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Indonesia
Consisting of more
than 17,000 islands, the vast Indonesian archipelago
spans 5,120 km across the equator, positioned
between the Asian and Australian continents.
Four-fifths of the area is sea with the major
islands of Sumatera, Java, Kalimantan, Sulawesi and
Papua. The 300 ethnic groups that exist
harmoniously give birth to a potpourri of cultures
and fascinating people. The major ethnic
groups are: Minangkabaunese, Malay, Javanese,
Sundanese, Maduranese and Ambonnese. Arab,
Chinese and Indian immigrants have also settled in
regions throughout the country, particularly in the
coastal cities.
Geographically,
Indonesia's landscape is greatly varied. Java
and Bali have the most fertile islands and rice
fields are concentrated in these two regions,
whereas Sumatra, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Maluku and
Papua are still largely covered with tropical
rainforest. Open savannah and grassland
characterize Nusa Tenggara.
After an average
annual rate of between 5% and 7% during a long-term
growth in the last two decades, Indonesia has been
hard hit during the recent wave of the Asian
monetary crisis. With an economic growth of 4.7% in
1997, the 1998/99 State Budget envisages a minus 12%
economic growth with an inflation of 66%, which
gradually developed into an economic crisis. The
country's economic order and national financial
institutions proved unable to with-stand the violent
tremors against the nation's economic foundations.
It is no exaggeration to say that the achievements
of the national development of the last three
decades have been wiped out by a crisis that took
place for only several months, and worsened when the
local currency lost its value. The Government was,
in fact, caught by surprise with the unbelievable
large private sector debts which had accumulated in
the last five years.
The
Languages and Dialects of Indonesia
There are 583
languages and dialects spoken in the archipelago.
They normally belong to different ethnic groups of
the population. Some of the distinctly different
local languages are: Acehnese, Batak, Sundanese,
Javanese, Sasak, Tetum of Timor, Dayak, Minahasa,
Toraja, Buginese, Halmahera, Ambonese, Ceramese, and
several Irianese languages. To make the picture even
more colorful, these languages are also spoken in
different dialects.
The national language
of Indonesia is "Bahasa Indonesia".
Originally it was the Malay language mainly spoken
in the Riau Islands. In its spread throughout the
country, its vocabulary and idioms have been
enriched by a great number of local languages. To
keep pace with religious, social and cultural
progress, many words and terms have been derived
from foreign languages, including Dutch, Chinese,
Sanskrit, Arabic and, later, Portuguese.
Although Bahasa
Indonesia has become the lingua franca, local
languages and dialects continue to be spoken and
will not be abolished.
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