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Ethnic groups in Indonesia

Ethnic groups in Indonesia
Ibrahim Muizzuddin · CC BY 4.0 · source

Overview

There are more than 600 ethnic groups in the multiethnic Indonesian archipelago, making it one of the most diverse countries in the world. The vast majority of these belong to the Austronesian peoples, whose ancestors migrated from Taiwan. They are primarily concentrated in western and central Indonesia. A significant minority are Melanesian peoples, descendants of some of the earliest modern humans to inhabit Southeast Asia, mostly found in eastern Indonesia. However, genetic studies show that ethnic groups in Java, Bali, and Lombok have significant traces of Austroasiatic ancestry, even though Austroasiatic languages have long been replaced by Austronesian languages in the region.

Based on ethnic classification, the largest ethnic group in Indonesia is the Javanese, who make up about 40% of the total population. The Javanese are concentrated on the island of Java, the world's most populous island, particularly in the central and eastern parts, but significant Javanese communities also exist throughout the archipelago due to historical migration and government-sponsored transmigration programs. It is also the largest ethnic group in Southeast Asia. The Sundanese are the next largest group; their homeland is located in the western part of the island of Java and the southern edge of Sumatra. The Malays, Batak, Madurese, Betawi, Minangkabau, and Bugis are the next largest groups in the country.

Many ethnic groups, particularly in Kalimantan and Papua, have only hundreds of members. Most of the local languages belong to the Austronesian language family, although a significant number of people, particularly in eastern Indonesia, speak unrelated Papuan languages. Indonesians of Chinese, Arab, European, African and Indian descent each make up less than 3% of the total Indonesian population.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for authors).

Possible passages

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  1. Here we have 37 species, of which 24 are peculiar to this province. (5.) FOURTH PROVINCE: _Australia (including New Zealand)._ Balanus tintinnabulum (1 to 5). nigrescens* decorus* trigonus (3 and 4). concavus (3 and 4). amphitrite (1 to 5). amaryllis (4). allium* vestitus* imperator* Acasta sulcata* glans* Tetraclita porosa (3 and 4). rosea (2). purpurascens* vitiata (4). radiata (4) and West Indies. Elminius…

    Charles Darwin, A Monograph on the Sub-class Cirripedia

    Close in meaning to Ethnic groups in Indonesia; the term itself is not named.

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  2. Aborigines banished from Van Diemen’s Land, 533. ---- of New South Wales, 519. ---- extermination of, 520. Absence of coral formations in certain seas, 562. ---- of trees in Pampas, 53. Aconcagua, river of, 415. ----, volcano of, 308. Advice to collectors, 598. Africa, Southern part desert, yet supports large animals, 98. Agouti, habits of, 81. Albemarle Island, 457. _Alcedo Americana_, 162. Alluvium stratified in…

    Charles Darwin, Narrative of the surveying voyages of His Majesty's Ships Adventure and Beagle, Vol. 3 [of 3]

    Close in meaning to Ethnic groups in Indonesia; the term itself is not named.

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  3. The first is the simplest. If we designate the two divisions of the tribe between which exogamic relations obtain, by A and B, and the various subgroups of A by _l, m, n, o,_ and of B by _p, q, r, s,_ we have, as this simplest form, _unlimited exogamy_. It corresponds to the following schema:-- I. _Unlimited Exogamy._ A B _l m n o p q r s_ |______________________________| This means: A man belonging to Class A may…

    Wilhelm Max Wundt, Elements of Folk Psychology Outline of a Psychological History of the Development of Mankind

    Close in meaning to Ethnic groups in Indonesia; the term itself is not named.

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Related ideas

Place in the tradition

Part of Indonesian philosophy.

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