People
| Indonesia, with more than 200 million people, has the fourth largest population in the world. More than 60 percent of the population lives on the "inner" islands of Java, Madura, and Bali, which together account for less than one-tenth of Indonesia's land area. Indonesia can be considered a spectrum of all the Asian cultures, races and religions. There are over 300 ethnic groups, who speak an estimated 583 different languages and dialects, living in this archipelago with a total area of 1,919,413 square kilometers. Traces of Chinese, Indochinese, Arab, European, Polynesian and other Southeast Asian peoples can be found. In the interior of Indonesia, a lot of peoples have been isolated for centuries. Because of the vast area that is covered by Indonesia and the fact that most islands and highlands have been isolated for such a long time, you can find an astonishing and unparalleled diversity of customs, textiles, languages and architecture. Some tribal people still live in the Neolithic age, although this is changing rapidly. Some well known peoples include the Batak, the Acehnese, the Minangkabau and the Kubu from Sumatra, the Malays who can be found almost anywhere in Indonesia, the Dayak of Kalimantan, the Toraja of Sulawesi and the Papua of Papua (formerly known as Irian Jaya). |
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