Information about Indonesian People

Indonesia's 245 million people make it the world's fourth-most populous nation. The island of Java is one of the most densely populated areas in the world, with more than 114 million people living in an area the size of New York State.

Indonesia includes numerous related but distinct cultural and linguistic groups. Since independence, Indonesian, a form of Malay), and the official national language, is the language of most written communication, education, government, and business. Many local ethnic languages are the first language of most Indonesians and still important.

Population data

Population: 245,452,739 (July 2006 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 29.1% (male 35,823,456; female 34,590,631)
15-64 years: 65.7% (male 79,447,560; female 79,449,399)
65 years and over: 5.2% (male 5,526,389; female 7,136,444) (2005 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.45% (2005 est.)

Birth rate: 20.71 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Death rate: 6.25 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Gender ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.77 male(s)/female
total population: 1 male(s)/female (2005 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 35.6 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 69.57 years
male: 67.13 years
female: 70.13 years (2005 est.)

Total fertility rate: 2.44 children born/woman (2005 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Indonesian(s)
adjective: Indonesian

Ethnic groups

There are over 300 . Many ethnic groups, particularly in Kalimantan and Papua, have only hundreds of members. Most of the local languages belong to Austronesian linguistic family, although a significant number, particularly in Papua, speak Papuan languages. In addition, there are roughly 5 million people of Chinese descent who speak various Chinese dialects, most notably Hokkian and Hakka.

The proportional populations of Indonesian ethnic groups according to the (2000 census) is as follows:

Javanese 41.7%, Sundanese 15.4%, Malay 3.4%, Madurese 3.3%, Batak 3.0%, Minangkabau 2.7%, Betawi 2.5%, Buginese 2.5%, Bantenese 2.1%, Banjarese 1.7%, Balinese 1.5%, Sasak 1.3%, Makassarese 1.0%, Cirebon 0.9%, Chinese 0.9%, Others 16.1%

The regions of Indonesia and some of their traditional ethnic groups are as follows. Note however that due to migration within Indonesia (as part of government transmigration programs or otherwise), there are significant populations of ethic groups who reside outside of their traditional regions.

• Java: Javanese, Sundanese, Bantenese, Betawi, Tengger, Osing, Badui
• Madura: Madurese
• Sumatra: Malays, Batak, Minangkabau, Acehnese, Lampung, Kubu
• Kalimantan: Dayak, Banjar
• Sulawesi: Makassarese, Buginese, Mandar, Minahassan, Gorontalo, Toraja, Bajau
• Lesser Sunda Islands: Balinese, Sasak
• The Moluccas: Nuaulu, Manusela
• Papua: Dani, Bauzi, Asmat

Religions

Main article: Religion in Indonesia

Muslim 80%, Protestant 6%, Roman Catholic 3%, Hindu 2%, Buddhist 1%, other 8% (2005) [1]

There are six religions recognized by the state, namely Islam, Protestantism, Catholicism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Confucianism. In some remote areas animism is still practiced.

Languages

Indonesian is the official national language, but there are many different languages native to Indonesia. According to Ethnologue, there are currently 737 living languages ^[1] the most widely spoken of which is Javanese.

A number of Chinese dialects, most prominently Min Nan, are also spoken. The public use of Chinese, especially Chinese characters, was officially discouraged between 1966 and 1998.

Literacy

definition: age 15 and over and can read and write
total population: 87.9%
male: 92.5%
female: 83.4% (2005 est.)

Education is not free; however, it is compulsory for children through to grade 9. Although about 92% of eligible children are enrolled in primary school, a much smaller percentage attend full time. About 44% of secondary school-age children attend junior high school, and some others of this age group attend vocational schools.

See also

• Culture of Indonesia
• Transmigration program

External links

• [https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/id.html CIA World Factbook article on Indonesia]

Indonesia

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References