Encyclopedia of Islam

Indonesia

 

(Official name: Republic of 

Indonesia)

The modern nation of Indonesia has the larg-

est population of Muslims in the world. It was 

formally established in 1950 as the culmination 

of several steps following World War II in which 

the Dutch gave up control of what had previously 

been the Dutch East Indies. Indonesia is a demo-

cratic republic whose 20th-century history was 

greatly influenced by its two presidents, Sukarno 

(r. 1945–67) and Suharto (r. 1967–98). It has also 

had a woman president, Megawati Sukarnoputri 

(2001–04), Sukarno’s daughter. Administratively, 

Indonesia is divided into 33 provinces, several of 

which have special religious status. Hinduism is 

protected in Bali, and the 

sharia

 has been insti-

tuted in Aceh (on Sumatra).

Consisting of some 17,000 islands, Indonesia 

stretches from Sumatra in the west to the island 

of New Guinea (which Indonesia shares with 

the nation of Papua New Guinea) in the east. It 

includes the islands of Java, Borneo (which it 

shares with the nations of m

alaysia

 and Brunei), 

Bali, and Sulawesi. The entire island of Timor was 

for a brief period (1975–2002) part of Indonesia, 

but its eastern half (formerly under Portuguese 

rule) voted to separate in 2002 and emerged as an 

independent nation. Indonesia’s capital is Jakarta, 

the largest city in the country with more than 8.8 

million residents (2005). Located on the island 

of Java, it is home to the Istiqlal (Independence) 

Mosque, which, built in 1975, is the largest in 

Southeast Asia.

Indonesia is multiethnic in the extreme, with 

about 300 different ethnic groups. The largest is 

Javanese (40.6 percent), followed by the Sunda-

nese (15 percent) and the Madurese (3.3 percent). 

There is also a significant Han Chinese minority 

(2 percent), which dominates the privately owned 

business sector. This ethnic diversity is celebrated 

in the country’s motto, Bhinneka tunggal ika, or 

“unity in diversity.” The country recognizes the 

diversity, but in the face of the splintering effect 

such diversity can produce, it has promulgated 

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