In 1999, the population of Indonesia was estimated at approximately 202 million people. The economy of the country is based largely on agriculture, manufacturing and services. Its main industries are textiles, apparel, mining, oil and gas. Indonesia has a long history of strong foreign relations with other countries in Asia and beyond. In terms of politics, Indonesia has had a presidential system with B. J. Habibie as President since 1998. His Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle continued to hold a majority in Parliament after their victory in the 1999 elections. See ethnicityology for Indonesia in the year of 2018.
Yearbook 1999
Indonesia. In January, the government announced its willingness to allow East Timor to become independent. Freedom leader Jos谷 “Xanana” Gusmão was moved from prison to house arrest, where he could in relative freedom receive visitors and keep in touch with the outside world (see further East Timor).
Severe unrest occurred in several places in the wake of I’s economic crisis. In the province of Aceh in northern Sumatra, where the military has been working hard for a separatist movement since the 1980s, soldiers carried out several massacres on civilians. Bloody clashes also occurred between the army and the guerrillas. In the Moluccan archipelago, Muslims and Christians fought each other, and in western Borneo, new settlers were attacked by locals.
Visit Countryaah official website to get information about the capital city of Indonesia. Parliamentary elections were held on June 7, the first free election of 44 years. Winners became Indonesia’s Democratic Party for Struggle (Partai Demokrasi Indonesia Perjuangan, PDIP), which received 154 seats, while the Golkar government party got 120 seats. Three Muslim parties passed the two percent block by a good margin, and 14 small parties entered the parliament through a voting system. 38 seats were reserved for military.
- Also see Abbreviationfinder.org to see the acronym of INA which stands for Indonesia and other definitions of this 3-letter abbreviation.
In October, presidential elections were held in the People’s Advisory Assembly (MPR), consisting of Parliament’s 500 members and 200 nominated representatives of the provinces and civil organizations. Before the election, MPR rejected President Jusuf Habibie’s work, after which he did not stand for re-election. A majority supported the moderate Muslim leader Abdurrahman Wahid as new president. He defeated PDIP President Megawati Sukarnoputri, the daughter of I’s first President Sukarno, by 373 votes to 313. She was elected Vice President the following day.
Wahid formed a unity government with most of the major groups represented: Muslims, military, moderate Golan members, reformists, human rights activists and even two representatives of the economically influential Chinese minority. Wahid described decentralization of power as one of the most important tasks. Decentralization was seen as a necessity for I’s cohesion, against the backdrop of strengthened independence requirements in Aceh, where around 300 people had been killed during the year. Wahid suggested that Aceh could get a referendum on independence, but under pressure from government colleagues and the army, he later said that a referendum could only apply to the introduction of Islamic law.
I’s economy recovered slowly after falling more than 13% in 1998. GDP was expected to remain unchanged in order to grow by a few percent in 2000.
The International Monetary Fund halted the payment of a $ 4.6 billion loan after it was discovered that multimillion amounts were transferred from Bank Bali to the Golkar circle before the election. The loan negotiations were resumed after the new government investigated the deal and confirmed that at least $ 2.2 million went directly to Golkar’s party fund.
As one of its last measures, the outgoing government closed the investigation into former President Suharto’s suspected misappropriation of state funds. However, the new government said the investigation would resume.
On October 31, a 24-year occupation of East Timor was terminated, when Indonesia officially resigned the area to UN administration.
Indonesia – Jakarta
Jakarta
Jakaʹrta, capital and administrative region of Indonesia; 661 km2, 10. 5 million residents (2019). Jakarta, located on a low and smooth coastal plain on the Ciliwung River in northern Java, is often affected by floods during the rainy season and by water shortages during the dry season. Jakarta is Indonesia’s largest and most important city. The JABOTABEK metropolis (Jakarta, Bogor, Tangerang, Bekasi), which extends into neighboring regions, is growing into one of the world’s largest population concentrations and had about 30 million residents in 2019.
The city is primarily an administrative, commercial and financial center.
The industry was previously mainly focused on the domestic market, with primarily facilities for the production of consumer goods, the metal industry and factories for the assembly of means of transport. The large availability of cheap labor in the metropolitan area has meant that foreign large companies have placed labor-intensive manufacturing here. Despite impressive road construction, Jakarta has traffic problems with constant car queues and severe air pollution.
Tanjung Priok, 8 km northeast of Jakarta, is the country’s largest port. One of Southeast Asia’s busiest international airports is Sukarno – Hatta, 35 km west of the city.
The settlement at Jakarta can be traced back to the 400s. The city was conquered in 1527 by the Muslim Sultanate of Bantam, who lost it to the Dutch in 1619. The city was renamed Batavia and became the capital of the Dutch colonial empire with an important port. The population consisted of Europeans, Chinese and Indonesians. In the 18th century, Jakarta was characterized by ethnic conflicts, while conditions in the 19th century were more stable. From the 1920s a modern city grew.
When Indonesia became independent in 1949, the city regained its old name and became its capital. Jakarta has since made a substantial move. In May 1998, Jakarta was shaken by violent demonstrations and riots, which preceded President Suharto’s departure. The looting and destruction to a large extent affected the Chinese minority.
