercial interests and foundations.[81] One of the reforms following the 1998 resignation of Suharto was the removal of formal TNI representation in parliament; nevertheless, its political influence remains extensive.[82]
Separatist movements in the provinces of Aceh and Papua have led to armed conflict, and subsequent allegations of human rights abuses and brutality from all sides.[83][84] Following a sporadic thirty-year guerrilla war between the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and the Indonesian military, a ceasefire agreement was reached in 2005.[85] In Papua, there has been a significant, albeit imperfect, implementation of regional autonomy laws, and a reported decline in the levels of violence and human rights abuses, since the presidency of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.[86]
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