 If you've ever heard of colonialism, you'll probably know that at least a third of the planet's nations really don't have any rhyme or reason to them. By this, I mean there are no fully encompassing religions or ethnic groups to unite the country. Most former colonies in Africa are like this, and Indonesia is another perfect example. It has over 700 spoken languages and 1300 ethnic groups, spanning thousands of islands, with no completely unifying identity. So why is Indonesia, at the fourth most populated country in the world, a unified country? How has it stayed around to the present, and what could the future of Indonesia look like in regards to unity? Indonesia has been home to a diverse range of cultures, religions, and empires throughout its history. Native Melanesian and Papuan peoples were mostly pushed to the eastern part of modern day Indonesia around 2000 BC, by incoming Austronesian peoples who originated in Taiwan. As societies from the Indian subcontinent and China advance, Indonesia would become a major hub for trade between the two regions. Major Thalasocratic states started appearing in the area starting around 600 AD, with the Buddhist Sri Vijaya Empire based out of Sumatra, and expanding from there to the Malay Peninsula and the island of Java. Buddhism and Hinduism influenced much of proto-Indonesian culture during the Middle Ages, with Java being home to dynasties of both religions. The Hindu Majikahid Empire from Java would ultimately consolidate power across its home island, Sumatra, Malay Peninsula, Borneo, Sulawesi, and even western Papua, along with May Islands in between. However, as you may know, neither of these religions are the majority in Indonesia today. Islam arrived in Sumatra around the 13th century, and spread fully to Java by the end of the 16th century. Europeans, mainly the French, British, and Dutch, but also the Portuguese, came to the archipelago starting in the 1500s, mostly for the spice trade. The most major player, unexpectedly, was the Dutch, who established the Dutch East Indies as an official colony in 1800. These borders were mostly co-turned-miss with the modern borders of Indonesia, with the exception of East Timor, which was for a while part of Indonesia. Indonesia became an independent country after the Japanese surrender in 1945, though war to fight off the Dutch happened. Ending in 1949, most of the country became part of the sovereign and independent Indonesia, though western Papua was not ceded to the country until 1963, after an attempted Indonesian invasion. Within the borders of the Dutch East Indies, we can start to see some of the issues with the modern idea of Indonesia. The country is composed mainly of speakers of Austronesian languages, but also unrelated Papuan languages on the island of Papua. Chinese immigration has given them a small but influential minority, mainly in Java. This will become more important later on. Indonesia is also home to many different religious groups, owing to its diverse history. Muslims are the majority in the country, but Buddhists, Hindus, Christians, and animists exist in large numbers. Though Islam has been mainly influenced by local tradition, in recent times, especially in Java, Islam has become more fundamentalist in traditional nature. On this note, I should mention the influence that Java imposes on the rest of the country. The island has nearly 150 million people, or over half the Indonesian population. Many respects, Indonesia is an empire of its own, Java is trying to hold the rest of the country together. 40% of Indonesians are of the Javanese ethnicity, and their languages and customs, especially regarding Orthodox Islam, is being spread across the country. Indonesia has fought many rebel groups within its borders, most notably that of West Papua, and you can be damn sure that's the Javanese coordinating the army. Islam's increasing importance in the country is also eminent in this rebellion, as the majority of West Papuans are either animists or Christian. This is not to mention the Islamic extremism also rising in the country. Every single president in Indonesian history has been a full or partial Javanese ethnicity, and the Javanese control the country's legislature. However, the Chinese also play a hugely influential role in Indonesian society. If the Javanese control Indonesia's government, the Chinese control its economy. A ridiculous amount of wealth, at least half of Indonesia's wealth, is concentrated into the hands of 1% of the population, and most of this population is Chinese. This is a common trend in many Southeast Asian countries like Malaysia, Thailand, and Singapore, though the Chinese populations in those countries are much larger. This economic fact too is not something that bodes well for national integrity, especially when the money is with non-natives. If Indonesia does end up falling apart in the near future, which I predict it won't because it has stayed together this long, this could have major implications on Southeast Asian geopolitics. The country would likely break into nations that represent the major island groups, with Java being the largest successor state in terms of population. Being the seat of the former government, Java would probably continue to be allied with the United States in the West, though Islam would play a much greater role in the new nation society. There is a chance that Bali would become its own country because of its Hindu majority in contrast to the other areas that would remain part of Java. Sumatra, Borneo, and Sulawesi could have their own nations, as well as Western Papua, which could unite with Kapua and New Guinea. China would try to gain influence in the new countries, though the level of success that they would obtain in doing so would rely on how much effort the United States and its regional partners put into stabilizing their influence there. But this is only a possibility which I am not predicting to happen. The fourth largest country in the world, Indonesia is full of ethnic, religious, and political diversity, and spans across thousands of islands. Though the country is very little to unite under, they shared the common struggle for independence from the Dutch Empire, and have lasted as a mostly unified nation since its independence. I can't see Indonesia disintegrating any time soon, but only time will tell to be honest. Anyways, this is why Indonesia is a country. 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