HUMAN GEOGRAPHY. FROM ITS ORIGINS TO THE 19TH CENTURY
Populated since ancient times (as evidenced by the remains of Pythecanthropines, dating back to the lower Pleistocene, and of Homo sapiens fossils from various eras, found mainly in different locations in Java) and located between two oceans and two continents, as a country located in Asia according to Usprivateschoolsfinder, Indonesia was one of the passage areas required of men and cultures from the middle Pleistocene, when you still saldava with the rest of the continent and when it was probably traveled and inhabited more or less time by populations of hunters Australoid, pigmoidi, veddoidi and then premongolici coming (as happened with subsequent migratory waves) from the Malacca Peninsula. Traces of these peoples remain in Borneo (Punan, Sagai), in Celebes (Toala, Loinang), in the Moluccas (Halmahera), in Flores (Krunesi) and above all in the Irian Jaya (Papua, Pygmoids). Very important, among the many migrations that followed, were, starting from the Neolithic, those of the agricultural peoples who colonized vast coastal regions and river valleys, especially in Java, and who gave the definitive imprint to the population of Indonesia. The oldest, generically called Paleo-Indonesian or Proto-Indonesians, they were nomadic farmers, probably deriving from the fusion of pre-Mongolian peoples with others of the Widdoid type then widespread in the Indochinese peninsula. These extended in the vast archipelago up to the Philippines deforesting vast areas, for the needs of their primitive agriculture, and partly merging with the populations of hunters, partly repelling them in the most inaccessible areas and towards the eastern islands. The Indonesians in the proper sense, also called Neo-Indonesians and Deuteromalese, reached Insulindia in historical times: similar to the Paleo- Indonesians and the Malays, they differ from these for some somatic traits of the Europoid type, perhaps due to mixing with Indo-European peoples. They occupied the fertile lands deforested by the Paleo-Indonesians who partly merged with them and partly adapted to live in the mountainous or more wooded regions of the islands, leaving Java and much of Sumatra with the nearest islands to the newcomers. The Indonesians introduced more advanced agricultural techniques based on rice cultivation, as it was practiced in the Indochinese Peninsula from which they came, finding in Indonesia suitable climatic and pedological conditions. Later, in the coastal regions of Sumatra and in the largest villages, communities of people of the Malacca peninsula (Malays in the proper sense) settled. IX, followed by the Chinese, whose main activities were shipping and trade. Among the various populations, more or less marked ethnic and cultural mixes were not lacking. Indonesia, therefore, has about twenty main ethnic groups (each generally with its own language): Indonesians make up the majority of the population and predominate mainly in Java, Sumatra, Madura, Bali, Flores, Timor, as well as in the surrounding areas. to the major inhabited centers of Borneo, Celebes and the Moluccas. Paleo-Indonesians constitute strong minorities in Sumatra (batak, gay) and prevail in Borneo, Celebes, Moluccas (dayak, niassesi, ngagia, toraja, alfuri, ngada, minahasa) and the Lesser Sunda Islands, while constituting the minority in Irian Jaya. Finally, the Australoid element, represented by the Papuans, prevails in the Irian Jaya. Indian penetration had enormous influences in the political, economic, cultural, artistic, religious spheres, but it did not affect the country’s ethnic structure; this also applies to the Arabs, whose religion was spread in the archipelago by the Malays, and later by the Europeans, who seized political and economic power, but always remained a negligible ethnic minority. On the other hand, the immigration of the Chinese, who lived mainly in the cities, was of some importance. Until the end of the century. XIX the very high mortality kept the coefficient of the natural increase of the population low; only in the last period of colonial rule did the Dutch allow new lands to be used for food crops for the Indonesians; this, combined with the subsequent improvements in sanitation conditions, favored high demographic growth.
HUMAN GEOGRAPHY
Indonesia is the fourth most populous country in the world (after China, India and the United States). The population density is particularly high (130 residents/km²), but its distribution continues to be highly unbalanced, despite internal migration policies have been implemented to encourage population towards less inhabited areas; in fact, the problem remains linked to the fragmentation of the territory, the presence of areas that are difficult to cultivate, the inefficiency of internal transport, as well as the resistance of the population to abandon their land and their traditions. Over time there have been significant changes in the annual growth rate, which, almost halved between the years 1980-98, remains today among the lowest among the ASEAN countries.. In consideration of the lowering of mortality in the last thirty years of the twentieth century due to the improvement of hygienic and general conditions of life, nutrition and health care in the first place, the reduction that has occurred in the population growth rate is largely attributable measure, to the success of the family planning campaign, which had a profound impact on the fertility rate.
