ABSTRACT
Indonesia, the fourth most populous nation in the world, is an archipelago consisting of more than 17,000 islands. The country has about 360 tribal and ethno-linguistic groups who speak 25 languages and more than 250 different dialects. Roughly 45 percent of the population is Javanese; another 14 percent are Sundanese concentrated in western Java. A third significant group, Malays, constitute nearly 7.5 percent of the population. With regard to religion, Indonesia is the world’s most populous Muslim state. Eighty-eight percent of the population identify themselves as Muslims, 8 percent are Christians, 2 percent are Hindus, and 1 percent is Buddhist. 2
