Indonesia
Americannoun
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Formerly Netherlands East Indies,. Formerly Dutch East Indies. Republic of. a republic in the Malay Archipelago consisting of 13,677 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, the S part of Borneo, the W part of New Guinea, the Moluccas, Bali, Madura, and most of the Lesser Sunda Islands: gained independence from the Netherlands in 1949. 735,358 sq. mi. (1,904,569 sq. km). Jakarta.
noun
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The volcanic (see volcano) island of Krakatoa, between Sumatra and Java, erupted in 1883, creating a tsunami that caused great destruction to its neighboring islands. It sent volcanic debris as far as Madagascar.
Rich in nutmeg and cloves, the Moluccas, in the eastern part of the archipelago, are known as the Spice Islands.
Indonesia is the largest Muslim nation in the world.
A severe economic downturn in 1998 triggered public protests against corruption and cronyism in the government and led to the resignation of the country's longtime president, General Suharto.
In 1975, Indonesia invaded the former Dutch colony of East Timor and, despite international condemnation, annexed it in 1976. In 1999, East Timorese voted overwhelmingly for independence in a U.N.-sponsored referendum. Pro-Indonesia militias then rampaged through East Timor until the arrival of international peacekeepers. Independence was declared in May 2001.
Indonesia was under Dutch control from the beginning of the seventeenth century to World War II, when Japan occupied it. It proclaimed independence in 1945. The islands were called the Dutch East Indies from 1799 until their independence.
Indonesia is the principal oil producer in the Far East and Pacific.
Etymology
Origin of Indonesia
First recorded in 1850–55; Indo- + Greek nês(os) “island” + -ia
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The earthquake, which struck on Monday morning, triggered tsunami warnings in Indonesia, south of Mindanao and across Japan's Pacific coast, displacing tens of thousands of people.
From BBC • Jun. 9, 2026
The earthquake saw thousands of people ordered to evacuate in coastal areas of the southern Philippines and neighbouring Indonesia as tsunami warnings were issued by multiple countries and a regional warning centre.
From Barron's • Jun. 9, 2026
Last month, the RBI’s counterpart in Indonesia delivered a sizable 50-basis-point hike—its first in years—to support the rupiah, which, along with the rupee, is one of Asia’s worst-performing currencies so far this year.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 5, 2026
“Each time the museum responds to the rainforest — it can be Amazonia, Indonesia, Australia — the resultant acoustic archive grows.”
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 5, 2026
On the island of Java, in Indonesia, lived Homo soloensis, ‘Man from the Solo Valley’, who was suited to life in the tropics.
From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
