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The Indonesian archipelago has a total land area of 1,904,569 square kilometers (735,358 sq mi), including 93,000 square kilometres (35,908 sq mi) of inland seas such as straits, bays, and other bodies of water. The surrounding sea areas increase the generally recognized territory of the Indonesian archipelago (land and sea) to about 5 million ...
The islands of Indonesia, also known as the Indonesian Archipelago (Kepulauan Indonesia) or Nusantara, may refer either to the islands composing the country of Indonesia or to the geographical groups which include its islands. [3]
The term Nusantara derives from a combined two words of Austronesian and Sanskrit origin, the word nūsa (see also nusa) meaning "island" in Old Javanese, is ultimately derived from the Proto-Malayo-Polynesian word *nusa with the same meaning, [12] and the word antara is a Javanese loanword borrowed from Sanskrit अन्तरा (antarā) meaning "between" or "in the middle", [13] thus ...
While it is based on Malay, Indonesian has been strongly influenced by Javanese, as the Javanese are the largest ethnic group in Indonesia. Dutch influence over Indonesian vocabulary is highly significant, as Malay was adopted due to usefulness as a trading language during the Dutch East India Company's rule over the archipelago.
The study of Indonesian etymology and loan words reflects its historical and social context. Examples include the early Sanskrit borrowings, probably during the Srivijaya period, the borrowings from Arabic and Persian, especially during the time of the establishment of Islam, and words borrowed from Dutch during the colonial period.
On the last pledge, there was an affirmation of Indonesian language as a unifying language throughout the archipelago. The official language of Indonesia is Indonesian [9] (locally known as bahasa Indonesia), a standardised form of Malay, [10] which serves as the lingua franca of the archipelago.
Indonesia is the common and official name to refer to the Republic of Indonesia or Indonesian archipelago; however, other names, such as Nusantara and East Indies are also known. Some names are considered obsolete and confined to certain periods of history, while some might be more geographically specific or general.
The oldest evidence of writing in the Indonesian archipelago is a series of Sanskrit inscriptions dated to the 5th century. Many of Indonesia's peoples have firmly rooted oral traditions. [352] In written poetry and prose, several traditional forms dominate, mainly syair, pantun, gurindam, hikayat and babad.