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Native Indonesians, also known as ''Pribumi'' (), are
Indonesians Indonesians (Indonesian: ''orang Indonesia'') are citizens or people originally from Indonesia, regardless of their ethnic or religious background. There are more than 1,300 ethnicities in Indonesia, making it a multicultural archipelagic coun ...
whose ancestral roots lie mainly in the archipelago, distinguished from Indonesians of known (partial) foreign descent, like
Chinese Indonesians Chinese Indonesians ( id, Orang Tionghoa Indonesia) and colloquially Chindo or just Tionghoa are Indonesians whose ancestors arrived from China at some stage in the last eight centuries. Chinese people and their Indonesian descendants have l ...
(Tionghoa),
Arab Indonesians Arab Indonesians ( ar, عربٌ إندونيسيون) or ''Hadharem'' (; sing., ''Hadhrami'', ), informally known as Jama'ah, and until the 20th century known as Codjas or Kodjas, note the work was also published in the Hague and Utrecht simulta ...
,
Indian Indonesians Indian Indonesians ( id, Orang India Indonesia; ta, இந்திய இந்தோனேசியர்) are Indonesians whose ancestors whose ancestors originally came from the Indian subcontinent. Therefore, this term can be regarded as ...
and Indo-Europeans (Eurasians).


Etymology and historical context

The term was popularized after Indonesian independence as a respectful replacement for the Dutch colonial term (normally translated as "native" and seen as derogatory). It derives from
Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
terms ''pri'' (before) and ''bhumi'' (earth). Before independence the term (
Malay Malay may refer to: Languages * Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore ** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century ** Indonesi ...
: son of the soil) was more commonly used as an equivalent term to ''pribumi''. Following independence, the term was normally used to distinguish indigenous Indonesians from citizens of foreign descent (especially
Chinese Indonesians Chinese Indonesians ( id, Orang Tionghoa Indonesia) and colloquially Chindo or just Tionghoa are Indonesians whose ancestors arrived from China at some stage in the last eight centuries. Chinese people and their Indonesian descendants have l ...
). Common usage distinguished between ''pribumi'' and ''non-pribumi''. Although the term is sometimes translated as "indigenous", it has a broader meaning than that associated with
Indigenous peoples Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...
. The term (WNI = "Indonesian citizen", ''keturunan asing'' = foreign descent), sometimes just ''WNI keturunan'' or even ''WNI'', has also been used to designate ''non-pribumi'' Indonesians. In practice, usage of the term is fluid. ''Pribumi'' is seldom used to refer to Indonesians of
Melanesian Melanesian is the adjectival form of Melanesia. It may refer to: * Melanesians * Melanesian mythology * Melanesian languages In linguistics, Melanesian is an obsolete term referring to the Austronesian languages of Melanesia: that is, the Oceani ...
descent, such as
Moluccans Moluccans are the Austronesian-speaking and Papuan-speaking ethnic groups indigenous to the Maluku Islands (also called the Moluccas), Indonesia. The region was historically known as the Spice Islands, and today consists of two Indonesian provin ...
and
Papuans The indigenous peoples of West Papua in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, commonly called Papuans, are Melanesians. There is genetic evidence for two major historical lineages in New Guinea and neighboring islands: a first wave from the Malay Arch ...
, although it does not exclude them. Indonesians of
Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
descent sometimes refer to themselves as ''pribumi''. Indonesians with some exogenous ancestry who show no obvious signs of identification with that ancestry (such as former President
Abdurrahman Wahid Abdurrahman Wahid ( ; born Abdurrahman ad-Dakhil; 7 September 1940 – 30 December 2009), though more colloquially known as Gus Dur (), was an Indonesian politician and Islamic religious leader who served as the 4th president of Indonesia, from ...
who is said to have had Chinese ancestry) are seldom called ''non-pribumi''. The term
bumiputra ''Bumiputera'' or ''Bumiputra'' ( Jawi: ) is a term used in Malaysia to describe Malays, the Orang Asli of Peninsular Malaysia, and various indigenous peoples of East Malaysia (see official definition below). The term is sometimes controver ...
is sometimes used in Indonesia with the same meaning as ''pribumi'', but is more commonly used in
Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
, where it has a slightly different meaning. The term ''putra daerah'' ("son of the region") refers to a person who is indigenous to a specific locality or region. In 1998, the Indonesian government of President B.J. Habibie instructed that neither ''pribumi'' nor ''non-pribumi'' should be used, on the grounds that they promoted ethnic discrimination. The
Dutch East India Company The United East India Company ( nl, Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, the VOC) was a chartered company established on the 20th March 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating existing companies into the first joint-stock ...
, which dominated parts of the archipelago from the 17th century, classified its subjects mainly by religion, rather than ethnicity. The colonial administration which took power in 1815 shifted to a system of ethnic classification. Initially they distinguished between Europeans (''Europeanen'') and those equated with them (including native Christians) and ''Inlanders'' and those equated with them (including non-Christian Asians). Over time, native were gradually shifted de facto into the ''Inlander'' category, while
Chinese Indonesians Chinese Indonesians ( id, Orang Tionghoa Indonesia) and colloquially Chindo or just Tionghoa are Indonesians whose ancestors arrived from China at some stage in the last eight centuries. Chinese people and their Indonesian descendants have l ...
,
Arab Indonesians Arab Indonesians ( ar, عربٌ إندونيسيون) or ''Hadharem'' (; sing., ''Hadhrami'', ), informally known as Jama'ah, and until the 20th century known as Codjas or Kodjas, note the work was also published in the Hague and Utrecht simulta ...
and others of non-Indonesian descent were gradually given separate status as ''Vreemde Oosterlingen'' ("Foreign Orientals"). The system was patriarchal, rather than formally racial. A child inherited his/her father's ethnicity if the parents were married; the mother's ethnicity if they were unmarried. The off-spring of a marriage between a European man and an Indonesian woman were legally European. Today, Indonesian dictionary defines ''pribumi'' as ''penghuni asli'' which translates into "original, native or indigenous inhabitant".


Background

Pribumi make up about 95% of the Indonesian population. Using Indonesia's population estimate in 2006, this translates to about 230 million people. As an umbrella of similar cultural heritage among various ethnic groups in Indonesia, Pribumi culture plays a significant role in shaping the country's socioeconomic circumstance. The United States
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...
Country Study of Indonesia defines ''Pribumi'' as: There are over 1,300 ethnic groups in
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
, of which 200 are of Native Indonesian ancestry. The largest ethnic group in Indonesia are the
Javanese people The Javanese ( id, Orang Jawa; jv, ꦮꦺꦴꦁꦗꦮ, ''Wong Jawa'' ; , ''Tiyang Jawi'' ) are an ethnic group native to the central and eastern part of the Indonesian island of Java. With approximately 100 million people, Javanese people ...
who make up 41% of the total population. The Javanese are concentrated on the island of
Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...
but millions have migrated to other islands throughout the archipelago. The
Sundanese Sundanese may refer to: * Sundanese people * Sundanese language * Sundanese script Standard Sundanese script (''Aksara Sunda Baku'', ) is a writing system which is used by the Sundanese people. It is built based on Old Sundanese script (' ...
,
Malay Malay may refer to: Languages * Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore ** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century ** Indonesi ...
, Madurese and
Batak Batak is a collective term used to identify a number of closely related Austronesian ethnic groups predominantly found in North Sumatra, Indonesia, who speak Batak languages. The term is used to include the Karo, Pakpak, Simalungun, Toba, ...
are the next largest groups in the country. Many ethnic groups, particularly in
Kalimantan Kalimantan () is the Indonesian portion of the island of Borneo. It constitutes 73% of the island's area. The non-Indonesian parts of Borneo are Brunei and East Malaysia. In Indonesia, "Kalimantan" refers to the whole island of Borneo. In 2019, ...
and the province of Papua, have only hundreds of members. Most of the local languages belong to the Austronesian language family, although a significant number, particularly in
North Maluku North Maluku ( id, Maluku Utara) is a province of Indonesia. It covers the northern part of the Maluku Islands, bordering the Pacific Ocean to the north, the Halmahera Sea to the east, the Molucca Sea to the west, and the Seram Sea to the south. ...
,
Timor Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, in the north of the Timor Sea. The island is East Timor–Indonesia border, divided between the sovereign states of East Timor on the eastern part and Indonesia on the western p ...
, Alor, and West Papua, speak
Papuan languages The Papuan languages are the non- Austronesian and non-Australian languages spoken on the western Pacific island of New Guinea in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, as well as neighbouring islands, by around 4 million people. It is a strictly geogra ...
. The division and classification of ethnic groups in Indonesia is not rigid and in some cases are unclear as the result of migrations, along with cultural and linguistic influences; for example some may agree that the Bantenese and
Cirebonese The Cirebon or Cirebonese (''Wong Cirebon''; ''Urang Cirebon'') are an indigenous ethnic group native to Cirebon in the northeastern region of West Java, Indonesia. With a population of approximately 1.9 million, Cirebonese population, they a ...
belong to different ethnic groups with their own distinct dialect, however others might consider them to be Javanese sub-ethnicities, as members of the larger
Javanese people The Javanese ( id, Orang Jawa; jv, ꦮꦺꦴꦁꦗꦮ, ''Wong Jawa'' ; , ''Tiyang Jawi'' ) are an ethnic group native to the central and eastern part of the Indonesian island of Java. With approximately 100 million people, Javanese people ...
. The same considerations may apply to the
Baduy people Baduy people (sometimes spelled as Badui or Kanekes) are an indigenous Sundanese ethnic group native to the southeastern part of Banten specifically Lebak Regency on western hemisphere of Java island in Indonesia. Etymology The term is a short ...
who share so many similarities with the
Sundanese people The Sunda or Sundanese ( id, Orang Sunda; su, ᮅᮛᮀ ᮞᮥᮔ᮪ᮓ, Urang Sunda) are an indigenous ethnic group native to the western region of Java island in Indonesia, primarily West Java. They number approximately 42 million and form ...
that they can be considered as belonging to the same ethnic group. The clearest example of hybrid ethnicity are the
Betawi people Betawi may refer to: *Betawi people *Betawi language * Betawi cuisine *Betawi mask dance See also * Batavia (disambiguation) * Batavi (disambiguation) Batavi may refer to: *Batavi (Germanic tribe) **Revolt of the Batavi *Batavi (military unit) *Ba ...
, the result of a mixture of different native ethnicities that have merged with people of Arab, Chinese and Indian origins since the era of colonial Batavia (Jakarta). The proportional populations of Native Indonesians according to the (2009 census) is as follows:


Smaller groups

The regions of Indonesia have some of their ''indigenous'' ethnic groups. Due to migration within Indonesia (as part of government
transmigration program The transmigration program ( id, , from Dutch, ''transmigratie'') was an initiative of the Dutch colonial government and later continued by the Indonesian government to move landless people from densely populated areas of Indonesia to less pop ...
s or otherwise), there are significant populations of ethnic groups who reside outside of their traditional regions. *
Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...
: Javanese,
Sundanese Sundanese may refer to: * Sundanese people * Sundanese language * Sundanese script Standard Sundanese script (''Aksara Sunda Baku'', ) is a writing system which is used by the Sundanese people. It is built based on Old Sundanese script (' ...
, Betawi, Bantenese, Tengger, Osing, Badui, and others. *
Madura Madura Island is an Indonesian island off the northeastern coast of Java. The island comprises an area of approximately (administratively 5,379.33 km2 including various smaller islands to the east, southeast and north that are administrati ...
: Madurese *
Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...
:
Batak Batak is a collective term used to identify a number of closely related Austronesian ethnic groups predominantly found in North Sumatra, Indonesia, who speak Batak languages. The term is used to include the Karo, Pakpak, Simalungun, Toba, ...
,
Minangkabau Minangkabau may refer to: * Minangkabau culture, culture of the Minangkabau people * Minangkabau Culture Documentation and Information Center * Minangkabau Express, an airport rail link service serving Minangkabau International Airport (''see below' ...
, Malays, Acehnese,
Lampung Lampung (Lampung: ), officially the Province of Lampung ( id, Provinsi Lampung) is a province of Indonesia. It is located on the southern tip of the island of Sumatra. It has a short border with the province of Bengkulu to the northwest, and a ...
, Kubu, and others *
Kalimantan Kalimantan () is the Indonesian portion of the island of Borneo. It constitutes 73% of the island's area. The non-Indonesian parts of Borneo are Brunei and East Malaysia. In Indonesia, "Kalimantan" refers to the whole island of Borneo. In 2019, ...
: Dayak, Banjar,
Kutai Kutai is a historical region in what is now known as East Kalimantan, Indonesia on the island of Borneo and is also the name of the native ethnic group of the region (known as ''Urang Kutai'' or "the Kutai people"), numbering around 300,000 who ...
, and others. *
Sulawesi Sulawesi (), also known as Celebes (), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the world's eleventh-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Mindanao and the Sulu Ar ...
: Makassarese, Buginese, Mandar,
Minahasa The Minahasans (alternative spelling: Minahassa) are an ethnic group native to the North Sulawesi province of Indonesia, formerly known as North Celebes. The Minahasa people sometimes refer to themselves as Manado people. Although the Minahasan p ...
,
Buton Buton (also Butung, Boeton or Button) is an island in Indonesia located off the southeast peninsula of Sulawesi. It covers roughly 4,727 square kilometers in area, or about the size of Madura; it is the 129th largest island in the world and I ...
,
Gorontalo Gorontalo (Gorontalo language, Gorontaloan: ''Hulontalo'') is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia on the island of Sulawesi. Located on the Minahasa Peninsula, Gorontalo was formerly part of the province of North Sulawesi until its ...
,
Toraja The Torajans are an ethnic group indigenous to a mountainous region of South Sulawesi, Indonesia. Their population is approximately 1,100,000, of whom 450,000 live in the regency of Tana Toraja ("Land of Toraja"). Most of the population is Chri ...
,
Bajau The Sama-Bajau include several Austronesian ethnic groups of Maritime Southeast Asia. The name collectively refers to related people who usually call themselves the Sama or Samah (formally A'a Sama, "Sama people"); or are known by the exonym ...
, Mongondow, Buroko, Bolango, and others. *
Lesser Sunda Islands The Lesser Sunda Islands or nowadays known as Nusa Tenggara Islands ( id, Kepulauan Nusa Tenggara, formerly ) are an archipelago in Maritime Southeast Asia, north of Australia. Together with the Greater Sunda Islands to the west they make up t ...
: Balinese,
Sasak The Sasak people live mainly on the island of Lombok, Indonesia, numbering around 3.6 million (85% of Lombok's population). They are related to the Balinese in language and ancestry, although the Sasak are predominantly Muslim while the Bali ...
, Rotenese,
Atoni The Atoni (also known as the Atoin Meto, Atoin Pah Meto or Dawan) people are an ethnic group on Timor, in Indonesian West Timor and the East Timorese enclave of Oecussi-Ambeno. They number around 844,030. Their language is Uab Meto. The Atoni l ...
, and others. * The
Moluccas The Maluku Islands (; Indonesian: ''Kepulauan Maluku'') or the Moluccas () are an archipelago in the east of Indonesia. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located eas ...
:
Nuaulu The Nuaulu, Naulu or Nunuhai are a tribe located in Seram, Maluku, Indonesia. Description The tribe name 'Nuaulu' means head atersof the Nua River, which is the ancestral homeland of the Nuaulu people. In the late 19th century or early 20th cen ...
, Manusela,
Wemale The Wemale people are an ethnic group of Seram Island, Indonesia. They number over 7,500 and live in 39 villages of the central area of the island. Like the Alune people in the west, the Wemale people originate from a common ancestral group cal ...
, and others. * Papua: Dani, Bauzi, Asmat, and others. (see
List of ethnic groups of West Papua List of ethnic groups in West Papua, Indonesia: List See also *Indigenous people of New Guinea *Ethnic groups in Indonesia *West Papua (province) *List of districts of West Papua *West Papuan languages The West Papuan languages are a propo ...
)


See also

*
Culture of Indonesia The culture of Indonesia has been shaped by long interaction between original indigenous customs and multiple foreign influences. Indonesia is centrally-located along ancient trading routes between the Far East, South Asia and the Middle East, ...
*
Ethnic groups in Indonesia There are 1,340 recognised ethnic groups in Indonesia. The vast majority of those belong to the Austronesian peoples. Based on ethnic classification, the largest ethnic group in Indonesia is the Javanese who make up about 40% of the total popu ...
* List of indigenous peoples * List of Indonesian people *
National costume of Indonesia The national costume of Indonesia is the national costume that represents the Republic of Indonesia. It is derived from Indonesian culture and Indonesian traditional textile traditions. Today the most widely recognized Indonesian national costume ...
*
Overseas Indonesians Overseas Indonesians are people of Indonesian birth or descent who live outside of Indonesia. As of 2021, there are about 9 million overseas Indonesians globally, 5.3 million undocumented overseas Indonesian workers, 4.7 million overseas Indone ...


Non-Pribumi Indonesians

*
African Indonesians African Indonesians are an ethnic group of Indonesians with total or partial ancestry from any of the black racial groups of Africa who were born in or immigrated to Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in ...
*
Arab Indonesians Arab Indonesians ( ar, عربٌ إندونيسيون) or ''Hadharem'' (; sing., ''Hadhrami'', ), informally known as Jama'ah, and until the 20th century known as Codjas or Kodjas, note the work was also published in the Hague and Utrecht simulta ...
*
Chinese Indonesians Chinese Indonesians ( id, Orang Tionghoa Indonesia) and colloquially Chindo or just Tionghoa are Indonesians whose ancestors arrived from China at some stage in the last eight centuries. Chinese people and their Indonesian descendants have l ...
* Dutch Indonesians * Filipino Indonesians *
Indian Indonesians Indian Indonesians ( id, Orang India Indonesia; ta, இந்திய இந்தோனேசியர்) are Indonesians whose ancestors whose ancestors originally came from the Indian subcontinent. Therefore, this term can be regarded as ...
* Jewish Indonesians * Pakistani Indonesians


Notes


Further reading

* * {{Cite book , last=Suryadinata , first=Leo , year=1992 , title=Pribumi Indonesians, the Chinese Minority, and China , location=Singapore , publisher=Heinemann Asia Ethnic groups in Indonesia