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The national population from the 2000 national census is 206 million. The country's Central Statistics Bureau and Statistics Indonesia quoted 222 million as the population for 2006. 130 million people live on the island of Java, the world's most populous island. Despite a considerably successful family planning program over the last four decades, the population is expected to grow to around 315 million in 2035 based on the current estimated annual growth rate of 1.25%.
A Minangkabau woman in traditional dress.Indonesia, however, is not without social tensions with religious and ethnic differences triggering sometimes horrendous violence. The transmigration program contributed to the spread of people from highly populated Java and Madura to eastern Indonesia. Ethnic and religious differences between these immigrants and the local peoples have been blamed for numerous difficulties, sometimes culminating in bloody conflicts such as the massacre of hundreds of Madurese by a local Dayak community in West Kalimantan, and conflicts in Maluku, Central Sulawesi, and parts of Papua and West Irian Jaya. Chinese Indonesians are arguably the most influential ethnic minority in Indonesia. Although the Chinese make up only 2% of the population, the majority of the locally-owned businesses and wealth in the country is Chinese-controlled. This has caused considerable resentment despite the fact that it is only a small proportion of Chinese that hold great wealth, and that a large middle class of prosperous, non-Chinese has developed. The riots in Jakarta in 1998, much of which was aimed at the Chinese, were expressions of these sentiments.
The official national language, Indonesian (Indonesian: Bahasa Indonesia), is universally taught in schools and is spoken by nearly every Indonesian. It is the language of business, politics, national media, education and academia. Yet, in isolated areas – even on the major islands – it is not uncommon to find villagers who are not familiar with Indonesian.[83][84] It was originally a lingua franca for most of the region, including present-day Malaysia and is thus closely related to Malay. It was first promoted as a national language in 1928 by the Indonesian National Party (PNI), accepted by the Dutch as the de facto language for the colony, and then declared the official language after independence. Most Indonesians speak at least one of the several hundred local languages (bahasa daerah), often as their first language. Of these, Javanese is the most widely-spoken language, as it is the language of the largest ethnic group.[64] Papua on the other hand, has as many as five hundred or more indigenous Papuan or Austronesian languages in a region of just 2.7 million people.
Although the Indonesian constitution guarantees religious freedom for all citizens, the Government officially only recognizes six religions, namely Islam, Protestantism, Catholicism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Confucianism. Indonesia is the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation with almost 86% of Indonesians declared Muslim according to the 2000 census. 11% of the population is Christian (of which roughly two-thirds are Protestant), 2% are Hindu, and 1% Before the arrival of the Abrahamic faiths of Christianity and Islam, the popular belief systems in the region were thoroughly influenced by Indic religious philosophy through Hinduism and Buddhism. The influence of Hinduism and classical India remain defining traits of Indonesian culture; the Indian concept of the god-king still shapes Indonesian concepts of leadership and the use of Sanskrit in courtly literature and adaptations of Indian mythology such as the Ramayana and Mahabharata. The vast majority of Hindus are Balinese who, similar to abangan Muslims, follow a version of Hinduism fused with existing cultural and religious beliefs and markedly distinct from orthodox Hinduism. The Sumatra-based Sriwijaya kingdom of the seventh century AD was an early center of Buddhism in Indonesia. Most Buddhists in modern-day Indonesia, however, are ethnic Chinese. Islam was first brought to northern Sumatra by Arab traders in the thirteenth century and had become Indonesia's dominant religion by the fifteenth century. Although Islam was once mainly practiced in Java and Sumatra, Indonesia-wide emigration has increased the number of Muslims living in Bali, Borneo, Sulawesi, Maluku, and Papua. Like other religions in Indonesia, Islam has blended with local traditional beliefs such as those practiced by the Abangan Muslims on Java and with other belief systems in northern Sumatra and Kalimantan. Such syncretic practises draw on distinctly Indonesian customs and typically differ from more Orthodox Islam by favoring local customs over Islamic law. One notable difference includes a generally greater level of freedom and higher social status for women. The majority of Indonesian Muslims are generally accepting of differing religious practices and interpretations within their own faith. Although the form of worship may differ, Muslims in Indonesia are typically devout; many have made the pilgrimage to Mecca, for example. More Orthodox Muslims believing in a stricter adherence to Sharia make up a smaller but growing percentage of the population;[citation needed] the wearing of a jilbab, for example, is becoming more common.[citation needed] There is a small but outspoken hard-line Islamist presence in Indonesia, some of which seek to establish Indonesia as an Islamic state. Most Indonesian Muslims, however, are wary of these movements. Catholicism was first brought to Indonesia by early Portuguese colonialists and missionaries, and the Protestant denominations are largely a result of Dutch Calvinist and Lutheran missionary efforts during its colonial time. Missionary efforts did not extend to Java or other predominantly Muslim areas. As with Islam and Hinduism, Christian beliefs in Indonesia are sometimes combined with animism and other traditional beliefs and cultural practices.
Indonesia has around three hundred ethnic groups, each with cultural differences that have shifted over the centuries. Modern-day Indonesian culture is a fusion of this diversity. Indonesia has also imported cultural aspects from Arabic, Chinese, Malay and European sources. Traditional Javanese and Balinese dances, for example, contain aspects of Hindu culture and mythology as does the Javanese and Balinese wayang kulit ("shadow puppet") shows, depicting mythological events. Cloth such as batik, ikat and songket are created across Indonesia with different areas having different styles and specializations. The most dominant influences on Indonesian architecture have traditionally been Indian, however, Chinese, Arab, and, particularly from the 19th century, European architecture has had a significant influence. Pencak Silat is a unique martial art originating from the archipelago. Derived from centuries of exchange with Chinese, European, Middle Eastern and Indian influences, Indonesia has developed its own distinctive cuisine, which varies across its regions. Rice is the staple food of most Indonesian dishes and is served with several side dishes of meat and/or vegetables. In comparison to the infused flavors of Vietnamese and Thai food, flavors in Indonesia are kept relatively separate, simple and substantial.[93] Spices, notably chilli, and coconut milk are fundamental ingredients as is fish and chicken, although red meat tends to be expensive.
Media freedom in Indonesia increased considerably after the end of President Suharto's rule, during which the now-defunct Ministry of Information monitored and controlled domestic media and restricted foreign media. The TV market includes ten national commercial networks and provincial networks that compete with public TVRI. Private radio stations carry their own news bulletins and foreign broadcasters can supply programs. Internet use is increasing; Bisnis Indonesia reported in 2004 that there were 10 million users.[citation needed]
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Ethnic groups 
Buddhist.
Indonesian music varies within cities and groups as people who live in the countryside would listen to a different kind of music than people in the city. Although rock was introduced to Indonesia by the Indonesian rock band God Bless (see Ian Antono), native Indonesian music is still preserved. Examples of Indonesian traditional music are Gamelan and Keroncong. Dangdut is a hugely popular contemporary genre of pop music partly derived from Arabic, Indian, and Malay folk music. The Indonesian movie industry's popularity peaked in the 1980s and dominated cinemas in Indonesia, although it fell significantly in the early 1990s. As of 2000, however, the industry has improved gradually with a number of successful movies released.
