In the beginning globalization is fully believed to be able to lead to greater economic development in the sense of greater market scale, which in turn will increase the gross national product. So people believed that poor countries or third world countries will develop faster, thus the economic gap between the rich developed countries and the third world countries will diminished.
However, facts show the contrary. It is true that the gross national product of countries will increase, but the gap between the income of the rich and poor countries is also getting wider.

The main reason for this gap is the extra-ordinary growth of information as a result of the development of communications and information technologies in northern developed countries which have full control of these technologies. This information boom enables multinational companies to compete with changes in market demands, new products and new technologies, which in turn can boost the economy of a country, increase its efficiency and win global dominance.
On the other hand, in third world countries which are also known as southern hemisphere countries, they have difficulties to seek, to receive, to process and to produce information. The lack of appropriate information at the right time will result in low productivity, low quality research works, and waste of time to pursue information and even to do research which actually had been done by others or in other countries.
Indonesia as a third world country has a great concern over this deficiency and believe that the digital divide should be reduced so that there will be an economic recovery. The Indonesian government is determined to utilize the information technology effectively to support efforts to increase the national competitiveness. This aspiration is reflected in the Indonesian
Presidential Decree Number 50 year 2000 about the establishment of the Coordination Team of Telemathics of Indonesia. This team consists of all the ministers in the cabinet including the Minister of Education. Its tasks are among others to define the government policy in the area of telemathics; to decide the phases and priorities of development in the area of telemathics and its uses in Indonesia; to monitor and control the implementation of telemathics in Indonesia; and to report the development
of telemathics in Indonesia to the President.
The government realizes that the success of the development and utilization of telemathics depends mostly on the infrastructure which can provide easy access, and also ensure availability of information and subjects. To meet these three provisions, a competent human resources is a necessity. That is why the preparation of qualified human resources is given priority, because it requires hard work and takes time.
Meanwhile, we also know that scarcity of and low quality human resources in the area of Information and Communications Technologies can delay mastery of communication and information technology.
As such, the government through the Minister of Efficiency of State Apparatus as Head of the Coordination Team of Telemathics of Indonesia in his letter number 133/M.PAN/5/2001 had drawn up a Five-Year Action Plan for the Development and Implementation of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in Indonesia.
This plan among others includes a plan for the implementation of the use of telemathics in the area of education starting from 2001 until 2005, which includes:

• Develop collaboration between ICT industry and ICT educational institutions through training and R & D collaboration, and found a network for skill and capacity development
• Develop and implement Curricula of ICT Use ICTs as an essential part of the curricula and learning tools in schools/universities and training centers
• Establish distance education programs including participation in Global Development Learning and other networks Facilitate the use of internet for more efficient teaching and learning

From this action plan we can see that the emphasis of human resources quality improvement is especially geared on the provision and expansion of education of human resources in ICT area. Besides that, utilization of ICT for education and learning purposes, as an effort to fill digital divide, which in turn is hoped to be able to improve the national competitiveness to revive the economy is another emphase.
II. ICT in Indonesia
As mentioned above, the success of utilization of ICT is among others depends on the infrastructure which includes the telecommunication network, the availability of internet facilities and the use of internet.
In general the development of ICT in Indonesia nowadays is less encouraging compared to the developed countries, or even compared to neighboring countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and others.
To give a general picture of the ICT condition in Indonesia let us consider the data quoted from the Center for Research and Application of Information and Electronic Technologies of the Office for the Research and Application of Technologies, 2001 as follows.
A. Public Telephone Lines for 203,456,005 populace
1. The number of Telephone kiosks 228,862
2. The number of Telephone booths 345,307
3. Telephone patrons 6,304,798
B. Internet
1. Internet Service Providers 40
2. General Access Speed rate of ISPs 15 KBPS
3. Patrons of ISPs 511,000 with 1,980,000
4. The Internet users comprise of 42% for commerce, 30% for higher education, 21% for government, 6% for research institutions, and 1% for non-government offices.
5. The users of Internet based on their professions can be divided as follows:
students 39%, workers 22%, managers 17%, assistant managers 5%,
professionals 5%, directors 4%, entrepreneurs 3%, and others 5%.
6. The users of Internet based on their educational backgrounds are as follows,
elementary school/junior high school 2%, high school 41%, college
graduates 9%, undergraduates 43%, and graduates 5%.
III. ICT and Education in Indonesia
A. ICT Education
In the development of human resources through ICT education, there are two objectives which are desired to meet the need for skilled human resources: those who can use ICT products (ICT users) and those who can produce ICT products (ICT producers).
Some ICT education which have been done and are still being done in Indonesia are among others:
1. Formal Education

a. Vocational School program in Information Technology
Through this program it is anticipated to get skilled manpower at the basic
level in ICT, who can fill the position of ICT operator, technical support, help
desk and web designer.
b. Diploma program in ICT
This program is anticipated to produce semi-skilled manpower to meet the
need for skilled ICT manpower for industry.
c. Undergraduate program in ICT
This program is expected to produce ICT programmers, software engineers,
analysts and designers.
d. Graduate program in ICT
Through this program it is expected to provide manpower with more
specialized skills in the areas of ICT engineering.
2.. Non-formal Education (out-of-school)
Besides ICT educational programs through formal educational
institutions/schools in various levels, in Indonesia there are many out of school
educational efforts which teach various areas of ICT skills, which covers certain
areas for example preparing manpower for responsibilities as network
technicians, computer technicians, programmers, graphic artists, animators,
operators, Web designers, etc. Some of these non-formal educational institutions
or ICT training centers are organized in partnership with foreign ICT training
center, while others are totally motorized by local experts.
3.. ICT Literacy
a. Development of softwares in the Indonesian language
One of the obstacles to the use of computer for the Indonesian society is their
low mastery of English, so that they are reluctant to use computer. To
overcome this obstacle and to support efforts to make the populace ICT
literates, the government had issued the Presidential Decree Number 2/2001
about the Utilization of Computer with Application Programs in Indonesian
Language through the development of application programs in Indonesian
language based on an open source platform, LINUX. Until 2002 two programs
have been developed called WinBI (Windows in Indonesian Language) and
Kantaya (Virtual Office) by the Office for the Research and Application of
Technologies.
b. APEC Cyber Education Network (ACEN)
In general, this network which is being coordinated by the Office of
Educational Research and Development of the Ministry of National Education
is aimed to decrease and lessen the gap between the skills of high school
teachers in Indonesia and their colleagues in APEC countries in using ICT in
multimedia-based education.
c. ICT training in schools
The Directorate of Vocational Education has started this program since 2001.
Its objective is to train teachers and students in using information technology
especially the internet. For this activity the Directorate of Vocational
Education cooperates with the Network of School Information, a community
of Vocational Schools which are internet users. This network provides the
training.
d. Socialization of computer-assisted learning media in High Schools
In September 2002 the Directorate of Secondary Education conducted a
training program on the use of computer-assisted learning media in
cooperation with the Center for Information and Communication Technology
for Education (Pustekkom). This program was conducted in face-to-face
interaction involving 800 high school teachers from 200 schools in 20
provinces.
e. Millenium Internet Roadshow 2001 (MIR 2001) program
This program was initiated by some private companies in 2001. Its objective is
to enhance the general public’s awareness and to disperse knowledge on ICT.
This program was conducted by Association of Indonesian Internet Service
Providers which gets full support from other parties such as mass media, local
government, Network of School Information, etcetera. In 2001 this roadshow
had reached 15 provinces.
f. Healthy Internet
There are indications that internet users in Indonesia comprising mostly of
youths, especially use it to get access of negative information such as
pornography, racial issues, etcetera. To make community of internet users
avoid such negative contents, some private parties motored by ICT Watch (an
NGO organization), Association of Indonesian Internet Service Providers and
Network of School Information had done a campaign called Healthy Internet.
This activity consists of campaigns, training and distribution of information
through print materials.
B. ICT for Education
As mentioned above, to improve the quality of human resources, the government had
used ICT to expand the educational opportunity, to improve the quality and relevance
of education, and to increase the efficiency of the educational system.
Until this year, various efforts to use ICT in education are among others:
1. E-learning
Starting from 2002, the Center for Information and Communication
Technology for Education (Pustekkom) in cooperation with the Directorate of
Secondary Education, and the Directorate of Vocational Education are
developing an e-learning program called “e-dukasi”. The objective of this
program is to improve the quality of education at high school and vocational
school levels through the use of internet. Besides the two directorates, the
Center also gets support from the Indonesian Telephone Company (PT
Telkom), the Office for the Research and Application of Technologies,
Association of Indonesian Internet Service Providers, Network of School
Information, Detik.com, and ICT Watch.
At this preliminary stage, learning materials are being developed for the
following subjects: Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Electronics,
and Information Technology.
2. Online Courses
Some private universities have provided lectures through the internet for some
courses. One such institution is Petra Christian University of Surabaya.
3. Online Tutorials
One use of information technology for education at higher education is for
tutorial purpose for institutions of distance education. One institution that has
made use of tutorial via internet is the Indonesian Open University.
4. Joint Research
As a medium which provides for collaboration through the use of information
technology, a joint research program has been conducted. This collaboration
involves five universities of higher learning, i.e. the Bandung Institute of
Technology (ITB), Bogor Institute of Farming (IPB), University of Gadjah
Mada and University of Diponegoro.
5. Electronic Library
Nowadays, there is a network of electronic library called Indonesian Digital
Library Network which is a network of electronic libraries from the ITB
central library (Digital Library), the Post-Graduate Study Library of ITB, the
Research Institute of ITB, Eastern Indonesia Universities Development Project
(the CIDA project), University of Brawijaya Malang Central Library,
University of Muhammaddiyah Malang Library, University of Islamic
Religion Library (supported by McGill University Canada) and The Central
Data Bank of the Institution of Science of Indonesia (LIPI), Jakarta.
Indonesian Digital Library Network is meant to support efforts to improve the
quality of university graduates, to increase sharing of information among
institutions of higher learning and research institutions in Indonesia.
6. Computer Assisted Instruction (CAI)
This is an off-line instruction program so it does not depend on access to the
internet. The Center for Information and Communication Technology for
Education (Pustekkom) have developed computer assisted instruction learning
materials for various subject matters and courses. These are interactive
learning materials which students can learn on his/her own with minimal
assistance from the teacher/lecturer.
IV. Issues and Problems
A. Issues Concerning Education
1. Preparation of New Legislation Draft on National Education System
At present the government (cq. The Ministry of Education) and the Indonesian
Legislative Assembly Preparation of New Legislation Draft on National
Education System. The draft also includes arrangement on ICT education and
ICT for education.
2. ICT Curriculum for general school
With the development of a new curriculum for elementary and secondary
schools which is competency –based, this year the government is doing some
limited try-outs in certain schools. This curriculum also include ICT education
which will be taught since elementary school, junior high school and senior
high school and vocational school. Hopefully by teaching ICT from the very
beginning, Indonesia will have enough qualified ICT manpower.
3. Preparation of ICT teachers for general school.
To implement the competency-based curriculum especially in correlation with
ICT teaching in schools, the government need to do various activities to
prepare the teachers who will teach in schools.
4. Increasing the role of non-formal education
Non-degree education to train skilled manpower in ICT needs to be
encouraged. Because non-formal education has a significant role, even a
decisive role, to help prepare skilled non-degree educated manpower in ICT in
the future.
5. Inducing the local government to do its role
With the newly implemented decentralization system of administration, where
the local government has autonomy to self-administer in their province, the
success of provision and development of ICT skilled human resource will be
determined by the role of the local government. As such, the central
government through the Office for the Research and Application of
Technologies and the concerned Ministry had done and are doing a series of
activities to induce the local government in socializing, utilizing and providing
ICT trained human resources.
6. Promoting private sector participation
The role of the private sector in ICT mastery is very important. Either its role
in developing ICT resources and its infrastructure, or in developing human
resources, the private sector has a very important role. They have done a lot.
However, the government needs to collaborate with the private sector to take
greater role to promote ICT education.
B. Problems faced
1. Economic Crisis
No wonder the biggest obstacle faced by Indonesia regarding ICT is the
economic crisis. This condition forces the government to prioritize on short
term programs to help improve the economy of the general population through
social security net, aids to poor students to decrease drop-out rate,
improvement of teacher’s welfare, etc.
As such the government has to postpone various programs that had been
planned including the program to support ICT development, Nusantara 21 etc.
The despondent economy also makes the people’s spending capacity shrunk,
so they prioritize their spending on primary needs such as food and clothing,
so that the need to use ICT to get access to information become the last choice.
2. Infrastructure
Another obstacle to the development of ICT is the poor condition of the
infrastructure, in terms of quantity and also quality. Of course this poor
condition affects the ease to get access to information. In connection with the
availability of infrastructure it makes access to information costly, which in
turn makes the use of ICT low.
3. General public awareness and knowledge of ICT low
The public ICT literacy is still very low. What concerned us most is that ICT
literacy among students and teachers are also low, especially those that live in
the perimeters or remote areas.
Source: http://gauge.u-gakugei.ac.jp/ 10/2002

FACT: The Governm ent of Indonesia since its independence in 1945 has s teadily expanded its education sys tem and compuls ory 9 years of basic education was declared a national policy in 1994.
FACT: Most children, both boys and girls , enroll in prim ary school, with the net enrolm ent ratio (NER) reaching 93 per cent in 2002, with no s ignificant gender gap.
FACT: At the junior s econdary school level, the NER drops to 61.6 per cent with a s lightly higher ratio for girls (62.4 per cent) than boys (60.9 percent).
FACT: More children from urban areas (71.9 per cent) go to junior high com pared to rural areas (54.1 per cent).
FACT: Enrollment differs significantly among incom e groups. The poores t 20 percent of the population has a much lower NER of 49.9 per cent compared to 72.2 percent in the richest 20 per cent.
FACT: Data from the Minis try of Education s hows s ignificant gender gaps in s chool dropout rates , both at primary and junior secondary levels . Girls are more likely to drop out of s chool than boys . In primary s chool, out of every 10 children who drop out, 6 are girls and 4 are boys . It’s the s ame in junior s econdary s chool. The gender gap slightly widens at the s enior s econdary school to 7 girls dropping out for every 3 boys (Minis try of National Education, 2002).
FACT: Roughly 1.8 m illion children of prim ary s chool age 7-12 years , and 4.8 million age 13-15 years, remain outside s chools (National Socio-Econom ic Survey, 2002).
FACT: Data on s chool trans ition rates show that boys and girls are equally likely to proceed from primary s chool to junior secondary s chool. Trans ition rate from prim ary to junior secondary education for boys (83 per cent) is slightly higher-although not s ignificantly- than that of girls (81 per cent). The gender gap in trans ition rates widen a little –although still ins ignificantly- at the next higher level of s chooling from junior s econdary to s enior s econdary education levels (73 per cent for boys compared to 69 per cent for girls ).
FACT: Literacy has rem ained high over the pas t decade for the 15-24 year age group: 96.6 percent in 1992 and 98.7 in 2002. There is no significant literacy gender gap as indicated by a gender parity index of 97.9 per cent in 1992 and 99.8 per cent in 2002.
FACT: 85% of Indonesian girls aged 15-19 have at leas t one m ajor mis conception about HIV/AIDS or have never heard of AIDS.

THE BARRIERS
While it is apparent that access to education becom es increas ingly m ore lim ited as children go to higher levels of education, Indones ia has achieved an overall good progress towards gender parity in net enrolm ent ratio at prim ary and junior secondary levels . Does this mean that Indones ia does not have serious gender problems in education? Far from it, gender iss ues that are less obvious , more complex and intractable -perhaps harder to address with quick fixes – continue to plague Indones ia. These larger issues becom e barriers to achieving gender equality in education and they include:
Gender biased textbooks that reinforce the gender s tereotypes continue to be widely used in s chools . Studies that analyzed contents of prim ary school textbooks show that there are more illustrations s howing males /boys than fem ales /girls. Als o illus trations of males /boys s how more divers ity and creativity in roles than those of fem ales /girls . In addition, more prominent m en’s names are cited than prominent wom en.
Gender stereotyping s till prevails as shown in the selection of specialization at vocational schools and univers ities , which in dicates a form of “voluntary dis crim ination” practiced by both females and males . Social s ciences are generally dominated by female s tudents and technical s ciences by m ale students .
National policies exist promoting gender equality in education, but there are inadequate programmes to directly address inequalities in education by increasing access and participation of disadvantaged children, including poor and marginalized girls .
Inadequate gender awareness and expertise persist despite gender mainstreaming mandate-this is in part a result of a deeper-rooted problem of inadequate contextualization of gender concepts in a way that m akes sens e within exis ting Indones ian s ocio-cultural and religious beliefs and traditions .
Early marriage is one of the key iss ues identified in s pecific areas of Indonesia (Indram ayu, Wes t Java for e xample) as affecting girls access to and participation in education.
Inadequate reliable sex-disaggregated data at national and s ub-national levels hampers the education s ector’s ability to as s ess progress beyond access and participation. Sex- dis aggregated data are used m ainly for reporting on global comm itm ents and rarely for policy form ulation and project preparation.

males /boys s how more divers ity and creativity in roles than those of fem ales /girls . In addition, more prominent m en’s names are cited than prominent wom en. Gender stereotyping s till prevails as shown in the selection of specialization at vocational s chools and univers ities , which in dicates a form of “voluntary dis crim ination” practiced by both females and males . Social s ciences are generally dominated by female s tudents and technical s ciences by m ale students .
National policies exist promoting gender equality in education, but there are inadequate programmes to directly address inequalities in education by increasing access and participation of disadvantaged children, including poor and marginalized girls .
Inadequate gender awareness and expertise persist despite gender mainstreaming mandate-this is in part a result of a deeper-rooted problem of inadequate contextualization of gender concepts in a way that m akes sens e within exis ting Indones ian s ocio-cultural and religious beliefs and traditions .
Early marriage is one of the key iss ues identified in s pecific areas of Indonesia (Indram ayu, Wes t Java for e xample) as affecting girls access to and participation in education.
Inadequate reliable sex-disaggregated data at national and s ub-national levels hampers the education s ector’s ability to as s ess progress beyond access and participation. Sex- dis aggregated data are used m ainly for reporting on global comm itm ents and rarely for policy form ulation and project preparation.
mplementation strategies for the above general and gender s pecific policies include:

• Creating a national m ovement for com pletion of basic education, involving communities, especially parents and comm unity leaders , NGOs , the private and indus trial s ectors .
• Enhancing and s trengthening exis ting ess ential programm es for increas ing s chool enrolment, while re-ass essing programme activities that are less ess ential; and mobilising resources for m aintaining and improving the Bas ic Education Programme.
• Providing more opportunities for private s chools and community-based educational institutions to participate more in basic education provision.
• Using alternative education approaches and programm es to reach previous ly unreached poor and remote comm unities and im prove equity in access to basic education.
• Providing dis trict and city governm ents with full authority and res ponsibility for local implementation of the Compuls ory Basic Education Programme, so that they can take into account region-specific potentials and challenges , with s upport from the central and province governments .
• Providing equal access to quality education, specifically primary education, for boys and girls , through formal and non-formal channels .
• Providing access to equivalency education for the adult population that cannot undertake form al education.
• Providing access to literacy education services , specifically for the fem ale population. Enhancing coordination, inform ation, and education in the mains tream ing of gender-s ensitive education.
• Developing educational ins titutions for providing gender-s ens itive education at central and provincial levels .

Education in Indonesia is the responsibility of the Ministry of National Education of Indonesia (Departemen Pendidikan Nasional Republik Indonesia/Depdiknas). Education in Indonesia was previously the responsibility of the Ministry of Education and Culture of Indonesia (Departemen Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan Republik Indonesia/Depdikbud). In Indonesia, every citizen has to have nine years of education, six years at elementary level and three in middle school.

Law No. 2/1989

Previously, education in Indonesia was regulated under the Law No. 2/1989. However, with the changes in Indonesian life, the law was changed in 2003 with the Law No. 23/2003 about National Education System.

Law No. 20/2003

Based on the correct constitution, education is defined as a planned effort to establish a study environment and education process so that the student may actively develop his/her own potential to gain the religious and spiritual level, consciousness, personality, intelligence, behaviour and creativity to him/herself, other citizens and for the nation. The constitution also noted that education in Indonesia is divided into two major parts, formal and non-formal. A formal education is divided again into three levels, primary, secondary and tertiary education.

Early childhood

From birth until the age of 5, Indonesian children do not generally have access to formal education. From the age of 5 to 6 or 7, they attend kindergarten (Taman Kanak-kanak). This education is not compulsory for Indonesian citizens, as the aim of this is to prepare them for primary school. The majority of kindergartens are private schools, with more than forty-nine thousand kindergartens, 99.35% of the total kindergartens in Indonesia, privately operated^[1]. The kindergarten years are usually divided into “Class A” and “Class B” students spending a year in each class.

Elementary School

An elementary school uniform in Indonesia.

Children ages 7-12 attend Sekolah Dasar (SD) (literally Elementary School). This level of education is compulsory for all Indonesian citizens, based on the national constitution. In contrast to the majority of privately run kindergartens, most elementary schools are government operated public schools, accounting for 93% of all elementary schools in Indonesia^[2]. Similar to education systems in the U.S. and Australia, students must study for six years to complete this level. Some schools offer an accelerated learning program, where students who perform well can finish elementary school in five years.

Middle School

Middle School, generally known by the abbreviation “SMP” (Sekolah Menengah Pertama) is part of primary education in Indonesia. Students attend Middle School for three years from the age of 13-15. After three years of schooling and graduation, students may move on to High School or College, or cease formal education. There are around 22,000 schools in Indonesia with a balanced ownership between public and private sector^[3].

High School

Based on the national constitution, Indonesian citizens do not have to attend high school as the citizens only require nine years of education. This is also reflected by the number of high schools in Indonesia, with just slightly below 9,000 schools^[4].

The Republic of Indonesia (IPA: /ˌɪndoʊˈniːziːə/, /ˌɪndəˈniːziːə/) (Indonesian: Republik Indonesia), is a nation in Southeast Asia. Comprising 17,508 islands, it is the world’s largest archipelagic state. With a population of over 234 million people, it is the world’s fourth most populous country and the most populous Muslim-majority nation, although officially it is not an Islamic state. Indonesia is a republic, with an elected parliament and president. The nation’s capital city is Jakarta. The country shares land borders with Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Malaysia. Other neighboring countries include Singapore, the Philippines, Australia, and the Indian territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

The Indonesian archipelago has been an important trade region since at least the seventh century, when the Srivijaya Kingdom formed trade links with China. Indonesian history has been influenced by foreign powers drawn to its natural resources. Under Indian influence, Hindu and Buddhist kingdoms flourished from the early centuries CE. Muslim traders brought Islam, and European powers fought one another to monopolize trade in the Spice Islands of Maluku during the Age of Discovery. Following three and a half centuries of Dutch colonialism, Indonesia secured its independence after World War II. Indonesia’s history has since been turbulent, with challenges posed by natural disasters, corruption, separatism, a democratization process, and periods of rapid economic change.

Across its many islands, Indonesia consists of distinct ethnic, linguistic, and religious groups. The Javanese are the largest and politically dominant ethnic group. As a unitary state and a nation, Indonesia has developed a shared identity defined by a national language, a majority Muslim population, and a history of colonialism and rebellion against it. Indonesia’s national motto, “Bhinneka tunggal ika“ (“Unity in Diversity” lit. “many, yet one”), articulates the diversity that shapes the country. However, sectarian tensions and separatism have led to violent confrontations that have undermined political and economic stability. Despite its large population and densely populated regions, Indonesia has vast areas of wilderness that support the world’s second highest level of biodiversity. The country is richly endowed with natural resources, yet poverty is a defining feature of contemporary Indonesia.

Etymology

The name Indonesia derives from the Latin Indus, meaning “India”, and the Greek nesos, meaning “island”.^[4] The name dates to the 18th century, far predating the formation of independent Indonesia.^[5] In 1850, George Earl, an English ethnologist, proposed the terms Indunesians — and, his preference, Malayunesians — for the inhabitants of the “Indian Archipelago or Malayan Archipelago”.^[6] In the same publication, a student of Earl’s, James Richardson Logan, used Indonesia as a synonym for Indian Archipelago.^[7] However, Dutch academics writing in East Indies publications were reluctant to use Indonesia. Instead, they used the terms Malay Archipelago (Maleische Archipel); the Netherlands East Indies (Nederlandsch Oost Indië), popularly Indië; the East (de Oost); and even Insulinde.^[8]

From 1900, the name Indonesia became more common in academic circles outside the Netherlands, and Indonesian nationalist groups adopted it for political expression.^[9] Adolf Bastian, of the University of Berlin, popularized the name through his book Indonesien oder die Inseln des Malayichen Archipels, 1884–1894. The first Indonesian scholar to use the name was Suwardi Suryaningrat (Ki Hajar Dewantara), when he established a press bureau in the Netherlands with the name Indonesisch Pers-bureau in 1913.^[5]

History

Fossilized remains of Homo erectus, popularly known as the “Java Man“, suggest the Indonesian archipelago was inhabited two million to 500,000 years ago.^[10] Austronesian people, who form the majority of the modern population, migrated to South East Asia from Taiwan. They arrived in Indonesia around 2000 BCE, and confined the native Melanesian peoples to the far eastern regions as they expanded.^[11] Ideal agricultural conditions, and the mastering of wet-field rice cultivation as early as the eighth century BCE,^[12] allowed villages, towns, and small kingdoms to flourish by the first century CE. Indonesia’s strategic sea-lane position fostered inter-island and international trade. For example, trade links with both Indian kingdoms and China were established several centuries BCE.^[13] Trade has since fundamentally shaped Indonesian history.^[14]

From the seventh century CE, the powerful Srivijaya naval kingdom flourished as a result of trade and the influences of Hinduism and Buddhism that were imported with it.^[15] Between the eighth and 10th centuries CE, the agricultural Buddhist Sailendra and Hindu Mataram dynasties thrived and declined in inland Java, leaving grand religious monuments such as Sailendra’s Borobudur and Mataram’s Prambanan. The Hindu Majapahit kingdom was founded in eastern Java in the late 13th century, and under Gajah Mada, its influence stretched over much of Indonesia; this period is often referred to as a “Golden Age” in Indonesian history.^[16]

Although Muslim traders first traveled through South East Asia early in the Islamic era, the earliest evidence of Islamized populations in Indonesia dates to the 13th century in northern Sumatra.^[17] Other Indonesia areas gradually adopted Islam which became the dominant religion in Java and Sumatra by the end of the 16th century. For the most part, Islam overlaid and mixed with existing cultural and religious influences, which shaped the predominant form of Islam in Indonesia, particularly in Java.^[18] The first Europeans arrived in Indonesia in 1512, when Portuguese traders, led by Francisco Serrão, sought to monopolize the sources of nutmeg, cloves, and cubeb pepper in Maluku.^[19] Dutch and British traders followed. In 1602 the Dutch established the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and became the dominant European power. Following bankruptcy, the VOC was formally dissolved in 1800, and the government of the Netherlands established the Dutch East Indies as a nationalized colony.^[19]

For most of the colonial period, Dutch control over these territories was tenuous; only in the early 20th century did Dutch dominance extend to what was to become Indonesia’s current boundaries.^[20] The Japanese invasion and subsequent occupation during World War II ended Dutch rule,^[21] and encouraged the previously suppressed Indonesian independence movement. Two days after the surrender of Japan in August 1945, Sukarno, an influential nationalist leader, declared independence and was appointed president.^[22] The Netherlands tried to reestablish their rule, and a bitter armed and diplomatic struggle ended in December 1949, when in the face of international pressure, the Dutch formally recognized Indonesian independence^[23] (with the exception of The Dutch territory of West New Guinea, which was incorporated following the 1962 New York Agreement, and UN—mandated Act of Free Choice).

Sukarno moved from democracy towards authoritarianism, and maintained his power base by balancing the opposing forces of the Military, Islam, and the Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI).^[24] An attempted coup on 30 September 1965 was countered by the army, who led a violent anti-communist purge, during which the PKI was blamed for the coup and effectively destroyed.^[25] Between 500,000 and one million people were killed.^[26] The head of the military, General Suharto, out-maneuvered the politically weakened Sukarno, and was formally appointed president in March 1968. His New Order administration^[27] was supported by the US government,^[28] and encouraged foreign direct investment in Indonesia, which was a major factor in the subsequent three decades of substantial economic growth.^[29] However, the authoritarian “New Order” was widely accused of corruption and suppression of political opposition.

In 1997 and 1998, Indonesia was the country hardest hit by the Asian Financial Crisis.^[30] This increased popular discontent with the New Order^[31] and led to popular protests. Suharto resigned on 21 May 1998.^[32] In 1999, East Timor voted to secede from Indonesia, after a twenty-five-year military occupation that was marked by international condemnation of often brutal repression of the East Timorese.^[33] The Reformasi era following Suharto’s resignation, has led to a strengthening of democratic processes, including a regional autonomy program, and the first direct presidential election in 2004. Political and economic instability, social unrest, corruption, and terrorism have slowed progress. Although relations among different religious and ethnic groups are largely harmonious, acute sectarian discontent and violence remain problems in some areas.^[34] A political settlement to an armed separatist conflict in Aceh was achieved in 2005.^[35]

Government and politics

Indonesia is a republic with a presidential system. As a unitary state, power is concentrated in the national government. Following the resignation of President Suharto in 1998, Indonesian political and governmental structures have undergone major reforms. Four amendments to the 1945 Constitution of Indonesia^[36] have revamped the executive, judicial, and legislative branches.^[37] The president of Indonesia is the head of state, commander-in-chief of the Indonesian Armed Forces, and the director of domestic governance, policy-making, and foreign affairs. The president appoints a council of ministers, who are not required to be elected members of the legislature. The 2004 presidential election was the first in which the people directly elected the president and vice president.^[38] The president serves a maximum of two consecutive five-year terms.^[39]

The highest representative body at national level is the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR). Its main functions are supporting and amending the constitution, inaugurating the president, and formalizing broad outlines of state policy. It has the power to impeach the president.^[40] The MPR comprises two houses; the People’s Representative Council (DPR), with 550 members, and the Regional Representatives Council (DPD), with 168 members. The DPR passes legislation and monitors the executive branch; party-aligned members are elected for five-year terms by proportional representation.^[37] Reforms since 1998 have markedly increased the DPR’s role in national governance.^[41] The DPD is a new chamber for matters of regional management.^[42]

Most civil disputes appear before a State Court; appeals are heard before the High Court. The Supreme Court is the country’s highest court, and hears final cassation appeals and conducts case reviews. Other courts include the Commercial Court, which handles bankruptcy and insolvency; a State Administrative Court to hear administrative law cases against the government; a Constitutional Court to hear disputes concerning legality of law, general elections, dissolution of political parties, and the scope of authority of state institutions; and a Religious Court to deal with specific religious cases.^[43]

Administrative divisions

Administratively, Indonesia consists of 33 provinces, five of which have special status. Each province has its own political legislature and governor. The provinces are subdivided into regencies (kabupaten) and (kota), which are further subdivided into subdistricts (kecamatan), and again into village groupings (either desa or kelurahan). Following the implementation of regional autonomy measures in 2001, the regencies and cities have become the key administrative units, responsible for providing most government services. The village administration level is the most influential on a citizen’s daily life, and handles matters of a village or neighborhood through an elected lurah or kepala desa (village chief).

Aceh, Jakarta, Yogyakarta, Papua, and West Papua provinces have greater legislative privileges and a higher degree of autonomy from the central government than the other provinces. The Acehnese government, for example, has the right to create an independent legal system; in 2003, it instituted a form of Sharia (Islamic law).^[56] Yogyakarta was granted the status of Special Region in recognition of its pivotal role in supporting Indonesian Republicans during the Indonesian Revolution.^[57] Papua, formerly known as Irian Jaya, was granted special autonomy status in 2001.^[58] Jakarta is the country’s special capital region.