From "Sabang ‘till Merauke" is the name of a song dedicated to Indonesia’s many islands and it’s diversity. It’s numerous chain of islands contained in the thirty-two thousand miles dividing two oceans, the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean.  Sabang is a small island just off the coast of Sumatra; Merauke is a small village near the border of Papua New Guinea. Indonesia’s 13,677 islands inhabited by 350 different ethnic groups, and more than 200 different languages.  Consequently this part of the world gave many different cultures, traditions, and way of lives (1).

  Despite this diversity, Indonesia today has a common bond that united them all into one nation, one language, and one people.  Due to this diversity, conflicts are unavoidable. However, the people of Indonesia have been able to overcome their differences. The spirit of musyawarah (to deliberate or confer), mufakat (to agree), and gotong-royong (mutual assistance) that have been instilled by their fore-father have helped in achieving peace between the people's groups. We have yet find this quality in any other nations of the world.

 I.  INTRODUCTION
 
 I have been away from this country for almost two decades. Being born and raised in this country, I felt a longing to return to my birth place and become a part of the people once more.  My desire to contribute my experience,  knowledge, and the skill, that I acquired in my life time is the dream that fuels my motivation to return to Indonesia.  In relation to the globalization that are taking place today, I am confident that Indonesia will be a nation that able to contribute to the world  for the good of all people.

 Relating to the National Standard for Geography, this writer is very interested in knowing and understanding the followings;
· The physical and human characteristic of the place.
· The people perceptions of the changing complexity that are influence by culture and experience.
· The characteristics, distributions and migrations of human populations
· The process, patterns, and functions of human settlement.
· The changes in meaning, distribution, and importance resources.

II. THE COUNTRY

 The largest country, both in area and population, in Southeast Asia is the Republic of Indonesia. It consists of 13,677 islands that cover 741,101 square miles (1,919,443 square kilometers) of land along the equator between the Indian and Pacific oceans. With a population of more than 210 million, it ranks as the world's fourth most populous country.  The nation is poor, with a low standard of living, even though it has many valuable natural resources. These include large onshore and offshore petroleum and natural gas deposits, huge tracts of tropical hardwood forests, and a variety of minerals, including tin, nickel, and copper. However, only about 10 percent of the land can be used for raising crops.

 The islands of Indonesia, of which 6,044 are inhabited, spread out over about 3,200 miles (5,300 kilometers) from east to west, and 1,300 miles (2,100 kilometers) from north to south. The country's total land and sea area are more than 3 million square miles (7.7 million square kilometers). Despite the vast number of islands, five of them account for nearly 92 percent of the land area. These are Sumatra; Java; Celebes (Sulawesi); two thirds of Borneo (Kalimantan); and the western portion of New Guinea, Irian Jaya. Almost 95 percent of the people live on those main islands, and more than 62 percent make their homes in Java.

 Under international law, the waters between the islands of an archipelago have not traditionally been regarded as part of a country's territory. However, Indonesia claimed them as such, which led to international disagreements. The Law of the Sea Convention, approved by the United Nations in 1982, established the concept of archipelago waters, supporting Indonesia's claim.  From the start of its history, Indonesia was divided in various ways among a number of rulers. The Netherlands ruled the islands for nearly 350 years, until Indonesia declared its independence in 1945.

    A. The Land, Climate, Animal Life.
 
 1. The land. Most of the islands of Indonesia are mountainous. The lowlands, with a few exceptions, are relatively small. Most of Indonesia's mountains are the products of mountain-building forces associated with the intersection of two blocks, or plates, of the Earth's crust the Pacific Plate and the Indian Ocean Plate, which meet in Indonesia. The resulting pressure pushed up mountain ranges and created the numerous volcanoes of Indonesia, the contorted shapes of islands like Celebes, and the ocean deeps, such as the Java Trench. This trench, located south of Java, is about 24,000 feet (7,300 meters) deep.

 Indonesia has more than 60 active volcanoes. They are in a zone that runs mainly through western Sumatra and its offshore islands, central and southern Java, Bali, and Lombok, and into the Lesser Sunda Islands. A smaller zone of volcanoes lies in the northern parts of Celebes and the Moluccas. The non-volcanic areas of western Indonesia are on a southerly extension of the Eurasian landmass known as the Sunda Shelf. In eastern Indonesia, such nonvolcanic areas are on the northerly extension of the Australian landmass called the Sahul Shelf.  About two thirds of the land area of Indonesia lies under tropical rain forests, only a small portion of which has never been cut or burned. Mangrove tree swamps are common along the shores of alluvial lowlands, including most of Sumatra's east coast.
 
 2. Climate. Since all of Indonesia lies near the equator, the country has a year-round growing season. Frost occurs only at the peaks of the highest mountains. Rainfall near the equator is abundant and well-distributed throughout the year. Away from the equator, however, the rainfall becomes seasonal, with a summer maximum and a winter minimum. In eastern Java and the Lesser Sunda Islands, the dry season is accompanied by severe water shortages. This season is associated with the so-called southeast monsoon of May through September. The climates of the lowlands are hot and humid almost all year. In the mountains, the temperatures are somewhat lower and the climate is more agreeable.
 
3.  Animal life. The animals in Indonesia are largely of Asian origin. They include monkeys, orangutans and other apes, tigers, elephants, water buffalo, a variety of birds, a rare species of rhinoceros found in Java, and a giant monitor lizard, the Komodo dragon. However, eastern Indonesia reflects a relationship with Australia through marsupials (mammals with pouches) and birds of non-Asian origin.

  B. The People

 Sundas to the East of Java, of whom the Balinese are the most numerous. Among the non-Malay people of Indonesia are approximately 4 million Chinese. Many of them have adjusted to Indonesian ways, and most live in the larger cities and towns. The Chinese residents have, however, often been persecuted by the Malaysian majority. Dayaks inhabit the Borneo highlands, and small number of Papuan peoples of Melanesian origin live in Irian Jaya.
 
 Indonesia developed an official national language because of the great variety of tongues spoken in the country. All Indonesian schoolchildren are required to learn this language, called Bahasa Indonesia. It was developed from Trade Malay, one of the most widespread hybrid languages used by Indonesians. Bahasa Indonesia also contains elements borrowed from the ethnic languages, particularly Javanese. English is taught in the schools as well.

 Most Indonesians live in rural areas and are farmers, though they generally raise only enough food crops to feed their own families. About 78 percent of the population is classified as rural, and about 60 percent of the labor force works directly in agriculture. The rest of the rural population earns a living through fishing, forestry, handicrafts, and the processing of agricultural products. The most common type of settlement, typified by the Javanese village, is a concentration of large thatched-roof houses on stilts. These villages, called kampungs, are surrounded by fruit trees and various kinds of palm trees, which contribute substantially to the family food supply. A kampung, normally provide shelter for about 500 persons and many of the structures blend into neighboring settlements. These appear to be towns of several thousand people, most of who are engaged in agriculture. Rural population densities in these areas are extremely high, reaching 3,000 per square mile (1,160 per square kilometer) in parts of Java. Densities tend to be much less in the Outer Islands.

 Only about 22 percent of Indonesia's population lives in cities, but the country has a number of large urban centers. The urban population growth of the 1960s and 1970s was more then twice as rapid as the total population growth. Indonesia has more than 30 cities with populations of over 100,000, and five with over a million;  Jakarta, Surabaya, Bandung, and Semarang, all on Java; and Medan on Sumatra. Jakarta, the nation's capital, was developed by the Dutch as the commercial and administrative center of the islands, then called the Dutch East Indies; its population increased to more than 6.5 million in the early 1980s. Many Indonesian cities reflect their colonial origins. Old colonial architecture, modern buildings, and kampung like areas stand next to one another.

  About 90 percent of the people are Muslims, but the intensity of their observance varies. The most ardent are the Acehnese of northern Sumatra, who converted to Islam at the end of the 13th century. The Javanese are much less intense, and their culture reflects the influence of Buddhism and Hinduism, which originated in India and preceded the Muslim conquests. More than 2.5 million Balinese practices Hinduism. Most of the hill peoples in Borneo and Irian Jaya, as well as in other remote areas, observe animist tribal religions.  About 13 million believers in Christianity live throughout the country in the larger cities, specially in northern Celebes. Most of the Chinese follows Buddhism, Taoism, or Confucianism.

  C. The Arts, Education, and Health.

 1. Arts. The arts in Indonesia have their roots largely in the pre-Islamic cultures, specially of Java and Bali. An oral tradition of storytelling, particularly of epic tales of Indian origin, continues to be important. Puppet shadow plays associated with the same themes are common in most rural areas. There also is a formal dance tradition, similarly based on themes and movements in the Indian manner. The dancing is accompanied by an orchestra, called a gamelan, consisting of such percussion instruments as drums, gongs, and xylophones, together with flutes and stringed instruments. Weaving is another high art, and each region has distinct patterns of largely cotton fabrics. A fabric, called batik, created in Java, is particularly well known in other countries, and some is exported. Batik is an Indonesian word meaning "wax writing"--The process involves applying a mixture of beeswax and paraffin wax to specific proportions of the fabric using a curious Javanese instrument called a "Tinting". The fabric is then dipped or panted with wet dyes, leaving the waxed areas impervious to the colour. The designs and the colour schemes are built up with successive waxing and dyeing. As this process is all done by hand ,each piece is original and no two pieces are ever quite the same. Some of the things made of batiks are: fabric beach wraps, beach squares, long scarves, Beach tops, Kaftans-long, waist coats, shirts scarf/caps, squinges (for your hair),cushions, tablecloth, place mats, batik napkins. Creative artist has produce beatiful arts paintings using the same method (3).

 2. Education. A contemporary literature in Bahasa Indonesia has begun to appear.  More than 60 percent of adults can read and write. This is a vast improvement since Indonesia became independent in 1945. The government has promoted education at all levels, and almost all children now receive some elementary-school education. However, the dropout rate is high, particularly in rural areas, and the quality of instruction at all levels is poor. There are more than 20 million students in elementary school, but only about 4 million in high school. Each province has a university, and there are several hundred teacher-training institutes and private colleges. Only a few of the universities those in Jakarta, Bandung, Surabaya, Bogor, and Yogyakarta are of high quality, however.

 3. Health. In general, social welfare standards are also low. People in the larger cities receive fair medical care. The rural areas, despite government-sponsored efforts to raise standards, have an acute shortage of doctors and paramedics. Life expectancy at birth was only 53 years in 1980, and the infant mortality rate, though declining, was 93 per 1,000.
 
 D. The Economy

 Indonesia is a poor country. In 1980, according to the World Bank, it had an estimated gross national product of $430 per person, which placed it just above the poorest nations. In comparison, its neighbors, the Philippines and Malaysia, had a per capita gross national product of $690 and $1,620. As in most developing countries, agriculture is the basis of the economy. For generations, agriculture has accounted for more than half the value of the economic output and for at least 60 percent of the labor force. The percentage of agricultural workers has remained about the same. However, the agricultural share of the economic output dropped to about 26 percent in 1980 because of rapid increases in the value of oil production during the 1970s and the resulting major rise in productivity of the mining and related industries. Trade, finance, and other services account for about a third of economic production.

 1. Agriculture. About 10 percent of Indonesia's land can be farmed, the majority of it for rice. The nation's agriculture is based on wet-paddy cultivation, chiefly in Java, Madura, and Bali. The country has about 13.3 million acres (5.4 million hectares) of wet-paddy fields, most of which are wholly or partially terraced and all of which are irrigated. In addition, there are about 3.2 million acres (1.3 million hectares) of dry-paddy fields and another 15 million acre (6 million hectares) of permanent dry fields in other annual crops. Most fields produce two crops a year. About 22 million acres (9 million hectares) of rice were harvested in 1980. Dry or upland crops also are frequently double-cropped. They include corn, of importance chiefly in drier areas, such as Madura and eastern Java and the Lesser Sundas; cassava; sweet potatoes; soybeans; sugarcane; and peanuts; as well as vegetables grown primarily near the larger cities.  There also are about 2 million acres (800,000 hectares) of estates, chiefly in Sumatra, about half of which produce rubber, and the remainder such crops as coffee, tea, oil palm, tobacco, bananas, cotton, and sugarcane.

 Under the Dutch, estate agricultural production was the mainstay of the export economy. The nationalization of the Dutch-owned estates in 1958 and the encroachment of squatters on estate lands has diminished estate production. Many commercial crops are also grown by small holders. These growers account for about 60 percent of the rubber production, which reached 1 million tons (907,000 metric tons) in 1981. Indonesia ranks second only to Malaysia as a rubber producer. Small holders also produce large quantities of copra (from coconut palms), and spices, such as cloves, cinnamon, and pepper, for which the area was famous for centuries. In the mountainous and remoter areas of the Outer Islands, the people carry on shifting cultivation. They clear the fields for brief periods by cutting trees and burning the waste. Then they cultivate cassava, corn, and other food crops on small plots for a year or two before abandoning the land. Several commercial crops, including rubber, are grown in this way. This method affects vast areas of forest.  Indonesian agriculture has done well to provide the growing population with food. However, the food supply has had to be augmented by importing about 2 million tons (1.8 million metric tons) of rice annually. Until the mid-1970s, food production barely kept pace with the population growth, but productivity has grown faster than the population since then as a result of government programs. These programs have raised rice yields through the use of high-yielding varieties of rice, improvements in irrigation, and providing fertilizers, pesticides, and credit to farmers at reasonable rates.

 2. Fisheries and livestock.  Fishery production has risen steadily, and Indonesia, with a production of about 1.5 million tons (1.4 million metric tons) of marine fish in 1980, ranks 12th in the world. Most of the catch comes from waters near the shore and is harvested by fishermen using small boats, despite government-sponsored attempts to modernize the fishing industry. In addition, aquaculture in both brackish and fresh waters, including some paddy fields, contribute to the fish catch. Other sources of food include domestic poultry chickens, ducks, geese, and turkeys that are raised in every village. Pigs have less importance because Muslims do not eat pork, but goats and sheep are numerous. Beef comes from cattle and water buffalo, which are used primarily as work animals.

 3. Forestry.  About two thirds of Indonesia is forest and woodland, but many of the forests consist of second-growth trees. Such trees are used primarily for fuel-wood, as are the mangroves of low-lying coastal marshes that provide immense quantities of charcoal, the chief domestic fuel in rural areas. Productive stands of virgin rain forest, especially in Borneo, have come under intensive exploitation for saw-logs and veneer logs.

 4. Mining. Minerals are the most important Indonesian exports. The country produces several important metallic minerals primarily for export tin and bauxite chiefly from the islands south of Singapore, nickel ores from Celebes, and copper from Irian Jaya. Salt, sulfur, asphalt, and coal are mined largely for domestic use. Indonesia also is a major producer of oil and natural gas, as well as petroleum products, and these account for 73 percent of the value of all its exports. About 587 million barrels of crude petroleum are produced annually, depending on the international demand.

 Production and refining are controlled by a government corporation, though various international oil companies participate as contractors. The chief market for hydrocarbon fuels is Japan, but the United States and Singapore are also important customers. Indonesia's first geothermal power station, which opened in 1983 in western Java, harnesses natural heat from the Earth. The government has given high priority to geothermal and hydroelectric development to conserve oil supplies for export.

 5. Manufacturing. About 9 percent of the gross domestic product comes from manufacturing, other than processing oil and agricultural raw materials. Textile production is the most important industry, but Indonesia also has shipyards, cement and paper works, and glass plants. The production of fertilizers, chemicals, plastics, and tires has become increasingly important. Indonesian workers assemble more than 40,000 vehicles annually from imported parts, and bicycle assembly is also important.

 E. Transportation and Communications

 As a multi-island country, Indonesia depends particularly on interisland shipping for commerce and communication. The Dutch developed highly efficient shipping services to all the islands and ports, and the company that provided those services was nationalized by the Indonesian government in 1958. Since then, regular shipping services by more than 300 modern vessels have been sporadic and inefficient. Some of the demand for interisland transport has been met by thousands of small native craft. The major deep water ports are Tanjung Priok in the area of Jakarta, Surabaya, and Cilacap on Java; Belawan, Dumai, and Palembang on Sumatra; Balikpapan on Borneo; and Ujung Pandang (Makassar) on Celebes.

 Overland transportation consists of an expanding highway system, chiefly on Java, of about 81,000 miles (130,000 kilometers), of which about half is paved. Recent road construction has been concentrated in the Outer Islands, principally on Sumatra. Railroads cover about 4,300 miles (6,900 kilometers), mainly on Java and Sumatra.  A government airline serves most of the major cities. Postal service covers the entire country, and telegraph service is available in all the cities. Telephones are concentrated chiefly in the larger cities and in the areas that produce minerals for export. Government radio broadcasts reach most of Indonesia, but television is available mainly on Java.
 

 F. Government and Politics
 
 Indonesia is a republic in which the president has the primary executive power and serves as leader of the legislature. The People's Consultative Assembly, consisting of 920 members, is the nation's highest authority according to the constitution, but the supremacy of the president is generally accepted. The president appoints the members of the assembly, which meets only once every five year, when it elects the president. The House of People's Representatives is composed of 460 members, of whom 360 are elected by the people to five-year terms and the remainder are appointed by the president. In theory presidential policies are subject to approval by the house, but it is actually a rubber-stamp parliament whose elected members represent primarily an alliance of special-interest groups. These groups are mobilized into the government party, called Golkar, and two other parties reflecting Muslim, Christian, and nationalist interests. An extremist Muslim party and the Communist party are outlawed.

 The country is divided into 24 provinces, two special districts, and a metropolitan district, Jakarta, each with an appointed governor. The central government has 37 ministries, headed by military officers.  Indonesia regards itself as one of the so-called unaligned nations. It helped organize and served as host for the Bandung Conference of 1955, which helped give identity to the concept of a Third World in international affairs. Indonesia was also one of the organizers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 1967, designed to promote regional integrity and collective welfare in Southeast Asia. In the United Nations, Indonesia has consistently voted with the developing countries. Its relations with China have been strained since 1965. The year of a pro-Communist rebellion in Indonesia, and the two countries do not have formal diplomatic ties. Relations with neighboring Australia also were weakened by Indonesia's occupation in 1976 of the eastern half of Timor, then a Portuguese colony.
 
 G. History

 The recorded history of Indonesia begins in references by the Roman scholars Pliny and Ptolemy, in Chinese texts, and in carved inscriptions dating from about the 6th century. Even in those early times, much of Indonesia had come under Indian cultural influences brought by Brahman priests called to the courts of various states and by traders who established themselves in coastal settlements.  The group of islands was often highly fragmented politically, but from the early 7th century to the 13th century, most of western Indonesia, as well as Malaya and the Strait of Malacca, came under the control of the Srivijaya Kingdom based in Palembang. Srivijaya extended its influence eastward into Java as well, but consisted primarily of a number of small principalities linked into a trading network. This network tapped the riches of the Indies and acted as distribution centers for trade between China and the Indies, and China and southern India.   About the same time, other Buddhist kingdoms developed in central Java. From them arisen the Majapahit Kingdom, which controlled most of Java from the 14th to the 16th centuries. Control of the Strait of Malacca passed from the declining Srivijaya Kingdom to Malacca by the 15th century. Also by that time, Islam had spread from northern Sumatra down along the strait and eventually dominated Java and other islands by means of forcible conversion, which continued through the 17th century. The Portuguese had come to the Moluccas seeking spices in 1510, and Malacca fell to them in 1511. European expansion controlled Indonesian history for the next several hundred years.

 From the beginning of the 17th century, the Dutch were the dominant foreign power in Indonesia. They gradually extended their control over Java, completing the process by the late 18th century, and then more slowly over the Outer Islands, despite a period of British rule from 1811 to 1815. The Dutch originally operated through a private trading company, the Dutch East India Company, but the Dutch government took over the firm's affairs and territorial holdings in 1799. Some remote areas did not come under Dutch control until the beginning of World War II.  Japan conquered the Dutch East Indies, as the islands were then called, in 1942 and ruled until surrender to the Allies in 1945. Indonesian nationalism grew rapidly during that period, and independence was proclaimed on Aug. 17, 1945, following the Japanese surrender. The Dutch tried to regain Indonesia but finally transferred sovereignty to the United States of Indonesia on Dec. 27, 1949. The new nation, under President Sukarno, retained a formal association with The Netherlands until 1954, when an independent Republic of Indonesia came into being. In 1959 the Dutch were expelled from the country and their assets confiscated. The Dutch handed over western New Guinea (Irian Jaya) to the republic in 1962.

 Meanwhile, regional forces continued to threaten the new state. A major rebellion, based in central Sumatra and northern Celebes, occurred in 1958 but was soon put down. In 1959, Sukarno proclaimed a policy of "guided democracy," which featured a return to the preliminary constitution of 1945 and the centralization of authority in the president. Another major revolt took place in 1965. It was associated with the rise to power of the Indonesian Communist party, which reportedly had Sukarno's support. This uprising forced Sukarno to surrender power to General Suharto of the Indonesian army, who had fought the rebellion. Hundreds of thousands of Communists and Chinese were massacred, and the Communist party was outlawed. Suharto became acting president; in 1968 the assembly elected him president.  Under Suharto, the government encouraged economic development, foreign investment, and exploitation of natural resources. After 1975 progress sped up greatly. The stagnation in agricultural productivity characteristic of the Sukarno period ended, and food supplies increased faster than the population for the first time since independence.  In the 1980s the economic outlook for Indonesia improved as petroleum and other mineral exports financed the nation's development. However, the food supply remained a difficult problem to solve with Indonesia's rapid population growth. The country's natural resources also required careful management. Such organizations as the World Bank and the United Nations assisted in the creation of programs for Indonesia's development. These programs are based on improvements in agriculture and fisheries, curtailing population growth, and expansion of domestic and export markets for manufacturing. Suharto was reelected president for a sixth term in 1992.

III. CONCLUSION

 Indonesia is a rich country in resources and cultures. The people can be proud of being her citizens.  As acknowledged earlier,  there have yet a nation, where diversities are easily recognized,  and ethnicity is the foundation of peace and harmony.

 In the recent issues of economic recess is taking a big toll in the Asian countries, particularly Indonesia. One have to ponder within one own-self,   what was wrong in the economic market that caused the economical imbalance?  This economic imbalance in turn jeopardizes the peace of one nation, and her treaty with other countries.

 Our hope that this fourth largest country in the world, with many diversities within her own region will manage to continue to be bonded with the spirit of musyawarh, mufakat, and gotong-royong.   Overcoming yet another challenge that will test the very fabric of Bhineka Tunggal Ika ( Many but One or Unity in Diversity).

 In recommending the solutions to the problem that this country facing, was not an easy one.  First of all the problem was not easy to identify, second to change a nation one has to change her people.  In doing so, it is crucial for anyone who is willing, to know first the people through personal relationship. This will gave the people a sense of honor and dignity.
 

 BIBLIOGRAPHY

(1) In Atlas of the World, "Indonesia" 199?
    http://cliffie.nosc.mil/~NATLAS/atlas/Asia/Indonesia.gif  (April 13, 1998)

(2) Indonesia. http://www.indonesiatoday.com/index2.html (April 16, 1998)

(3) http://solar.rtd.utk.edu/~asebrant/life/1996/katya2.html (April 16, 1998)
 

Drain, Cathie, and Barbara Hall. Culture Shock, A Guide to Customs and  Ettiqutte, Indonesia. Portland, Oregon:  Graphic Arts Center Publishing  Co., 1994

Oey, Eric, ed. Java, Garden of the East.  Lincoln, Illinois: NTC Publishing Group, 1991.

Hofer, Hans. Insight Guides: Indonesia.  Ed. Geoffrey Eu. Singapore:  APA Publication,   1994

Virginia.  Dept. Of the Army. Area handbook series, Indonesia, a country study. 
    Virginia: Dept. Of the Army, 1983.

Zainu’ddin,  Ailsa.  A short history of Indonesia.  Praeger Publishers, NY. 1970.

Created April 16, 1998

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