Indonesia

Etymology

The name Indonesia is usually explained as a combination of India and the Greek word nesos, together meaning 'Indian islands'. In 1850, George Windsor Earl, an English ethnologist, proposed the terms Indunesians and Malayunesians for the inhabitants of the "Indian Archipelago or Malay Archipelago", preferring the latter because he considered Indunesians too general. In the same journal, James Richardson Logan adopted Indonesia as a geographical term for the Indian Archipelago.

Usage remained limited for several decades. German ethnographer Adolf Bastian from the University of Berlin gave the term greater scholarly currency by using it in the title of his five-volume work Indonesien oder die Inseln des Malayischen Archipel, published from 1884 to 1894. Dutch scholars nevertheless tended to use Malay Archipelago (Dutch: Maleische Archipel) or the Netherlands East Indies (Nederlandsch Oost Indië). Popular alternatives included Indië, de Oost ("the East"), and, less often, Insulinde.

After 1900, Indonesia became increasingly common in academic and public usage, and Indonesian nationalist organisations adopted it as an expression of national unity and freedom from colonial rule. Among its early Indonesian promoters was Soewardi Soerjaningrat (Ki Hajar Dewantara), who established the Indonesisch Persbureau in The Hague in November 1918, a press bureau that used Indonesia in its name.

History

Prehistory, early states, and Islamisation

The island of Java has yielded numerous hominin fossils generally attributed to Homo erectus, including the type specimen discovered by Eugene Dubois at Trinil. Stone artefacts on Flores show that hominins had reached the island by at least 1.02 million years ago. Homo sapiens had dispersed into Southeast Asia by at least 50,000 years ago. In Sulawesi, narrative cave art has been dated to a minimum age of 51,200 years. Flores also yielded remains of the small-bodied hominin Homo floresiensis. Megalithic traditions later developed at different times across the archipelago, and stone monuments were used for burial and to honour or commemorate ancestors.

Beginning in the third millennium BCE, Austronesian-speaking communities moved south from Taiwan through the Philippines and into the Indonesian archipelago, where related languages eventually spread across most of the islands. Settlement and subsistence patterns varied across the islands, with communities combining fishing, hunting, gathering, and cultivation. From around 500 BCE, regional trading networks increasingly connected the archipelago with South and East Asia. Imported goods, knowledge, and technologies circulated through these networks, and during the early centuries CE some coastal communities in Borneo, Sumatra, and Java developed into trading ports. Indian merchants and religious specialists brought Sanskrit literacy, Hindu and Buddhist practices, and models of kingship that local rulers adopted.

Srivijaya, founded in southeastern Sumatra in the late 7th century CE, grew as a maritime trading polity and a centre of Buddhist learning and religious networks. In central Java, rulers supported the construction of major Hindu and Buddhist monuments between the 8th and 10th centuries, including Borobudur and Prambanan. Majapahit emerged in eastern Java in the late 13th century after Raden Wijaya used a Mongol expedition to defeat his rivals and then forced the Mongols to withdraw. Its rulers claimed suzerainty over a wide network of ports across the archipelago, although beyond Java this authority was often exercised indirectly through tributary, ritual, and commercial relationships rather than continuous territorial control.

By the late 13th century, Muslim rulers were established in parts of northern Sumatra. Perlak was described by Marco Polo as Muslim in 1292, and a royal tomb at Pasai dated 1297 records a Muslim ruler there. Samudra-Pasai became an important pepper port and a major centre for Islamic learning. Islam spread further through maritime trading networks, with Muslim communities becoming established at ports along Java's north coast and elsewhere in the archipelago. Majapahit declined during the 15th century, and Demak emerged as an independent north-coast sultanate and an important centre of Javanese Islam. Early conversions were associated with the Wali Sanga, the nine saints traditionally credited with the spread of Islam in Java. Islamic practice there also incorporated elements of older Javanese culture.

European contact and colonial rule

Before European arrival, spices from Maluku were already traded through Asian maritime networks in which Javanese and other regional merchants participated. The Portuguese captured Malacca in 1511 and reached Maluku the following year, where they sought control of the spice trade. Dutch expeditions followed in the 1590s, and in 1602 competing Dutch companies were merged into the Dutch East India Company (Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie, VOC). Its charter authorised it to wage war, build fortresses, and conclude treaties in Asia. In 1619, the VOC captured Jayakarta (present-day Jakarta), renamed it Batavia, and turned it into its headquarters. It developed as an administrative and commercial centre and attracted Chinese migrants and others from the archipelago. The VOC was dissolved in 1800, and its possessions were passed to the Dutch state.

During the 19th century, Dutch power expanded across the archipelago and met sustained resistance in Java, Sumatra, Bali, and Aceh. In western New Guinea, the Dutch established an outpost in 1828, but abandoned it in 1836 and began permanent occupation only after 1898. By the early 20th century, military campaigns and boundary agreements had established Dutch control over a territory that largely corresponded to present-day Indonesia, known then as the Netherlands Indies. The colonial administration ruled several territories directly and governed others through local states whose rulers retained limited authority under Dutch supremacy.

The Ethical Policy became an official programme in 1901 and expanded vernacular schooling, irrigation, and other public services. Western-style schooling also expanded, but it reached only a small minority of the population. During this period, several political organisations were founded, including Budi Utomo in 1908 and Sarekat Islam in 1912, followed by the Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI) in 1920 and the Indonesian National Party (PNI) in 1927. The Great Depression reached the colony in the early 1930s and had a major social and economic impact. Colonial restrictions on nationalist activity became stricter, and by the mid-1930s, Sukarno, Mohammad Hatta, Sutan Sjahrir, and other non-cooperative nationalist leaders had been imprisoned or exiled.

Emergence of Indonesia and independence

A shared national identity began developing through youth associations and a growing literature in the Malay language, which had long been a lingua franca that did not favour any single ethnic group. Nationalists increasingly called the language Bahasa Indonesia and made it a common medium for the emerging nation. At the Second Youth Congress in Batavia in October 1928, delegates pledged allegiance to one homeland and one nation, Indonesia, and recognised Indonesian as the "language of unity".

Dutch colonial rule collapsed when Japan conquered the colony in 1942. The occupation imposed martial law, banned political parties, and mobilised Indonesians through Japanese-sponsored civil and quasi-military organisations. Wartime shortages and forced labour caused widespread hardship, but the ban on the Dutch language strengthened the public use of Indonesian. Japanese-sponsored forces such as PETA and the Sumatran Giyugun trained tens of thousands of Indonesians. A day after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japanese authorities permitted Indonesian leaders to prepare for institutions and a constitution for an independent state scheduled in September 1945.

Japan surrendered to the Allies on 15 August 1945. Two days later, Sukarno proclaimed Indonesian independence, with Hatta co-signing the declaration. They were named president and vice-president on 18 August. Dutch attempts to restore colonial rule led to a four-year military and diplomatic struggle. International opposition intensified after the Dutch offensive of December 1948, and the United States subsequently pressed the Netherlands into negotiations recommended by the United Nations. On 27 December 1949, the Netherlands transferred sovereignty, except over western New Guinea, to the federal United States of Indonesia. The federal states soon dissolved, and a unitary republic was proclaimed on 17 August 1950.

Sukarno era and Suharto's New Order

Indonesia adopted parliamentary government under the 1950 provisional constitution. The 1955 election produced no durable governing majority and did not end the persistent political crisis. In February 1958, dissidents in West Sumatra proclaimed its own government before being joined by rebels in Sulawesi. They were seeking reforms to the republic rather than separation, but were defeated by the central government. After the Constituent Assembly failed to secure the required majority for a permanent constitution, Sukarno dissolved it by decree in 1959 and restored the 1945 Constitution. This established the Guided Democracy, a system characterised by dominant presidential authority, less regional autonomy and reduced role for political parties.

Under this new system, Sukarno expanded the military's political role while supporting the growing PKI as a counterweight. His campaign against Dutch rule in western New Guinea led to the New York Agreement in 1962 and Indonesian administration of the territory in 1963. After the 30 September Movement killed six generals in 1965, army general Suharto's forces took control of Jakarta and the military presented the movement as a PKI coup. The ensuing anti-communist campaign spread across several regions, with army units working alongside or directing civilian groups. At least 500,000 people were killed and hundreds of thousands were detained. The campaign destroyed the PKI and shifted power to the army. The Supersemar order in 1966 gave Suharto de facto control over key executive and security powers, an effective transfer of power from Sukarno.

Suharto's New Order restricted political organisation, embedded the military in government, and used his political party Golkar and a tightly controlled party system to dominate elections. The Act of Free Choice in 1969 formally incorporated western New Guinea into Indonesia. However, just over a thousand selected community leaders took part in it amid reports of military intimidation. Many Papuans opposed this integration and have waged an armed resistance since then. In 1975, Indonesia invaded Portuguese Timor and annexed the territory the following year. In Aceh, Hasan di Tiro founded the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in 1976 and declared independence from Indonesia. The insurgency was largely suppressed by 1979, but revived in 1989 after the return of fighters trained in Libya, prompting a decade-long military campaign.

The New Order reopened the economy to foreign capital and pursued industrialisation through investment, foreign aid, and state development plans. Manufacturing expanded and the number of people below the official poverty line fell substantially by the mid-1990s. At the same time, conglomerates controlled by Suharto's family and close associates accumulated extensive wealth and power. The Asian financial crisis of 1997–98 caused sharp economic downturn, followed by protests and unrest in several cities, including Jakarta, Medan, and Surakarta. This culminated in Suharto's resignation in May 1998. In a UN-supervised referendum in 1999, a majority of voters in East Timor rejected continued remaining within Indonesia. East Timor later became an independent country in 2002.

Reformasi and contemporary Indonesia

The period after Suharto, known as Reformasi in Indonesia, brought constitutional amendments, competitive elections, and decentralisation. The military lost its reserved parliamentary seats and the police became a separate service, but military influence did not disappear. Democratic institutions were established, but patronage and influence of oligarchy persisted. Former general Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono won the first direct presidential election in 2004. His administration reached a peace agreement with Aceh separatists in 2005 after the previous year's Indian Ocean tsunami brought more international attention to the province. Sporadic bombings occurred throughout the 2000s but had declined by the early 2010s.

Joko Widodo, elected president in 2014, made infrastructure, economic development, and welfare central to his presidency. Electoral competition continued, but the lack of parliamentary opposition, and changes to the anti-corruption commission, restrictions on dissent, and interference in the 2024 election reduced the quality of democracy. Widodo backed Prabowo Subianto and his son Gibran Rakabuming Raka, whose ticket won the 2024 election. Under Prabowo, the government pursued a fiscally expansive programme, while new laws permitted a larger cabinet and a 2025 revision of the military law allowed more active officers to serve in civilian posts.

Geography

Indonesia is an equatorial archipelago of coastal plains, mountains, and volcanic islands. It lies between latitudes 11°S and 6°N and longitudes 95°E and 141°E, and is the world's largest archipelagic state, extending 5,120 kilometres (3,181 mi) from east to west and 1,760 kilometres (1,094 mi) from north to south. Several straits, including Malacca, Sunda, and Lombok, carry international traffic between the Indian and Pacific oceans, including ships transporting energy supplies and commercial cargo.

The number of Indonesian islands varies by counting method, with published figures ranging from 13,466 named islands to more than 17,500. About 922 of them are permanently inhabited. Its five main islands are Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, Borneo, and New Guinea. Indonesia occupies most of Borneo, where it is known as Kalimantan, and the western part of New Guinea, commonly called Papua. The remainder of those islands is shared with Brunei and Malaysia, and with Papua New Guinea, respectively.

Java accounts for less than 7% of Indonesia's land area but is its most populous island, with intensive farming and extensive urban growth. Forest cover also differs widely, with larger forested areas in Papua and Maluku than in Java and Bali. Indonesia's terrain includes high peaks, volcanic lakes, major rivers, and coastal plains. At 4,884 metres (16,024 ft), Puncak Jaya on New Guinea is Indonesia's highest peak, while Lake Toba on Sumatra is its largest lake. In Kalimantan, major waterways like the Kapuas, Barito, and Mahakam rivers have historically served as corridors for movement and trade between communities in the island's interior and those near the coast.

Indonesia occupies a complex plate-boundary zone where the Eurasian, India-Australia, and Pacific-Philippine sea tectonic plates interact, with subduction zones along these boundaries producing frequent earthquakes and volcanic activity. The resulting volcanic belt contains roughly 400 volcanoes, around 130 of which are considered active. This tectonic setting also exposes the archipelago to major earthquake and tsunami hazards. The Sumatra earthquake in 2004 generated a tsunami that caused widespread destruction in Aceh. The archipelago has also experienced eruptions of exceptional magnitude. No larger explosive event is known from the past 2.5 million years than the Toba super-eruption about 74,000 years ago, and the eruption of Tambora in 1815 was followed by global cooling and the Year Without a Summer in 1816.

Climate

Indonesia's equatorial position and monsoon winds give it a tropical climate. Most lowland areas are warm and humid throughout the year, while higher terrain is cooler and seasonal temperature differences are small. Seasonal changes in the monsoon generally bring wetter conditions from November to April and drier conditions from May to October, but their timing and intensity vary by region. Much of the country has a tropical rainforest climate, with tropical monsoon and savanna climates across parts of the islands. Seasonal rainfall helps set rice-planting calendars and influences droughts, floods, and fires.

Rainfall varies across the archipelago. Western Sumatra, western Java, and portions of Kalimantan and Papua receive the highest annual rainfall, whereas regions in closer proximity to Australia—such as Nusa Tenggara—experience a significantly drier climate. The surrounding oceans, island geography, monsoon winds, and topography all affect where and when rain falls. In drought-prone regions of the country, El Niño can suppress rainfall and prolong dry periods, causing water shortages and crop losses.

Indonesia already faces climate-related hazards. Climate projections indicate further warming and sea-level rise, changes in rainfall patterns, and greater risks from extreme heat and flooding. These changes affect agriculture, water resources, public health, coastal settlements, and wildfire management. Sea-level rise is especially relevant to coastal areas, where much of Indonesia's population and infrastructure is located. Evidence from Pekalongan in Central Java suggests that households with fewer economic resources and communities with weaker infrastructure may have less capacity to adapt.

Biodiversity and conservation

Indonesia is among the 17 countries identified as megadiverse by Conservation International. Its many islands and geological past have helped produce a highly diverse flora and fauna. Within the archipelago, Wallacea is a transition zone between Asian and Australian fauna and one of the world's largest centres of endemism. In 2015, an estimated 83% of Southeast Asia's old-growth forest was in Indonesia. Mangrove forests, coral reefs and seagrass beds are among Indonesia's coastal ecosystems.

Large oil-palm and timber plantations were estimated to account for more than two-fifths of national deforestation between 2001 and 2016. Conversion of forest land for farming, roads, and other development breaks up remaining habitat, which affects species populations, habitat quality, and biodiversity. Peat-swamp forests are important carbon stores and habitat for threatened taxa, but are especially vulnerable to logging, fire and land conversion. Surveys of 15 reefs in three regions found lower coral diversity where reefs were exposed to land-based pollution and anchor damage.

Indonesia has designated 554 protected areas covering 27 million hectares, equivalent to 14% of its land area. Assessments conducted in 2015, 2017 and 2019 found improved management scores, but identified poaching, illegal logging, human settlements, tourism and non-timber cultivation as the main threats to protected areas. In Papua, research around the Cyclops Mountains protected area found limited consultation with nearby communities and implementation problems linked to scarce resources.

Government and politics

Indonesia is a unitary republic with a presidential system under the 1945 Constitution. The Constitution's five principles of Pancasila are taught through the civic education. After the fall of the New Order in 1998, four constitutional amendments between 1999 and 2002 altered the political system by introducing direct presidential elections, establishing new state institutions, reducing the MPR's role, and giving regional autonomy a constitutional basis. Indonesia remained a unitary state, while decentralisation transferred substantial powers to the provinces, districts, and cities.

The president is head of state, head of government, and commander-in-chief of the Indonesian National Armed Forces, and may serve no more than two five-year terms. The People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) consists of elected members of the House of Representatives (DPR) and the Regional Representative Council (DPD). The MPR may amend the constitution, inaugurates the president and vice president, and may dismiss them under constitutional procedures. The DPR makes laws with the president, approves the state budget, and oversees the government. The DPD may propose, review, and advise on bills concerning regional government, but has less authority than the DPR.

Indonesia's legal system belongs primarily to the civil-law tradition, while also incorporating customary (adat) law and Islamic law, including in marriage and inheritance matters for Muslims. Judicial power is exercised by the Supreme Court, the courts beneath it, and the Constitutional Court. The Supreme Court acts as the final appellate court and reviews regulations below statutes. The Constitutional Court reviews statutes for constitutionality, decides disputes over state-institution powers, political-party dissolution, and election results. It also has a role in presidential impeachment proceedings. The Religious Courts hear marriage, divorce and inheritance cases, as well as certain economic disputes arising under Islamic law. The Judicial Commission proposes candidates for Supreme Court justices and has responsibilities concerning judicial conduct.

Parties and elections

Since the return to competitive elections in 1999, Indonesia has had a fragmented multi-party system. No party has won a majority in legislative elections, and presidents have usually governed through broad coalitions that include many parties in the legislature and cabinet.

Political parties are often distinguished by their orientation toward secular nationalism or political Islam, but governing coalitions commonly include both. Party politics often relies more on patronage and elite power-sharing than detailed policy programmes, although the role of Islam in public life is a source of ideological difference. Opposition parties have at times joined presidential power-sharing arrangements after elections.

Indonesia held its first general election in 1955. Since 2004, voters have directly elected the president, the DPR, and the DPD every five years. Members of the DPR are elected through party-based contests, while DPD candidates run as individuals to represent provincial constituencies. National elections require large-scale logistics, as ballots and other materials must reach remote islands, mountain areas, and places with limited infrastructure.

Administrative divisions

Indonesia is a unitary state divided into provinces, regencies, and cities, each with elected regional authorities regulated by law. Provinces are headed by governors and have provincial legislatures (DPRD). Regencies and cities are headed by regents and mayors and have local legislatures. Below regencies and cities are districts, which are divided into villages. Rural villages have self-governing status, while urban villages form part of district administration.

Regional autonomy after 1998 transferred substantial powers to subnational governments, including the provinces. Special arrangements apply to nine of them: Aceh may apply aspects of Islamic law, the six provinces in Papua have special autonomy, and Yogyakarta retains a hereditary sultanate. Jakarta has autonomy due to its role as the national capital. Since 2022, Nusantara in East Kalimantan has been planned as the future national capital.

Foreign relations and military

Indonesia follows an "independent and active" (bebas aktif) foreign policy, a doctrine formulated by Vice President Mohammad Hatta in 1948. In practice, the doctrine has meant avoiding military alliances and rival power blocs while using diplomacy to pursue national interests. As a middle power, Indonesia works through regional and multilateral institutions while preserving room to manoeuvre in its relations with major powers.

As a founding member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Indonesia places the organisation at the centre of its regional diplomacy, including in managing relations with major powers. Indonesia has broad bilateral ties with Malaysia and Singapore, including cooperation in economic, defence, and cultural fields. Relations with Australia are conducted through a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership covering several areas, including economic development and regional stability. On China–United States competition, Indonesia has avoided formal alignment with either power, supported ASEAN-led forums, and sought cooperation that does not heighten regional conflict.

Indonesia has been a member of the United Nations since 1950, apart from an absence in 1965–66. It participates in multilateral forums including the Non-Aligned Movement, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, and the East Asia Summit. After decades as a major recipient of foreign aid, Indonesia has been providing development assistance since 2015 and established a foreign aid agency in 2019. Since 1957, it has sent military and police personnel to UN peacekeeping missions.

The Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) consists of the Army, Navy, and Air Force. The Army's territorial units extend across provincial and regency/city areas. Until its termination in 2000, the military's "dual function" (dwifungsi) doctrine provided a basis for involvement in political affairs alongside its security role. By 2004, reforms had ended unelected military representation in Parliament and removed the military faction from the MPR. A 2024 study found that cooperative parliamentary oversight had helped stabilise civil–military relations but also slowed further reform and weakened democratic management of defence.

Law enforcement and human rights

Law enforcement in Indonesia is primarily carried out by the Indonesian National Police (POLRI). The Chief of the Indonesian National Police is directly responsible to the President. POLRI's duties include maintaining public order and security, protecting and serving the public, and enforcing the law.

The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) is Indonesia's national human-rights institution and is authorised to investigate human rights violations. Accountability for past abuses has been limited. In 2024, the United Nations Human Rights Committee noted that only 4 of 16 violations investigated by Komnas HAM had reached the courts. Indonesia practices the death penalty but has not executed anyone since 2016.

Anti-Chinese racism has persisted despite the removal of most discriminatory policies after the New Order. Since 2016, anti-LGBTQ campaigns have included hostile statements by public officials, police raids and proposals for criminal restrictions. Religious minorities have also been affected by the country's blasphemy law. In Papua, human rights monitors have reported extrajudicial killings and disappearances, restrictions on peaceful expression, and displacement due to security operations and armed conflict.

Economy

Indonesia has a mixed economy in which the private sector and the government both have large roles. It is the only G20 member state in Southeast Asia. In 2025, Indonesia's gross domestic product was Rp23.821 quadrillion (US$1.45 trillion) at current prices, making it Southeast Asia's largest economy and placing it among the world's top 20 by nominal GDP and top 10 by GDP at purchasing power parity. Services and industry account for the largest shares of gross domestic product, while agriculture remains a major source of employment.

The economy was once largely agricultural, and early post-independence policy centred on agricultural self-sufficiency. Shift towards industrial and urban growth gathered pace from the late 1960s, and sped up in the 1980s as lower oil prices pushed the economy toward manufactured exports. Export-oriented manufacturing expanded from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s, during a period of strong economic growth and declining poverty. The Asian financial crisis of 1997–98 caused a severe contraction, but growth resumed in 1999 and was followed by reforms to banking, fiscal policy and the exchange-rate regime.

Consumer spending makes up a large share of GDP, along with population growth, urbanisation and an expanding consuming class. Domestic demand helped soften the effect of the 2008 financial crisis, while exports, public consumption and private consumption contributed to recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic. The official poverty rate was about 8% in March 2026. Informal employment is widespread, particularly in agriculture and low-skilled services. Informal firms tend to have lower productivity and pay, and workers outside the bigger firms have more limited access to social insurance. Businesses also have to contend with infrastructure, regulatory and governance issues.

The country's many islands affect where economic activity takes place and how goods move across the country. Economic activity is concentrated on Java, with Jakarta in particular accounting for a disproportionate share of national output. Meanwhile, much of eastern Indonesia has weaker infrastructure and economies more dependent on agriculture. High domestic transport costs hinder production and investment outside Java and make it harder to connect producers in the outer islands with major markets.

Tourism is a major service industry, generating about US$14 billion in foreign-exchange earnings and recording 11.6 million international visitor arrivals in 2023. Tourism-related jobs and enterprises include accommodation, food services, passenger transport, travel agencies and other activities. International tourism is concentrated in Bali and other major gateways, while domestic travellers account for most tourism spending.

Infrastructure

Transport and connectivity

Road transport is the predominant mode in Indonesia. Reliance on cars and motorcycles is high because public transport in many cities has not kept pace with urban growth. Rail transport is concentrated mainly on Java, with new lines recently operating in South Sulawesi. The Jakarta–Bandung high-speed railway, the first of its kind in the region, began commercial operations in 2023.

Maritime and air networks are important for linking population centres across the country. Connectivity is weaker in eastern Indonesia, where higher logistics costs contribute to regional price differences. In telecommunications sector, the Palapa Ring project uses terrestrial and submarine fibre as a core national internet network, but there are service gaps in some remote regions.

Energy

In 2023, Indonesia produced nearly twice as much primary energy as it consumed, with coal dominating both primary energy production and electricity generation. The country exports large volumes of coal and LNG and imports substantial amounts of refined petroleum products. The state-owned electricity company, Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN), controls the country's transmission and distribution networks and purchases electricity from independent power producers for supply to the national grids. Renewables supplied a small amount of Indonesia's electricity in 2023, although the country ranked first globally in geothermal generation. Investment in renewable energy has been hindered by regulatory uncertainty and PLN's financial capacity.

Demographics

Indonesia's 2020 census recorded 270.2 million people, making it the world's fourth most populous country after India, China and the United States. The population is concentrated on Java and in urban centres, while many provinces outside Java and Bali are much less densely populated. Java is home to 56.1% of the population, and its population density is far above the national average, reaching 1,171 people per square kilometre (3,030 people per square mile).

Indonesia has a median age of 30.7 years as of 2026, while about 69% of the population was aged 15–64 in 2025. Jakarta is the country's largest metropolitan area and, under the UN's harmonised urban definition, is listed as the world's most populous city, with nearly 42 million inhabitants as of 2025.

Approximately 59% of Indonesians lived in urban areas as of 2025. Urbanisation has come from rural-to-urban migration, natural increase in urban areas, and the reclassification of rural settlements. It has also expanded metropolitan regions, especially on Java, and increased demand for infrastructure, basic services, and city management. In addition, about 8 million Indonesians reside overseas, with large communities in Malaysia, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and Taiwan.

Ethnic groups and languages

The 2010 census listed over 1,300 suku bangsa, or ethnic groups. A later study in 2015 reclassified them into about 600 groups after noting classification difficulties. Austronesian-speaking populations predominate in much of western and central Indonesia. Melanesian populations live mainly in the eastern islands, including parts of Nusa Tenggara, Maluku, and Papua. The Javanese are the largest ethnic group, making up about 40% of the population. Other major groups include the Sundanese, Malay, Batak, Madurese, Betawi, Minangkabau, and Bugis.

The official language, Indonesian, is a standardized variety of Malay based on the Riau-Johor literary tradition. Malay had long served as a lingua franca in the archipelago before Indonesian nationalists adopted it as a language of unity through the 1928 Youth Pledge. It gained official and formal status in 1945 under the name Bahasa Indonesia. Written in the Latin script, Indonesian has spread through education, government, and mass media, and serves as a common language across ethnic and regional boundaries.

More than 700 languages are spoken across the archipelago. They are divided into two major language groups, Austronesian and Papuan. Javanese is the most widely spoken local language and has official regional status in Yogyakarta. Several regional languages in Indonesia have traditional writing systems of their own, some of which survive in only limited use today. Local languages remain part of regional identity and cultural heritage, even as Indonesian dominates national public life. Dutch never became widely spoken as Malay was already the archipelago's lingua franca. However, it remains important in some legal contexts.

Religion

Indonesia recognises six religions: Islam, Protestantism, Roman Catholicism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Confucianism, while the constitution guarantees freedom of religion. The state regulates religious affiliation and public worship. Recognised religions receive administrative recognition for religious affiliation, marriages, and houses of worship, but followers of indigenous religions often receive weaker recognition or face discrimination. Pancasila makes belief in one God one of the state ideology's five principles and is used to support national unity and religious harmony. Religious minorities still face discrimination, including through local religious bylaws, social pressure, and restrictions on worship.

Indonesia has more Muslims than any other country, with 251 million Muslims in 2025, or 87.15% of the population. Protestants and Catholics together made up 10.44% of the population, and Christians form majorities in several eastern provinces. Hindus accounted for 1.66% and are concentrated in Bali, while Buddhists accounted for 0.69% and are found mainly among Chinese Indonesians, though not exclusively.

Many local belief systems predate major world religions and continue alongside them. They include beliefs in ancestors, spirits, and powers associated with nature. Traditions such as Sunda Wiwitan, Kejawèn, and Kaharingan continue in different forms within or alongside the recognised religions. In Java and Bali, Islam and Hinduism also absorbed older customs and ritual practices.

Education

Indonesia's education system includes more than 50 million students and over 250,000 schools. It is managed across ministries responsible for school education, higher education, and religious education, and follows a 6-3-3-4 structure: six years of elementary school, three years each of junior and senior secondary school, and four years of tertiary education.

Since independence, schools have supported national integration through Indonesian-language instruction, national curricula, and civic education. Access to education and school quality vary, particularly between urban and rural areas and among regions with differing levels of development. Teacher quality and distribution are also persistent issues. Student learning outcomes are also low by OECD benchmarks. In PISA 2022, Indonesian 15-year-olds performed below OECD averages in mathematics, reading and science, with most not reaching the minimum proficiency level in each subject.

Government spending on education accounted for approximately 1.3% of GDP in 2023. In 2022, Indonesia had 4,481 higher education institutions, including universities, Islamic institutions, service colleges, and open universities. The University of Indonesia, Gadjah Mada University, and the Bandung Institute of Technology are among the country's highest-ranked public universities in international rankings. Higher education has expanded since 1990 and contributes to better employment, but access, participation, and institutional quality are uneven.

Healthcare

Primary care is provided mainly through community health centres (puskesmas) and primary-care hospitals. In 2014, Indonesia launched Jaminan Kesehatan Nasional (JKN), one of the world's largest single-payer health-insurance systems that covered 98% of the population by 2024. Despite the near-universal coverage, where people live still affects the availability of care and healthcare personnel.

Life expectancy increased between 1990 and 2019 from 62.5 to 69.4 years for men and from 65.7 to 73.5 years for women, but there are substantial differences between provinces. Indonesia faces a double burden of disease. Non-communicable conditions have become increasingly prominent in overall health loss, and infectious diseases continue to contribute substantially to disability and early mortality. Stunting prevalence among children was 21.6% in 2022.

Culture

Indonesia's cultures differ across islands, languages, and communities. Older populations and later Austronesian migrations contributed to this diversity, with Papuan and Melanesian populations prominent in the east. Movement by sea placed the Indonesian archipelago within trading and migration networks involving Indian, Arab, Persian, Chinese, and mainland Southeast Asian peoples, followed later by Europeans. Religious and courtly influences entered through these routes, and European expansion ultimately brought colonial domination. Coastal commercial centres often encountered outside influences before they reached inland communities.

Indonesia has no single uniform cultural tradition. Regional traditions are tied to particular languages and local cultures, while pan-Indonesian forms generally use Indonesian and are intended for audiences across regional and ethnic boundaries. These traditions include performance, visual art, ritual, clothing, food, and literature. Modern popular culture includes cinema, television drama, music, celebrity media, and reality shows, along with imported Asian dramas and global formats adapted for Indonesian audiences.

Indonesia has 16 items on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists, including wayang puppet theatre, batik, angklung, the saman dance, and pencak silat. Recent joint nominations have added pantun, kebaya, and kolintang to the list.

Visual arts and architecture

Indonesian visual arts include textiles, puppetry, masks, carving, and painting. Textiles are used in rituals and can convey social standing and ethnic affiliation. Colonial rule and nationalism affected the development of modern painting, and tourism and urban art communities became increasingly important later in the 20th century. Regional painting traditions include Bali's classical Kamasan tradition, a narrative form often described as wayang painting. Sculptural traditions range from megalithic monuments to Ngaju Dayak hampatong figures and Asmat artefacts, serving commemorative, protective, aesthetic, or spiritual functions.

Indonesian architecture ranges from everyday houses to ritual houses (rumah adat), whose layouts, posts, roofs, heirlooms, and construction rites can express ancestry, status, and local beliefs. Regional forms include the Javanese pendapa, Dayak longhouses, Minangkabau Rumah Gadang, and Toraja Tongkonan. Monumental religious architecture includes Borobudur and Prambanan, while surviving Hindu and Buddhist sculpture from the 8th to 15th centuries includes works in stone, bronze, and gold.

Clothing traditions differ by region and are used in ceremonies, weddings, formal occasions, and as markers of local identity. Batik and kebaya are widely used in national and formal dress and are especially prominent in Javanese culture. Other regional textile traditions include Minangkabau gold-thread textiles and distinctive ikat traditions among Batak and many eastern Indonesian communities. Such textiles are used at formal events, in bridal exchange, ceremonies, and weddings.

Performing arts

Indonesian music and dance include court, village, ritual, and popular forms. Gamelan traditions are centred especially in Java and Bali, while angklung and other bamboo ensembles are used in western Java, Banyumas, and other regions. Drums, gongs, lutes, singing, and music accompanying dance also appear across the archipelago. Islamic musical forms include gambus and qasida, while popular genres include keroncong and dangdut, which grew from Melayu music and draws on Indian, Arabic, and Western pop and rock elements.

Dance traditions are practiced for different purposes across regions. Mask dances appear in Javanese court drama and Balinese ritual performance, while Dayak mask dances are performed in agricultural rituals and communal ceremonial settings. Javanese court dance includes forms such as bedhaya and serimpi, while other local dances are associated with theatre and music, spirit possession, harvests, temple festivals, cremation ceremonies, and commemorations of the dead. Contemporary performers also adapt global forms.

Traditional Indonesian theatre encompasses storytelling, music, movement, puppetry, masks, acting, and dance. Wayang is a prominent puppet-theatre tradition in Java that is also practiced in Bali. Led by a dalang and accompanied by gamelan music, its repertory frequently reworks episodes from the Ramayana and Mahabharata. It has served ritual, moral, comic, political, and public-messaging functions. Other regional traditions combine drama with music, dance, masks, or martial arts, and modern theatre groups have used their performances for social and political commentary.

Literature

Literary traditions in Indonesia developed in many regional languages and included both oral and written forms. Oral traditions ranged from storytelling to songs, customs, beliefs, and other community forms, while material could pass between oral and written transmission. Traditional written literature included court chronicles, religious and legal writing, narrative prose, and verse. Such forms often served ethical, religious, or dynastic purposes rather than entertainment.

Modern Indonesian literature grew in the early 20th century alongside the expansion of literacy, publishing, and a wider reading public. Balai Pustaka, established in 1917, distributed books and maintained libraries and agencies across the archipelago, which gave new writers access to wider circulation. During this period, prose fiction and poetry became more prominent, displacing some older literary forms. From 1933, Pujangga Baru provided another venue for literary and cultural writing, publishing essays, poetry, short stories, and longer prose before the Japanese occupation. Newspapers, magazines, and other publications also carried Indonesian-language prose and poetry during the prewar period.

In the 1970s and 1980s, newspapers and magazines were important outlets for literature, with regular sections carrying poetry, short stories, criticism, and serial fiction. From the late 1990s, some forms of literary activity began to emerge in digital media, with websites, mailing lists, forums, and blogs providing spaces for literary communities and for publication. Post-1998 literary production has also faced fewer state restrictions, with writers able to engage more openly with previously sensitive subjects, such as sexuality and stronger religious expressions.

Cinema and mass media

Indonesian film production began during the Dutch colonial era with Loetoeng Kasaroeng (1926), and a national film industry developed and expanded after independence. Film became a vehicle for nationalist and anti-colonial politics under Sukarno, while the New Order regulated and censored cinema. The domestic industry of the 1970s and 1980s declined sharply in the early 1990s. After 1998, independent filmmakers, film communities, festivals, and renewed commercial production helped revive Indonesian cinema. However, censorship and pressure from non-state actors still limited expression.

During the New Order, newspapers and broadcasters operated under licensing and censorship, and television was used to advance state-led development and a unified vision of national identity. In the Reformasi period, the 1999 Press Law prohibited censorship, publication bans, and licensing requirements but journalists and media organisations still face legal cases, political pressure, violence, and other forms of intimidation.

Internet use grew rapidly from the mid-1990s, and websites became another means of distributing news and information. Mainstream media increasingly uses the same reporting across television, print, and online outlets, either through integrated newsrooms or by sharing content between them. News is also shortened or reformatted for websites and social media.

Cuisine

Indonesian cuisine differs from one region to another in its ingredients, methods, and flavours. Indian, Chinese, Middle Eastern, Portuguese, Dutch, and other foreign influences have become part of local cooking traditions.

Rice is the staple food in much of the country and is commonly served with meat or fish, vegetables, sambal, and other condiments. Chilli, coconut milk, shrimp paste, peanuts, garlic, shallots, and tamarind are widely used in cooking, along with foods such as chicken and seafood. Tempeh and tahu (tofu) are widely eaten soybean products. Tempeh originated in Java and is also eaten in Bali and elsewhere in Indonesia.

Mie and nasi goreng are widely eaten in the country. Gado-gado and sate are also prominent dishes. Regional cuisines include Minangkabau dishes such as rendang. Tumpeng is a Javanese ceremonial rice dish served for life-cycle events and other communal observances, where it is associated with gratitude and blessing.

Sports

Popular sports in Indonesia include football, badminton, weightlifting, and basketball, along with local games and martial arts. Football is one of the country's most followed sports, with active club supporters and public screenings of matches. Indonesia was the first Asian representative to appear at the FIFA World Cup, taking part in the 1938 tournament as the Dutch East Indies.

Indonesia has been particularly successful in international badminton, winning both the Thomas and Uber Cups, the men's and women's world team championships. Most of Indonesia's Olympic medals have come from badminton and weightlifting. Indonesia first competed at the Olympics in 1952 and has participated in the Asian Games since the inaugural 1951 edition. Jakarta has hosted the Asian Games twice, first in 1962 and again in 2018 with Palembang.

Traditional sports and games are featured in ceremonies, harvest events, contests, and public entertainment. Examples include sepak takraw, bull racing (karapan sapi) in Madura, and ritual combat traditions such as caci in Flores and pasola in Sumba. Pencak silat is an Indonesian martial art and was included as an official event at the 2018 Asian Games, where Indonesia won all 14 gold medals contested in the sport.