Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

is a highly diverse country, both ethnically and linguistically. The country's population reached 270.20 million according to the 2020 national census, up from 237.64 million in

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

. As of mid-2025, the official estimate stood at 284.44 million, reflecting an annual growth rate of 1.11%. It remains the fourth most populous country in the world.

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

, excluding

Madura is an list of islands of Indonesia, Indonesian island off the northeastern coast of Java. The island comprises an area of approximately (administratively including various smaller islands to the east, southeast and north that are administratively ...

is home to approximately 54.4% of the national population, making it the most densely populated island globally. Despite a fairly effective

family planning Family planning is the consideration of the number of children a person wishes to have, including the choice to have no children, and the age at which they wish to have them. Things that may play a role on family planning decisions include marit ...

program that has been in place since 1967, Indonesia's average population growth per year was over 1.1% for the decade ending in 2020, nearly having 13% population growth for that decade. At this rate, Indonesia's population is no longer projected to surpass the population of the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

(whose population is increasing at a faster rate), and it is itself projected by the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

(UN) to be overtaken in population by

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

and by

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

by 2040. Indonesia has a relatively young population compared to many Western countries, although it is gradually aging due to declining birth rates and rising

life expectancy Human life expectancy is a statistical measure of the estimate of the average remaining years of life at a given age. The most commonly used measure is ''life expectancy at birth'' (LEB, or in demographic notation ''e''0, where '' ...

. As of 2017, the median age stood at 30.2 years. The country is among the most ethnically and linguistically diverse in the world, home to over 600 ethnic groups and more than 700 languages. Since gaining independence, Indonesian has served as the

national language '' '' A national language is a language (or language variant, e.g. dialect) that has some connection— de facto or de jure—with a nation. The term is applied quite differently in various contexts. One or more languages spoken as first languag ...

and is widely used in education, government, business, and formal communication. However, most Indonesians grow up speaking a regional language as their

mother tongue A first language (L1), native language, native tongue, or mother tongue is the first language a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period. In some countries, the term ''native language'' or ''mother tongue'' refers ...

, using Indonesian primarily as a ''

lingua franca A lingua franca (; ; for plurals see ), also known as a bridge language, common language, trade language, auxiliary language, link language or language of wider communication (LWC), is a Natural language, language systematically used to make co ...

'' for interethnic interaction. Major regional languages include Javanese, Sundanese, Minangkabau, Buginese, Balinese, and

Batak Batak is a collective term used to identify a number of closely related Austronesian peoples, Austronesian ethnic groups predominantly found in North Sumatra, Indonesia, who speak Batak languages. The term is used to include the Karo people ( ...

, among many others. The Javanese, who make up about 40% of the population, have historically held significant political influence, with every

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

since independence having at least partial or full Javanese ancestry.

Population

File:Map of Indonesian provinces by urban population percentage, 2022.svg, Provinces of Indonesia by urban population percentage File:Indonesia provinces population density 2020.svg, Provinces of Indonesia by population density per square kilometer in 2020 File:Population density of Indonesia by village and subdistrict (desa & kelurahan) (2024).png,

Villages A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban village ...

of Indonesia by population density per square kilometer in 2024 Source: Our World in Data, Statistics Indonesia, Wertheim (1959), Geografi dan Kependudukan (1976), Widjojo Nitisastro (2006)

Population by province

Source: Population Census 2010, except for final column, taken from Population Census 2020. Note: ^(a) North Kalimantan province was created in 2012 (by separation from East Kalimantan province); the 2010 total figures given are those for the provinces as they were following that splitting (Urban % and Total Fertility Rate columns unadjusted).

Age structure

:''0-14 years:'' 23.33% :''15-64 years:'' 70.72% :''65 years and over:'' 5.95% (2020 census) Population Estimates by Sex and Age Group (01.VII.2020) (Data are based on the publication: "Indonesia Population Projection 2015-2045"):

Vital statistics

United Nations estimates

Source:

UN DESA The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) is part of the United Nations Secretariat and is responsible for the follow-up to major United Nations Summits and Conferences, as well as services to the United Nations Econ ...

, World Population Prospects, 2022

Demographic and Health Surveys

Total Fertility Rate (TFR) (Wanted Fertility Rate) and Crude Birth Rate (CBR):

Fertility rate and aging population (by province)

Total fertility rate The total fertility rate (TFR) of a population is the average number of children that are born to a woman over her lifetime, if they were to experience the exact current age-specific fertility rates (ASFRs) through their lifetime, and they were t ...

(TFR) and population over age 60 by region as of 2010:

Marriages and Divorces

Note: No data is available for 2017.

Ethnic groups

Indonesia is a country of great ethnic diversity, with approximately 600 distinct indigenous ethnic groups living side by side across more than 17,000 islands. The majority of Indonesia's population is descended from

Austronesian peoples The Austronesian people, sometimes referred to as Austronesian-speaking peoples, are a large group of peoples who have settled in Taiwan, maritime Southeast Asia, parts of mainland Southeast Asia, Micronesia, coastal New Guinea, Island Melan ...

who are concentrated in

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

and central Indonesia, which is part of the

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

n continent. Another large group is the Melanesian peoples, who inhabit the eastern part of Indonesia (the

Maluku Islands The Maluku Islands ( ; , ) or the Moluccas ( ; ) are an archipelago in the eastern part of Indonesia. Tectonics, Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located in West ...

Western New Guinea Western New Guinea, also known as Papua, Indonesian New Guinea, and Indonesian Papua, is the western half of the island of New Guinea, formerly Dutch and granted to Indonesia in 1962. Given the island is alternatively named Papua, the region ...

, and the

East Nusa Tenggara East Nusa Tenggara (; ) is the southernmost province of Indonesia. It comprises the eastern portion of the Lesser Sunda Islands, facing the Indian Ocean in the south and the Flores Sea in the north, with a total land area of 47,238.07 km2. It cons ...

) in

Oceania Oceania ( , ) is a region, geographical region including Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Outside of the English-speaking world, Oceania is generally considered a continent, while Mainland Australia is regarded as its co ...

. The Javanese are the largest ethnic group, accounting for 40.2% of the population and are culturally, economically, and politically dominant. The Javanese are concentrated in

, the most populous island, especially in the central and eastern parts, and also in significant numbers in most provinces due to extensive migration throughout the archipelago. The Sundanese are the next largest group (15.4%), followed by the Malays,

, Madurese, Betawi, Minangkabau, and

Bugis The Bugis people, also known as Buginese, are an Austronesian ethnic groupthe most numerous of the three major linguistic and ethnic groups of South Sulawesi (the others being Makassarese and Torajan), in the south-western province of Sula ...

. A sense of Indonesian nationalism is present along with strong ethnic and regional identities.

Languages

Indonesian is the

official An official is someone who holds an office (function or Mandate (politics), mandate, regardless of whether it carries an actual Office, working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority (eithe ...

and national language of

, widely spoken by over 97% of the population. However, Indonesia is a highly

multilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. When the languages are just two, it is usually called bilingualism. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolin ...

country. According to

Ethnologue ''Ethnologue: Languages of the World'' is an annual reference publication in print and online that provides statistics and other information on the living languages of the world. It is the world's most comprehensive catalogue of languages. It w ...

, there are currently 737 regional languages spoken across the Indonesian archipelago. This extensive linguistic diversity accounts for about 10% of the world’s total languages, making Indonesia the second most linguistically diverse country in the world. The majority of these languages belong to the

Austronesian language The Austronesian languages ( ) are a language family widely spoken throughout Maritime Southeast Asia, parts of Mainland Southeast Asia, Madagascar, the islands of the Pacific Ocean and Taiwan (by Taiwanese indigenous peoples). They are spoken b ...

family, which is prevalent in the western and central regions of Indonesia, including languages such as Acehnese,

, Sundanese, Balinese, Banjarese and Buginese. In contrast, the eastern regions, particularly Papua and the

, are home to over 270

Papuan languages The Papuan languages are the non- Austronesian languages spoken on the western Pacific island of New Guinea, as well as neighbouring islands in Indonesia, Solomon Islands, and East Timor. It is a strictly geographical grouping, and does not imply ...

, which are distinct from the Austronesian language family and represent a unique linguistic heritage. The most widely spoken language as a mother tongue is Javanese, spoken by over 80 million speakers, mainly in central and

east East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact that ea ...

, but also on many other islands due to migration.

Religion

Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation; based on

civil registration Civil registration is the system by which a government records the vital events (Birth certificate, births, Marriage certificate, marriages, and Death certificate, deaths) of its citizens and Residency (domicile), residents. The resulting repos ...

data in 2024 from

Ministry of Home Affairs An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law enforcement. In some states, the i ...

, 87.09% of Indonesians are

Muslims Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

, 10.45% Christians (7.38%

Protestants Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

, 3.07%

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

), 1.67%

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

, 0.71%

Buddhists Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or 5th century BCE. It is the world's fourth ...

, 0.03% Confucians and 0.04%

Folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...

and other faiths. Most Indonesian Hindus are Balinese and most Buddhists in modern-day Indonesia are Chinese.

References

Sources

External links

Indonesian Central Bureau of Statistics

CIA World Factbook article on Indonesia

United Nations "World Population Prospects": Country Profile – Indonesia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Demographics of Indonesia Ethnic groups in Indonesia