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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 ...
Nusantara is the Indonesian name for the region spanning the Indonesian Archipelago and the Malay Peninsula. It is an Old Javanese term that literally means "outer islands". [1] In Indonesia, it is generally taken to mean the Indonesian Archipelago. [2] [3] Outside of Indonesia, the term has been adopted to refer to the Malay Archipelago. [4]
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 Maluku Islands (/ m ə ˈ l uː k uː, m æ ˈ l uː k uː / mə-LOO-koo, mal-OO-; Indonesian: Kepulauan Maluku) or the Moluccas (/ m ə ˈ l ʌ k ə z / mə-LUK-əz) are an archipelago in the eastern part of Indonesia. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone.
The region that is today identified as Indonesia has carried different names, such as "East Indies" in this 1855 map. 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 ...
"Sunda" denotes the continental shelves or landmasses: the Sunda Shelf in the west and the Sahul/Arafuru Shelf in the east. Other terms associated with "Sunda" include the Sunda Island Arc or the arc of Sunda Islands, Sunda Fold or tectonic folding in the Natuna Sea, the Sunda Trench, and Sundaland.
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.
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.