More About Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia (Republik Indonesia), is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 17,508 islands. Indonesia has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country.
Indonesia is a republic, with an elected legislature and president. The nation's capital city is Jakarta. The Indonesian economy is the world's seventeenth largest economy by nominal GDP and fifteenth largest by purchasing power parity. Indonesia is one of the fastest growing major economies in the world.
2000BC - The majority of the modern population of Indonesia migrated to South East Asia from Eastern Asia. They spread through the archipelago to the far eastern regions.
800BC - The ideal agricultural conditions of Indonesia created wet-field rice cultivation.
100 - Small kingdoms started to flourish. Indonesia's strategic sea-lane position fostered inter-island and international trade, including links with Indian Kingdoms and Chinese Kingdoms.
600 - Powerful Srivijaya naval kingdom flourished as a result of trade and the influences of Hinduism and Buddhism.
1000 - Agricultural Buddhist Sailendra and Hindu Mataram dynasties thrived.
1300 - The Hindu Majapahit kingdom was founded in eastern Java and its influence stretched over much of Indonesia.
1500 - Various Indonesian areas gradually adopted Islam and eventually became the dominant religion in Java and Sumatra.
1520 - Portuguese traders, led by Francisco Serrão, sought to monopolize the sources of nutmeg, cloves, and cubeb pepper in Maluku.
1602 - The Dutch established the Dutch East India Company and became the dominant European power.
1800 - Following bankruptcy, the Dutch East India Company was formally dissolved and the government of the Netherlands established the Dutch East Indies as a nationalized colony.
1942 - The Japanese occupation during World War II ended Dutch rule.
1945 - After the surrender of Japan in August 1945, Sukarno (an influential nationalist leader) declared independence and was appointed president.