Languages of Indonesia in the context of "Indonesian language"

The history of Indonesia has been shaped by its geographic position, natural resources, a series of human migrations and contacts, wars and conquests, as well as by trade, economics and politics. Indonesia is an archipelagic country of 17,000 to 18,000 islands stretching along the equator in Southeast Asia and Oceania. The country's strategic sea-lane position fostered inter-island and international trade; trade has since fundamentally shaped Indonesian history. The area of Indonesia is populated by peoples of various migrations, creating a diversity of cultures, ethnicities, and languages. The archipelago's landforms and climate significantly influenced agriculture and trade, and the formation of states. The boundaries of the state of Indonesia match the 20th-century borders of the Dutch East Indies.

Fossilised remains of Homo erectus, popularly known as "Java Man", and their tools suggest the Indonesian archipelago was inhabited at least 1.5 million years ago. Austronesian people, who form the majority of the modern population, are thought to have originally been from Taiwan and arrived in Indonesia around 2000 BCE. From the 7th century CE, the powerful Srivijaya naval kingdom flourished, bringing Hindu and Buddhist influences with it. The agricultural Buddhist Sailendra and Hindu Mataram dynasties subsequently thrived in inland Java. The last significant non-Muslim kingdom, the Hindu Majapahit kingdom, flourished from the late 13th century, and its influence stretched over much of Indonesia. The earliest evidence of Islamised populations in Indonesia dates to the 13th century in northern Sumatra; other Indonesian areas gradually adopted Islam, which became the dominant religion in Java and Sumatra by the end of the 16th century. Europeans such as the Portuguese arrived in Indonesia from the 16th century seeking to monopolise the sources of valuable nutmeg, cloves, and cubeb pepper in Maluku. In 1602, the Dutch established the Dutch East India Company (Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie or VOC) and became the dominant European power by 1610. Following bankruptcy, the VOC was formally dissolved in 1800, and the government of the Netherlands established the Dutch East Indies under government control. By the early 20th century, Dutch dominance extended to the current boundaries. The Japanese invasion and occupation in 1942–1945 during WWII ended Dutch rule, and encouraged the previously suppressed Indonesian independence movement. Two days after the surrender of Japan in August 1945, nationalist leader Sukarno declared independence and became president. The Netherlands tried to reestablish its rule, but a bitter armed and diplomatic struggle ended in December 1949, when in the face of international pressure the Dutch formally recognised Indonesian independence.

The culture of Indonesia (Indonesian: Budaya Indonesia) has been shaped by the interplay of indigenous customs and diverse foreign influences. As the world's largest archipelagic country, it is home to over 600 ethnic groups, including Austronesian and Melanesian cultures, contributing to its rich traditions, languages, and customs. Indonesia is a melting pot of diversity. Positioned along ancient trade routes between the Far East, South Asia, and the Middle East, the country has absorbed cultural practices influenced by Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Islam, and Christianity. These influences have created a complex cultural tapestry that often differs from the original indigenous cultures.

Examples of the fusion of Islam with Hinduism include Javanese Abangan belief. Balinese dances have stories about ancient Buddhist and Hindu kingdoms, while Islamic art forms and architecture are present in Sumatra, especially in the Minangkabau and Aceh regions. Traditional art, music and sport are combined in a martial art form called Pencak Silat.

Otto Dempwolff (25 May 1871 – 27 November 1938) was a German physician, linguist, and anthropologist who specialized in the study of the Austronesian languages.

Initially trained as a physician, Dempwolff began his linguistic research while serving as medical doctor in the German colonies German New Guinea and German East Africa. Under the mentorship of Carl Meinhof, he began his academic career at the Hamburgisches Kolonialinstitut, which later became part of the University of Hamburg. In 1931, he founded the Seminar für indonesische und Südseesprachen, which he headed until his death in 1938. He was also appointed to the Royal Prussian Phonographic Commission (Königlich Preußische Phonographische Kommission) for his expertise in medicine, as well as African and Indonesian languages. The purpose of the commission was to record the approximately 250 languages spoken by the prisoners of German World War I prisoner-of-war camps.

It is quite difficult to define Indonesian art, since the country is immensely diverse. The sprawling archipelago nation consists of 17,000 islands. Around 922 of those permanently inhabited, by over 600 ethnic groups, which speak more than 700 living languages.

Indonesia also has experienced a long history, with each period leaves distinctive art. From prehistoric cave paintings and megalithic ancestral statues of Central Sulawesi, tribal wooden carving traditions of Toraja and Asmat people, graceful Hindu-Buddhist art of classical Javanese civilization which produced Borobudur and Prambanan, vivid Balinese paintings and performing arts, Islamic arts of Aceh, to contemporary arts of modern Indonesian artists. Both Indonesian diversity and history add to the complexity of defining and identifying what is Indonesian art.