Demographics of Indonesia
The statistical office of the Indonesian government put the population in 2006 at 222 million people. This makes Indonesia the fourth largest nation and the largest Muslim nation on earth. The island of Java is one of the most densely populated areas in the world, with more than 114 million people living in about the area of the US state of New York .
Indonesia encompasses countless related but distinct cultural and linguistic groups; most of them are Malays . Since independence, Bahasa Indonesia has been the national language, a form of Malay that spread throughout the island world and has become the preferred language for writing, commerce, business, government and education. However, many local languages remain important in many areas.
Population data
Population: 255,993,674 (July 2015, extrapolated / estimated)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 25.82% (male 33,651,533; female 32,442,996)
15-24 years: 17.07% (male 22,238.735; female 21,454,563)
25-64 years: 42.31% ( male 55,196,144; female 53,124,591)
65 years and older: 6.62% (male 7,368,764; female 9,579,379) (2015 estimated)
Growth rate: 0.92% (2015 estimated)
Birth rate: 16.72 births per 1,000 population (2015 estimated)
Mortality rate: 6.37 deaths per 1,000 population (2015 estimated)
Net migration rate: −1.16 migrants per 1,000 inhabitants (2015 estimated)
Gender distribution:
Birth: 1.05 male / female
under 15 years: 1.04 male / female
15-24 years: 1.04 male / female
25-54 years: 1.04 male / female
55-64 years: 0.85 male / female
65 years and older: 0.77 male / female
Total population: 1.00 male / female (2015 estimated)
Child mortality rate: 24.29 deaths / 1,000 live births (2015 estimated)
Life expectancy at birth:
Total population: 72.45 years
male: 69.85 years
female: 75.17 years (2015 estimated)
Fertility: 2.15 children born per woman (2015 estimated)
Nationality:
Name: Indonesian
Adjective: Indonesian
Ethnic groups
There are over 300 ethnic groups in Indonesia. Many ethnic groups, particularly in Kalimantan and western New Guinea , have only a few hundred members. Most of the local languages are members of the Austronesian language family, however a significant number of people, particularly in Western New Guinea, speak Papuan languages . In addition, there are approximately five million Indonesians of Chinese origin who speak various Chinese dialects , most commonly Cantonese and Min Nan .
The population ranking of the ethnic groups in Indonesia, as recorded in 2000, is as follows:
- Javanese 41.7%, Sundanese 15.4%, Malay 3.4%, Maduresen 3.3%, Bataker 3.0%, Minangkabau 2.7%, Betawi 2.5%, Bugis 2.5%, Bantenesen 2 , 1%, Banjarese 1.7%, Balinese 1.5%, Sasak 1.3%, Macassarians 1.0%, Cireboner 0.9%, Indonesian Chinese 0.9%, others 16.1%
The regions of Indonesia and some of their traditional ethnic groups are as follows:
- Java : Javanese, Sundanese , Bantenese , Betawi , Tenggeresen, Osing , Badui
- Madura : Maduresen
- Sumatra : Malays, Bataker , Minangkabau , Acehnese , Lampung , Kubu
- Kalimantan (Borneo) : Dayak , Malay, Banjarese
- Sulawesi : Macassars , Bugis , Mandar , Minahasan , Gorontalo , Toraja , Bajau
- Lesser Sunda Islands : Balinese, Sasak
- Moluccas : Nuaulu , Manusela
- Western New Guinea : over 250 indigenous Papuan peoples, for example Dani , Asmat , Fayu , Bauzi , Amungme , Kamoro, Korowai
However, it must be taken into account that there are significant population groups who live outside of their ancestral regions due to internal migration, partly intensified and intentional as Indonesian politics ( Transmigrasi ).
Religions
Muslims 87%, Protestants 6%, Catholics 3%, Hindus 2%, Buddhists 1%, others 1% (2005).
With around 182 million Muslims (2005), Indonesia is the largest Muslim nation on earth, ahead of Pakistan, India and Bangladesh
Guarantees of religious freedom are given by the state for five religions, primarily Islam , Protestantism, Catholicism, Hinduism and Buddhism. Ethnic religions continue to be practiced in some remote areas .
languages
Bahasa Indonesia (official, modified form of Malay ), English , Dutch , regional languages, the most common of them being Javanese .
English is the most common foreign language and has been ahead of the former colonial language Dutch for many years. A number of Chinese dialects, most notably Min Nan , are also spoken. The public use of Mandarin , especially Chinese characters, was banned between 1966 and 1998.
The indigenous peoples of West Papua speak over 250 different languages (see Papuan languages ).
Literacy
Definition: A person aged 15 or over can read and write.
Total population: 87.9%
male: 92.5%
female: 83.4% (2005 est.)
School education is not free; however, it is compulsory for children up to the age of 9. Although 92% of all children are registered for school, a much smaller proportion of children go to school full-time. Around 44% of children of secondary school age go to secondary (secular) school; other children of this age go to voluntary (“vocational”) school attendance (partly to religiously bound schools). The proportion of children attending denominational schools is estimated at around 30%. Pesantren are mostly free and are attended by around 22%. The remaining 8% are divided between Catholic and Protestant schools in the country.