

However, it was not until 1949 that the Dutch recognised Indonesia's sovereignty following an armed and diplomatic conflict between the two. The concept of "Indonesia" as a nation-state emerged in the early 20th century, culminating later in the proclamation of Indonesian Independence in 1945. Although sometimes interrupted by the Portuguese and the French and British, the Dutch were the foremost colonial power for much of their 350-year presence in the archipelago. Sunni traders and Sufi scholars brought Islam, while Christianity was brought mostly through Europeans. Local rulers gradually absorbed foreign influences from the early centuries, and Hindu and Buddhist kingdoms flourished. The Indonesian archipelago has been a valuable region for trade since at least the 7th century when Srivijaya and later Majapahit traded with entities from mainland China and the Indian subcontinent.

Despite its large population and densely populated regions, Indonesia has vast areas of wilderness that support one of the world's highest levels of biodiversity. Indonesia shares land borders with Papua New Guinea, East Timor, and the eastern part of Malaysia, as well as maritime borders with Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, Australia, Palau, and India ( Andaman and Nicobar Islands). The country's capital, Jakarta, is the world's second-most populous urban area. It has 34 provinces, of which five have special status. Indonesia is a presidential republic with an elected legislature. Java, the world's most populous island, is home to more than half of the country's population. With about 270 million people, Indonesia is the world's fourth-most populous country and the most populous Muslim-majority country. Indonesia is the world's largest island country and the 14th-largest country by area, at 1,904,569 square kilometres (735,358 square miles). It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Sulawesi, Java, and parts of Borneo and New Guinea. Indonesia ( / ˌ ɪ n d ə ˈ n iː ʒ ə/ ( listen) IN-də- NEE-zhə), officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans.
