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| Official name: Republik Indonesia (Republic of Indonesia) Head of State: President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (sworn in 20 Oct 2004) Head of government: President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono Ruling party: Coalition between the Partai Demokrasi Indonesia Perjuangan (PDI-P) (Indonesian Party of Democratic Struggle) and Partai Kebangkitan Bangsa (PKB) (National Awakening Party). Area: 1,919,443 square km (17,508 islands) Population: 221.78 million (2004) Capital: Jakarta, on Java Official language: Bahasa Indonesia Currency: Rupiah (Rp) = 100 sen Exchange rate: Rp9,000.00 per US$ (Nov 2004) GDP per capita: US$946 (2003) GDP real growth: 3.40% 2003) Labour force: 99.00 million (2003) Unemployment: 10.50% (2003) Inflation: 6.60% (2003) Oil production: 1.18 million bpd (2003) Balance of trade: US$28.50 billion (2003) Foreign debt: US$131.00 billion (2003) |
Historical profile
Islam spread to Indonesia due to strong trading links with the Arabian peninsula. The first inhabitants in Indonesia were from India and Burma. Later inhabitants came from China.
1511 The Portuguese arrived in Indonesia, looking for spices. The Spaniards followed, bringing Christianity to the region.
1799 The Dutch gained control of the territory through the United East India Company. They gradually extended their control throughout the entire region. The Portuguese maintained control of East Timor.
1924 The Partai Kommunis Indonesia (PKI) (Indonesian Communist Party) was established. It was first active among trade unionists and rural villagers. The rural areas came to be the PKI's main power base.
1942–45 The Indonesian islands were occupied by the Japanese. After this period, the Dutch regained control.
1949 Previously known as the Dutch East Indies, the country adopted its current name. A federal constitution was introduced, giving limited self-government to the 16 constituent regions. Ahmed Sukarno, leader of the Indonesian nationalist party, became president. The Dutch were still in control of West Papua while the Portuguese maintained control of East Timor.
1950 The constitution was dissolved and the country adopted a unitary political structure.
1955 Sukarno won Indonesia's first general election.
1962 Indonesia invaded West Papua. A UN administration replaced Dutch authority.
1963 Authority of West Papua was transferred to Indonesia.
1964 Indonesia laid claim to areas of Borneo which had been granted to Malaysia upon independence, leading to a three-year guerrilla conflict on the Malaysian border.
1965 A coup, led by the PKI, was successful in displacing Sukarno.
1967 Sukarno transferred full power to General Suharto, commander of the Indonesian armed forces.
1968 General Suharto became president.
1975 Portugal withdrew from its colony of East Timor. The capital, Dili, was occupied by left-wing forces, Frente Revolucionaria do Timor-Leste Independente (Fretilin) (Revolutionary Front for an Independent East Timor), who advocated independence for East Timor. Indonesian troops intervened, setting up a provisional government.
1976 East Timor was invaded and integrated into Indonesia, becoming the 27th Indonesian province. This act was never officially recognised by the UN.
1985 Australia recognised Indonesia's incorporation of East Timor.
1998 Suharto, re-elected as president in March, was forced to resign on 21 May after widespread public disturbances resulted from the country's economic collapse. He was succeeded as president by Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie.
1999 Following a referendum and international military intervention to halt violence between pro-independence and pro-Indonesia groups, the Indonesian government agreed to grant East Timor independence. Abdurrahman Wahid was elected president of Indonesia by the People's Consultative Assembly.
2000 A state of emergency in the Molucca islands was declared after religious fighting worsened. The UN Transitional Administration for East Timor (UNTAET) and the National Council of the Timorese Resistance (CNRT) agreed to form a coalition government; four UN officials and four East Timorese shared the cabinet posts.
2001 President Wahid was censured by parliament for his alleged involvement in two financial scandals. He was voted out of office and vice president Megawati Sukarnoputri was sworn in as president.
2002 Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines signed a pact to counter terrorism. The government and separatist rebels in Aceh province signed a peace agreement giving greater autonomy and free elections to Aceh in exchange for disarmament by rebels. Constitutional changes included the posts of president and vice president to be by popular vote. A bomb planted by Islamic fundamentalists on the island of Bali, and targetted at Western tourists, killed 202 people. The International Court of Justice awarded the disputed islands of Sipadan and Ligitan to Malaysia.
2003 The Aceh peace accord failed; martial law was imposed. Three Bali bomb suspects were found guilty and sentence to death.
2004 In September unique fossil remains of an ancient pigmy human were found on the island of Flores. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono won the run-off presidential elections, and was sworn in on 20 October. On 26 December an earthquake in the Indian ocean caused a tsunami that devastated coastal areas in the region, particularly the peninsular of Aceh on Sumatra island. 2005 The countries affected by the tsunami were as far afield as Tanzania and Somalia but Indonesia, close to the epicentre, was the one hit hardest. An accurate death toll is unlikely ever to be known as entire communities were washed away. Estimates put the figure at over 230,360 people dead and missing. A worldwide response to the tragedy saw the combined efforts of governments and citizens donating millions of dollars to relief funds in an attempt to ameliorate the suffering of the victims. Reconstruction is expected to take years. Indonesia is aware of the international condemnation of its lack of transparency in financial dealings; presented with tsunami donations it has been making considerable efforts to combat corruption. In March warships were dispatched to the Ambalat region of the Sulawesi Sea off the east coast of Borneo when Royal Dutch/Shell, under an agreement with Malaysia, started to explore for oil. Indonesia not only claims the region as its own, but had also signed a similar deal in 2004 with US Unocal Corp for hydrocarbon exploration. An agreement was signed on 8 April between the leaders of Indonesia and Timor-Leste, recognising the location of their shared land border.
