Indonesia, Republic of

C

Plants and Animals

Indonesia has some 40,000 species of flowering plants—a richer variety than the African or American tropics—including some 3,000 trees, 5,000 orchids, and the world’s largest (and possibly smelliest) flower, Rafflesia arnoldii, or the corpse lily. Tropical rainforest vegetation prevails in the northern lowlands of Indonesia. Mangrove trees and nipa palm dominate the forested lowlands of the southern islands. The hill forests consist of oak, chestnut, and mountain plants.

Indonesia is located in the transitional zone between two of the world’s major faunal communities—the Asian and the Australian. The dividing line between the two, known as Wallace’s Line, runs from east of Borneo in the north to east of Bali in the south; on Celebes and the Moluccas, both Asian and Australian types can be found. To the west of the line, the Asian animal community includes the rhinoceros, elephant, tiger, tapir, orang-utan, and various species of gibbon and monkey. To the east, Australian types include various species of cockatoo, bowerbirds, and birds of paradise; the echidna; and marsupials like the bandicoot and cuscus (phalanger). Many species are specific to a single island, or group. The orang-utan is found only in Sumatra and Borneo; the tiger, in Sumatra and Java; the wild ox, in Java and Borneo; the proboscis monkey, only in Borneo; the elephant, the tapir, and the siamang (black gibbon) are found only in Sumatra. All of the islands abound in birds, reptiles, and amphibians. The world’s largest lizard, the Komodo Dragon, lives on the island of that name, to the east of Flores. Like other endemic species, the Komodo Dragon is rare. Many species are also high on the endangered list, including the orang-utan and the two species of rhinoceros—the Javan and Sumatran. Such animals today are found almost exclusively in reserves and national parks.

D

Environmental Concerns

Indonesia encompasses a wide variety of habitat types and is home to a huge diversity of plant and animal life—15,000 of its 24,000 known species of plants are endemic. The country contains approximately 10 per cent of the world’s tropical rainforest and expansive wetlands, most of which are under rice cultivation or used for aquaculture. The fringing coral reefs of the country’s many islands are of great importance in conserving marine biodiversity. Urban development, agriculture, and deforestation are most intense and extensive on the rich soils of the inner islands, where the country's population has traditionally been centred. As elsewhere in the developing world, deforestation is worsened by the cutting of firewood for domestic use. In recent years the government has encouraged 'transmigration' of large numbers of people to the outer islands. This has increased the level of exploitation on these previously untouched areas, where deforestation is now proceeding rapidly.

The country's extensive reserves of natural resources have been used significantly to reduce poverty and to increase incomes over the past 20 years, but access to safe water and sanitation remains limited. Although 61 per cent (1995) of Indonesia’s total land area remains forested, about 1 per cent (1990-1996) of the total forest area is deforested every year because of population growth and government incentives being to industry. Although the government has banned clear-cutting and the export of raw logs, law enforcement is often inadequate and illegal cutting continues. In October 1997, fires believed to have been deliberately ignited to clear land for farming and commercial development burned out of control, considerably increasing the rate of deforestation. Thick smoke from the fires mixed with air pollution from Indonesia's urban centres mixed to create a blanket of yellow-brown smog, causing fears about public health as tens of thousands of people were treated for respiratory illnesses.

Indonesia’s 1945 constitution recognizes the importance of economic development in harmony with nature, and the Basic Environmental Law of 1982 provides a framework for the management of the living environment, placing special emphasis on the protection of forests. Indonesia manages a protected area network that encompasses close to 9.7 per cent (1997) of its land area. Protected status has also been extended to an extensive marine reserve network.

Indonesia has declared six biosphere reserves under the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Man and the Biosphere Program (Cibodas, Komodo, Lore Lindu, Tanjung Puting, Gunung Leuser, and Siberut) and the country ratified the World Heritage Convention in 1989. Cooperative conservation projects are planned with Malaysia and Papua New Guinea. International environmental agreements ratified include those on biodiversity, climate change, endangered species, hazardous wastes, law of the sea, nuclear test ban, ozone layer, ship pollution, tropical timber, and wetlands.

III

Population

Indonesia’s position as a point of juncture between Asia and Australasia and as a focus of diversity is reflected in its human population as well as its fauna. The islands contain people of more than 330 ethnic groups, speaking 250 distinct languages; adherents of all the world’s major religions are found, as well as a variety of indigenous ones. However, some broad categories can be distinguished. The majority of the population is related to the peoples of East Asia, with considerable mixing over the centuries with people of Arab, Indian, and European stock. This population is concentrated in the islands west of, and including, Celebes and Flores. The population of the islands to the east of this line is predominantly of Melanesian origin (see Melanesia).

Within the western islands, three broad ethno-cultural groupings can be discerned. The first two are predominantly of mixed Malay origin. They are the inland wet rice-growing peoples who have been historically dominant and who make up two thirds of the national population; and the coastal peoples. The former include the Javanese, Mudarese, Sundanese, and Balinese; the latter, the Malays of Sumatra and the Makasarese of southern Celebes. The third group comprises the indigenous tribal peoples of Austronesian origin, including the Dayak of Borneo and the Toraja of Celebes, who tend to live in small groups and practise shifting cultivation. Important ethnic groups who do not fit into these divisions include the Batak and Mimangkabua of Sumatra, and the Minahasa of Celebes.

The eastern islands contain many distinct ethnic groups, the main cultural division is between the coastal peoples and the interior or “bush” peoples. In the Moluccas, the coastal peoples include the Ambonese, while those of the interior include the Alfur. In Papua, the indigenous Papuans of the interior, helped by their isolation, have retained a culture that is highly distinctive from that of other Indonesians. The coastal Papuans have mixed with Indonesians from other islands and have closer cultural affinities with those of neighbouring Melanesian peoples to the east and south of Papua.

The largest non-indigenous group in Indonesia is the Chinese; most Chinese have been in the country for generations and the community has developed distinct local dialects and customs. The Chinese community, which has historically dominated the business sector, makes up about 3 per cent of the total population and lives mainly in urban areas. The Dutch settler population, estimated at about 60,000 in the late 1950s, has declined to fewer than 10,000.

A

Population Characteristics

Indonesia has a population of 234,694,000 (2007 estimate). The average population density is 129 people per sq km (333 per sq mi). Indonesia is the fourth most populous country in the world. More than 60 per cent of the population lives on Java, Madura, and Bali which are among the world’s most densely populated areas; 48 per cent of the population is urban. In 1995 Sumatra had an estimated 41 million inhabitants; Celebes had about 13.8 million. In an effort to control overpopulation on the main islands, the government in 1969 introduced a policy of transmigration, or transmigrasi. More than 3.5 million people have been moved under the scheme to sparsely populated provinces like Sumatra, Kalimantan, and Papua. Although the settlers have brought new skills and created new jobs, the transmigrasi programme has been criticized for its potentially disastrous effects on the traditional cultures of the outlying islands.

B

Political Divisions

Indonesia is divided for administrative purposes into 27 provinces, including 2 special regions (Yogyakarta and Aceh) and the special capital city district of Jakarta Raya. In addition to the three special territories, Java is divided into Jawa Barat (West), Jawa Timur (East), and Jawa Tengah (Central). Sumatra has seven provinces in addition to its special territory: Sumatera Utara (North), Sumatera Selatan (South), Sumatera Barat (West), Jambi, Riau, Bengkulu, and Lampung. The island of Celebes is divided into five provinces: Sulawesi Utara (North), Sulawesi Tengah (Central), Sulawesi Selatan (South), Sulawesi Tenggara (South-east), and Sulawesi Barat (West). Kalimantan on Indonesian Borneo is also divided into four provinces: Kalimantan Barat (West), Kalimantan Tengah (Central), Kalimantan Selatan (South), and Kalimantan Timur (East). Bali, Papua, and the Moluccas (Maluku) each comprise one province; the Lesser Sunda Islands are divided into Nusatenggara Barat (West) and Nusatenggara Timur (East).