People in Indonesia
In Indonesia there is great wealth in the big cities
and there is still great poverty in the countryside.
There are the ancient cultures of the Papua and a
west-oriented life in Java. In some regions people still
live almost like the prehistoric people in the Stone Age
and there are people who feed their families almost
entirely from fishing.
Which ethnic groups live in Indonesia?
The largest ethnic group in Indonesia are the
Javanese. Around 45 out of 100 Indonesians are
Javanese. They live in central and east Java. The
Sundanese live in West Java, 15 out of 100 Indonesians
are Sundanese. Although their culture is similar to the
Javanese culture, it differs in a number of ways. By the
way, 60 out of 100 Indonesians (people with Indonesian
citizenship, regardless of their origin) live on Java.
That's a lot when you consider that Indonesia is a
country with more than 17,000 islands. The island of
Java takes up about 7 percent of the total area of the
country. The Javanese language is just one of many
languages, but since it is spoken by more than 70
million people, it is one of the most widely spoken
languages in all of Southeast Asia.
Where do the smallest people in the world live?
In addition to the large ethnic groups mentioned,
there are also smaller groups that maintain their own
culture and way of life and often live on an island
isolated from others. A very special ethnic group is
that of the so-called dwarf people. The Kimyal tribe
dwarf people who live in New Guinea are the smallest
people in the world. Women are about 130 centimeters and
men 140 centimeters tall. Their population is growing
and there are still 1000 people living, mostly in
villages with 40 to 150 inhabitants. Men and women live
separately in women's and men's huts, whereby women are
not allowed to enter the men's huts. Then there are the
family huts in which the families or married women live.
If they are sick or have a baby, they have to go back to
the women's huts.
They lead isolated lives and have preserved many of
their traditions. The pig festival is one of their
festivals. Pigs are valuable animals to the Kimyal. Only
a man who owns a pig is allowed to get married. It is
still not possible to explain exactly why the people
here are so short. Some believe that at some point they
were driven out of their villages and looked for a new
home. Others believe that protein deficiency is the
cause.
Languages in Indonesia
More than 250 different languages and dialects are
spoken in Indonesia. Indonesians who live far apart from
each other often do not understand the dialects of their
compatriots. Indonesia is a multi-ethnic state precisely
because many peoples live there. This is Indonesia's
state motto "Unity in Diversity". Bhinneka Tunggal Ika
is called in Indonesian. The official language - the
official language that is also spoken in the
administration - is Bahasa Indonesian. Because
Indonesia is a colonywho was Dutch, they also speak
English or Dutch. Foreign languages are compulsory in
schools. Arabic is also taught, so that some of the
Indonesians speak Arabic or at least can communicate in
this language. On the islands of Bali and Java, which
tourists from abroad particularly like to visit, people
speak a special language again, namely Balinese.
Religions in Indonesia
No other country on earth has as many Muslims as
Indonesia. All other world religions also practice their
faith and are recognized by the state. 88 out of 100
people are Muslims, five out of 100 Protestants
(Indonesia was a Dutch colony and most of the Dutch were
Protestants), three out of 100 are Catholics and two out
of 100 Hindus. Most of the Hindus live in Bali and East
Java. So many different ethnic groups, religions and
cultures exist in Indonesia, largely peacefully with one
another. Indonesia is known for its religious freedom
and tolerance.
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