Indonesia (Education)
Since Indonesia’s independence in 1945, when only approximately 8% of a cohort came to school, despite major ethnic, linguistic and religious differences, it has significantly succeeded in expanding the education system.
The largest part of the education system is under the Ministry of Education and Culture. The Islamic schools, however, are run by a ministry of religious affairs.
For children under the age of six, there are three-year private preschools. This is followed by a six-year compulsory primary school. The first two years are taught in the local language, after which the language of instruction is bahasa indonesia. The first foreign language is English.
As a superstructure, there is a three-year primary school, which is applied for by 56% (1994); the current five-year plan, Repelita VI, is strongly committed to increasing this share. In the three-year upper secondary school, which includes both vocational and general schools, 82% (1994) of those who complete the lower secondary school continue.
There are more than 1000 higher education institutions, a much sought after Open University. The vast majority of universities are private.
ETYMOLOGY: The name Indonesia comes from gr indos ‘Indian, Indian’ and nesos ‘island’.
OFFICIAL NAME: Republic of Indonesia
CAPITAL CITY: Jakarta
POPULATION: 237,600,000 (Source: COUNTRYaah)
AREA: 1,920,000 km²
OFFICIAL LANGUAGE (S): Indonesian (bahasa indonesia), Javanese, Sundanese and approximately 250 other Austronesian languages
RELIGION: Muslims 88%, Protestants 5%, Catholics 3%, Hindus 2%, Buddhists 1%, others 1%
COIN: rupiah
CURRENCY CODE: IDR
ENGLISH NAME: Indonesia
INDEPENDENCE: 1945
POPULATION COMPOSITION: Malays 90% (including Javanese 39%, Sundanese 16%, Madurese 4%), Chinese 2%, others (especially Dajaks and Papuans) 8%
GDP PER residents: $ 942 (2007)
LIFE EXPECTANCY: men 66 years, women 69 years (2007)
INDEX OF LIVING CONDITIONS, HDI: 0.711
INDEX OF LIVING CONDITIONS, POSITION: 108
INTERNET DOMAIN NAME: .id
Indonesia is the republic of Southeast Asia’s upper world between Australia and the Asian mainland, by population the world’s fourth largest country (after China, India and the United States) with the world’s largest Muslim population. Indonesia was a typical developing country until the 1980’s, but is now one of the “tigers”, a number of countries in South and East Asia with economic growth and declining poverty. Since independence in 1945, the country (with the exception of a brief number of years in the 1950’s) has had an authoritarian rule with the military centrally located in both the economy and politics.
- AbbreviationFinder.org: Find two-letter abbreviation for each independent country and territory, such as IN which stands for Indonesia.
Indonesia has huge differences, naturally, ethnically and in terms of economic development. In the interior of Kalimantan and Papua and on several of the small islands there are people who still live as collectors and hunters, while the farmers of Java and Sumatra have for many generations produced coffee, rice and sugar for the world market.
Indonesia – Constitution
The Republic’s Constitution is from 1945 with amendments from 1950 and 1969. It is based on “The Five Principles”, ie. monotheism, humanitarianism, Indonesian unity, representative consensus democracy and social justice. Legislative power lies with the House of Representatives with 550 directly elected members. Elections are held every five years. There is also an assembly of regional representatives advising the President on regional issues. A third body is the People’s Advisory Assembly, which partly can raise state lawsuits, partly can propose amendments to the constitution. It is composed of members of the two previously mentioned assemblies. The president has the executive power. He is elected every five years with a Vice-President by direct election for a term of five years.
Indonesia (Economy)
Economic policy under Suharto’s dictatorship (1967-98) has been characterized by consistency and continuity, which is seen as a major reason why Indonesia has been able to raise living standards considerably and move up the class of middle-income countries. The core of economic policy is to ensure stability, growth and equality, which sought to be fulfilled through five-year plans, which set out visions and framework conditions for economic activity. The development was severely interrupted by the Asian crisis in 1997, which led to a fall in GDP of 13%, and the following years saw relatively small growth rates. Official unemployment rose dramatically and is still (2005) up to 12%.
Fiscal policy has traditionally been aimed at ensuring the balance of public budgets, which, combined with a tight monetary policy, has kept inflation at a relatively low level, but prevented the necessary investments in the education and health sectors. Large subsidies to compensate for oil price increases in 2005 led to budget deficits, and as subsidies were reduced, inflation began, reaching 17% at the end of the year. Indonesia’s biggest economic problem is related to the development of the balance of payments, which, despite a large trade surplus, is showing a deficit. This has led to a dramatic increase in the external debt, which in 2005 amounted to around DKK 135 billion. dollars, which corresponds to almost 50% of GDP. The balance of payments deficit has increasingly been financed through foreign direct investment, which the government, with the exception of a period from the mid-1970’s to the mid-1980’s, has sought to bring to the country. Indonesia’s political stability, low labor costs and large market potential have long been attractive to investors from other Asian countries such as Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore, but also from the United States and Europe. In recent years, the investment climate, due to poorly functioning banking, corruption and social unrest, have been considered inferior.
Indonesia’s economy is relatively open, although foreign trade has historically been sought to be regulated through high tariffs, volume restrictions and trade licenses. Indonesia is a member of OPEC and was until the early 1980’s economically dependent on oil production. The sharp fluctuations in world oil prices in the 1970’s and 1980’s gave rise to several major devaluations of the currency, the rupiah, but also to a rethinking of economic policy. Thus, the government has reduced oil dependence considerably through a rapid build-up of a broader-based industry; in 2004, the country became a net importer of oil, but still had a significant gas export.
Indonesia’s trade restrictions have been gradually phased out since the early 1990’s, just as the country is becoming more and more closely associated with the immediate world through participation in, among other things, ASEAN, Association of South East Asian Nations, and APEC, Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation. The main trading partners were (2005) Japan, China, Singapore and the USA.
Denmark’s exports to Indonesia in 2005 amounted to DKK 524 million. DKK, while imports from there amounted to 1002 mill. kr.
Indonesia – social conditions
Indonesia’s economic growth has reduced poverty since the mid-1980’s. In 1980-95, the proportion of the population living in absolute poverty fell from approximately 30% to approximately 15%. The Asian financial crisis of 1997-98 helped increase poverty both in the big cities and in the countryside.
The general dissatisfaction with President Suharto’s authoritarian rule in early 1998 contributed to widespread unrest and demonstrations that led to Suharto’s downfall. Changing governments have since sought to bridge the gap between rich and poor, but large regional divides still plague Indonesia.
The high population density and lack of agricultural land have in the past led the Indonesian government to launch programs to relocate people from the main island of Java to the less densely populated areas, such as Sumatra. The programs were internationally criticized for harming the indigenous people and causing the destruction of the rainforest, and they are still contributing to ethnic and religious tensions. Check youremailverifier for Indonesia social condition facts.
Indonesia (Health Conditions)
The state of health varies greatly between the relatively prosperous areas of Java and the more backward areas of Papua. The average life expectancy for men and women is respectively. 61 and 65 years (1993). The probability of dying before the fifth year of life is 9.7% against 0.9% in Denmark. Maternal mortality is 650 per 100,000 births.
AIDS has come to SEA Asia quite late. In 1996, 108 cases of AIDS were reported in Indonesia, corresponding to 0.7 cases of AIDS per year. mio. residents. However, the real prevalence of HIV infection in the population must be assumed to be greater and increasing.
Malaria occurs all over the country with the exception of Jakarta and other major cities. It is estimated that there are 1.3 million. cases of malaria per year, far more than the registered 22,000 cases. The prevalence of both diphtheria and polio suggests that childhood vaccination has not yet fully reached the poorest areas. A high incidence of typhus, which is the fifth most common cause of death, testifies to significant problems with the drinking water supply as well as the general hygiene. Similarly, cholera remains endemic with more than 5,000 cases a year. Tuberculosisoccurs frequently, and especially in Papua is seen in areas leprosy in up to 1 ‰ of the population. There is a high incidence of a number of infectious diseases transmitted by mosquitoes, such as dengue fever, Japanese encephalitis and filariasis. As something characteristic of South Asia, up to 15% of the population are carriers of the virus that causes hepatitis type B. As the disease can cause liver cancer, this form of cancer is one of the most common in Indonesia.
Indonesia (Military)
The Armed Forces is (2006) at 302,000. The army is at 233,000, the navy 45,000, the air force 24,000. There is two years of military service for those who are drafted. The reserve is 400,000. Army and Navy are equipped with a mix of older Western and Soviet equipment. The Air Force is equipped with a mix of modern and older Western equipment. The organization of the Armed Forces appears to be adapted to the country’s geography and terrain. Their composition shows that the primary role is internal security and securing the connections within the archipelago. The actual security forces are at 280,000.
Indonesia – mass media
The Dutch colonial power published the first newspaper at the end of the 18th century. It was about events in Europe. In 1812 the first newspaper on local affairs was published. The first newspaper in Javanese was published in 1855. There are (in 1999) 172 local, national or regional newspapers (total circulation almost 5 million), of which 76 have a circulation of over 20,000.
The most important are Pos Kota with a circulation of 600,000 (2000), Kompas (grdl. 1965) with a circulation of 530,000 (2004), Jawa Pos (circulation 434,000), Suara Pembaruan (grdl. 1987) with a circulation of 285,000 (2005) as well as Republika (grdl. 1993) and Jakarta Post (grdl. 1983) with a circulation of 35,000 (2004); the latter is in English.
Indonesia Business Weekly (Grdl. 1992) with a circulation of 15,000 is the most important of a dozen economic weekly magazines, which often have a political content. There are a total of 425 journals with a total circulation of almost DKK 8 million.
After years of severe restrictions on the media, the tide was turned in 1999, and since then the media has gained greater freedom. However, no more than Journalists Without Borders has Indonesia in 102nd place (out of 167) in its worldwide index of press freedom (2005).
Radio Republic of Indonesia has 53 radio stations (2002) and also broadcasts abroad in 10 languages. There are also a myriad of private radio stations. Until 2000, RRI was the president’s mouthpiece, then it went on to be public service.
There are 41 TV stations – including the channels of the State Television Republic of Indonesia as well as a number of private TV channels. The Internet does not immediately stand for breakthrough in Indonesia, where only 18 million. (about 7%) had access to it in 2005.
Indonesia – visual arts and architecture
An art of significance was first created in the Indonesian archipelago when Indian cultural influence took hold from the early 400’s, and it was the architecture and sculpture of Hinduism and Buddhism that came to characterize a lush Indonesian art. The first examples of an Indian-influenced art are monuments on Central Java from the early 700-t. The Indo-Javanese period lasted until about 1450 with its peak in 700-900-t.
Both Hindu and Buddhist shrines called candi (a combined temple and tomb monument) are built of natural stone and brick. The oldest memorials are a group of smaller Hindu temples, dedicated to the god Shiva. They became the norm for the Javanese temple construction of the following centuries. From approximately In 775 a lively Buddhist construction activity took place. The oldest dated temple is a candi built 778 for the Mahayana goddess Tara.
The otherwise widespread Buddhist monument, the stupa, is represented surprisingly few places in Indonesia. On the other hand, the stupa complex in Borobudur (approximately 800) with the stunning reliefs of Buddha’s life is the most magnificent edifice in Buddhist art. Famous for its decorations is the contemporary candi Mendut with three giant statues depicting the teaching Buddha and two bodhisattvas.
After 832, the Shiva cult had a renaissance with the construction of the mighty temple complex, candi Loro Jonggrang, a Hindu counterpart to Borobudur. Around 930, the Hindu center of power was relocated to East Java, where temple construction continued until approximately 1450, when the Hindu kingdom was severely oppressed by the growing influence of Islam on the island. The royal family and the court fled to Bali, where Hindu culture is preserved to this day.
Painting has never played a major role in Indonesian art, it has the arts and crafts. Famous are, for example, the art of blacksmithing and the Balinese woodcarving work. Indonesian textile dyeing techniques such as batik and ikat have long been used by artisans around the world.
Western influence has influenced both Indonesian arts and crafts, but after Indonesia’s independence, among other things. by creating art schools tried to create their own national art based on traditional style and technique. A representative of modern Indonesian art is the Balinese painter Ida Bogus Made, who has adorned the UN building in New York with a painting.
Indonesia – literature
Indonesia – Literature, Literature before 1900
The literature before 1945 consists primarily of Malay literature, see Malaysia literature, and Javanese literature. Javanese literature is written down between the 800’s and 1600’s. on kavi, the Javanese poetic language. The themes are taken from the classical Indian works, especially Ramayana and Mahabharata, and are influenced by the local tradition.
The literature includes mythological poems, kanda, epic prose, parva, legal texts and texts on medicine, usada. In addition, classical poetry, kakawin, and the famous shadow and puppet games, wajang. A chronicler of a mythical nature, kidung, describes the history of Java. The Panji legends tell of the amazing adventures of two lovers in a magical universe, populated by Hindu gods.
The gradual Islamization of Java from the 1300’s. caused the Hindu-inspired Javanese manuscripts to be preserved only in the still Hindu Bali.
The literature after 1945
There is literature in a number of regional languages such as Javanese and Sundanese, but the national literature is predominantly written in the national language Bahasa Indonesia. This literature was promoted by the publisher Balai Pustaka with the publication of, for example, Marah Rusli’s (1889-1968) novel Fru Nurbaya (1928) on the favorite theme of the time: arranged marriages.
In the journal Pujangga Baru (The New Poet) from 1933, traditionalists such as Sanusi Pane (1905-68) and modernists such as the Western-oriented Sutan Takdir Alisjahbana (1908-1994) discussed the shaping of an Indonesian literary culture and the conflict between Western individualism and Eastern mysticism. A discussion that has characterized the entire 1900’s.
The modernist was also the poet Chairil Anwar (1922-49), who exerted great influence on Angkatan 45, the generation of writers after 1945, who in social-realistic works interpreted the national identity of the new Indonesia. Mochtar Lubis’ (1922-2004) novel Road without End (1952) represents a more philosophical current, as does AK Mihardja’s (b. 1911) novel The Atheist (1949), which deals with the conflict between religion and secular modernity, a theme that now and then has brought Indonesian writers into conflict with the Islamic clergy.
After the coup in 1965, Sukarno’s regime tightened its grip on the writers, including Indonesia’s probably best-known author Pramoedya Ananta Toer (1925-2006) with the novel The Land of Men (1980).
The forerunner of the small group of female writers is Kartini. Among the modern female writers may be mentioned S. Rukiah (b. 1927), who in the novel Defeat and Love (1950) has described the Indonesian revolution, and Nh. Dini (b. 1936), best known for autobiographical works such as A Little Street in My City (1978).
Indonesia – dance
In addition to the highly developed classical dance forms in Java and Bali, Indonesia has numerous religious and ritual dances with a great variety, arising partly from the isolation of the individual islands, partly through their contact with other Asian and European culture. In terms of movement, there are common features in the dances, but variations have been developed, which are also repeated in costumes and body decoration.
The women’s dance is characterized by grace and plastic charm, eg the light dance, minangkaban from Sumatra, performed by young girls in the dark with light in their hands; the men’s dance shows strength and dexterity, for example the press dance from Lombok, where two men fight against each other with whips. The dances are accompanied by eg gamelan orchestra. On the islands where the number of tourists is large, the dance often bears more of the mark of being a dance show.
There is also a lot of experimentation with creating modern dance forms. See also Bali (music, dance and theater) and Java (theater and dance).
Indonesia (Music)
Indonesian music is associated by most with Javanese and Balinese gamelan, which are very varied orchestral types dominated by idiophones. It is these, especially the gong ensembles, that have made the area known in the West. Taken as a whole, Indonesia is characterized by a far greater musical diversity. Among the tribesmen around the smaller islands and inland of the larger islands there is a wide variety of different instruments: mouth organs, Jewish harps, nose and pan flutes, drums and other percussion, which are used for ceremonies and entertainment, often in combination with dance. In addition, many places have a large repertoire of songs.
Indonesia is an area where many of the world’s great music cultures have crossed each other at different times. In the northern coastal area, instruments (tambourines, lutes, oboes) and musical elements from the Arab-Persian culture that came to the area with Islam frequently occur. The court culture of the larger islands of Kalimantan and Sumatra traces the connection to the Javanese-Balinese gamelan tradition. Indian elements in the music originate mainly from Indian films and like the Chinese influence, they appear mainly in popular music. Western inspiration is found in certain local, popular types of music and in the elite’s (periodic) cult of Western music, both classical and pop. An actual cross-ethnic music really only exists within popular music, which includes several different genres.
This includes Kroncong, which emerged during the colonial era and gained national popularity through the 1930’s film industry. The genre has roots in the music of the descendants of Asian slaves from the Portuguese period, and the Portuguese inspiration is evident. Previously, the language was Portuguese patois. The slow, sentimental song, inspired by both Portuguese fado music and East African-Arabic singing style, is accompanied by the European instruments ukulele (kroncong in Indonesian), guitar, violin, cello, flute and percussion, which have recorded elements from bl.a. gamelan music. In recent times, Indonesian (bahasa indonesia) is often sung; in modernized form it has become the salon music of the cities.
A more recent popular musical genre is orkes melanyu from the 1940’s and 1950’s; it originates from Sumatra, but has over time been spread over all the islands. Here, too, the language is Indonesian, while the rhythm and ornamentation are Arabic and the melody Arabic and Indian. Indian, Indonesian and western instruments are mixed in this romantic pop music. Since the 1970’s, the genres dangdut with its blend of Indian tabla rhythm and Western instrumental sound in a youth-oriented dance music and pop indonesia, in which Latin American dance rhythms are combined with Western pop to Indonesian lyrics, have garnered much attention among young people; the same goes for jaipongan, which as the only widely popular genre has roots in the purely local, West Javanese gamelan music. Also seeBali (music, dance and theater) and Java (music).
Indonesia (Kitchen)
Indonesian cuisine has many features in common with Malay and Polynesian cuisine and is influenced by the Chinese. Typically, contrast-rich meals are sour and sweet, fresh and spicy dishes with coconut, ginger and bell pepper as well as rice.
