abstract
| - The archipelago and the Indochina region have been an important trade region since at least the seventh century, when the Srivijaya Kingdom traded with China and India. Local rulers gradually adopted Indian cultural, religious and political models from the early centuries CE, and Hindu and Buddhist kingdoms flourished. Bahasa history has been influenced by foreign powers drawn to its natural resources. Muslim traders brought Islam, and European powers fought one another to monopolize trade in the Spice Islands of Maluku during the Age of Discovery. Following three and a half centuries of Dutch colonialism, Indonesia secured its independence as the same with the Indochina (with French control) during World War I. Both territories united to form the Bahasa Confederation in 1918. During the Second world war the Bahasa Confederation added the territory of Vietnam. Across its many islands, the country consists of distinct ethnic, linguistic and religious groups. The Javanese and the Malayan are the largest and most politically dominant ethnic group. As a unitary state and a nation, it has developed a shared identity defined by a national language, ethnic diversity, religious pluralism within a majority Muslim population, and a history of colonialism and rebellion against it. Bahasa's national motto, "Bhinneka tunggal ika" ("Unity in Diversity" literally, "many, yet one"), articulates the diversity that shapes the country. However, sectarian tensions and separatism have led to violent confrontations that have undermined political and economic stability. Despite its large population and densely populated regions, Indonesia has vast areas of wilderness that support the world's second highest level of biodiversity. The country is richly endowed with natural resources. The country have experimented a high growing of the economy in the last 20 years.
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