Indonesian History and Info...

Indonesia is made up of 17,508 islands, some of the main islands are Java (where the capital Jakarta is located), Sumatra, Bali, and Flores. Indonesia has the biggest Muslim population in the world and is the 4th most populous country in the world. Language is simliar to Malaysian.

With the Indian and Chinese trading merchants in this area came the spread of Hinduism and Buddhism. The Buddhist Srivijaya empire held the Malaysian Pennisula and southern Sumatra. The Hindu Mataram and Buddhist Sailendra kingdoms dominated central Java. Around 10th century AD the Hindu Matram started to declined and was replaced in 1294 by the Majapahit empire (Hindu kingdom). They controlled much of Sulawesi, Sumatra, Borneo, and most of Java, Madura, and Bali. Islam soon arrived and the Majaphits fled to Bali, where Hindu culture continues to flourish, leaving Java to the powerful Islamic sultanates. The Dutch East Indies company established it's trading post. By 1700 The Dutch took control. By the beginning of the 20th century the Dutch took most of the control of Indonesia. The Japanese swept thru Indonesia during WWII. The Dutch unwilling to give up it's power and supported by the British, who had entered Indonesia to accept the Japanese surrender moved quickly to reassert their authority. There was resistant and the Indonesians fought an intermittent war with the Dutch, the Indonesians won in 1949 and received independence.