Due to Indonesia's emergence into an archipelago where its inhabitants, though of one similar ancestry , were separated by seas and therefore lost contacts, have caused the individual development of cultures, including their languages and their growing into diversification.
Nevertheless, the population of Indonesia has been reclassified, not so much on the basis of their racial origins, but more so on the basis of their linguistic identities caused by mentioned diversification, into four ethnic groups. A pure classification according to their racial origins is difficult to realize due to their inter-marriages. These four main ethnic groups are the Melanesians (the mixture between the Sub-Mongoloids with the Wajaks), the Proto-Austronesians (including the Wajaks), the Polynesians and the Micronesians.
Languages and dialects spoken and written over the whole of the Indonesian archipelago, 150 to 250 in number, are usualy clasified according to the above mentioned ethnic denominations. The main district local languages of Indonenesia are among others: the Acehnese, Batak, Sundanese, Javanese, Sasak, Tetum of Timor, Dayak, Minahasa, Toraja, Buginese, Halmahera, Ambonese, Ceramese, several Irianese languages and other such languages. In between these languages there exist many other different dialects.
The first inhabitant of Indonesia dates back 500,000 years ago, named Pithecanthropus erectus by Eugene Dubois who found the fossils at several places on the island of Java in the vicinity of the Bengawan Solo River. The fosil found in 1891 and 1892 in the village of Trinil, were called Homo Soloensis, while those found in Wajakkensis. Homo Soloensis with the same characteristic as the Austro Melanosoid people had roamed to the West (Sumatra) and to the East (Papua).
Besides the variety of ethnic groups, different religions are found in Indonesia. One of the special characteristics of the Indonesia culture is the high appreciation of the community towards religion and the faith in One and Only God.
There are five world religions, which have formally been recognized in Indonesia, they are Islamism, Catholicism, Protestanism, Hinduism and Buddhism. Nevertheless, other faiths are found, especially in isolated societies, which have been accepted and are called traditional faith. According to statistics, the majority of the Indonesian people are Moslems.
Indonesia is rich in art and culture which are interwined with religion and age-old tradition from the time of early migrants with western thought and cultural values initially brought by Portuguese traders and Dutch colonialist. The basic principles which guide life, include the concepts of mutual assistance or “gotong-royong” and consultation or “musyawarah” to arrive at consensus of “mufakat”. Derived from rural life, this code of behaviour or “adat” law still exists in community life throughout the country, differing from area to area.
Religious influences on the community are evident from island to island. Unlike some countries, art forms in Indonesia is not only based on folklore, as many were developed in the courts of former kingdoms such as in Bali and Java, where they are part of religious ceremonies.
The famous dance dramas of Java and Bali are derived from Hindu Mythology. Highly stylized in movement and costume, dances and the “wayang” (puppet) drama are accompanied by a full “gamelan” orchestra comprising of xylophones, drums, string instruments and flutes. The bamboo instrument called “angklung” of West Java are well known for their unique tinkling notes. The leather shadow puppet, called “Wayang Kulit” of Java is performed with the puppets held by the puppeteer against a white screen, with the shadow of the characters on the screen visible from the other side, where the audience are seated.
