The Great East () was a

governorate A governorate or governate is an administrative division headed by a governor. As English-speaking nations tend to call regions administered by governors either states or provinces, the term ''governorate'' is typically used to calque divisions ...

(''gouvernement'') of the

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...

between 1938 and 1946. It comprised all the islands to the east of Borneo ( Celebes, the

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

, and West New Guinea, with their offshore islands) and of Java (

Bali Bali (English:; Balinese language, Balinese: ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller o ...

and the

Lesser Sunda Islands The Lesser Sunda Islands (, , ), now known as Nusa Tenggara Islands (, or "Southeast Islands"), are an archipelago in the Indonesian archipelago. Most of the Lesser Sunda Islands are located within the Wallacea region, except for the Bali pro ...

). Its capital was Macassar on Celebes. The Great East was created with the merger of its constituent residencies on 25 May 1938 and was ruled by a governor. The first governor was G. A. W. Ch. de Haze Winkelman. Following

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the governorate (except for

Netherlands New Guinea Dutch New Guinea or Netherlands New Guinea (, ) was the Western New Guinea, western half of the island of New Guinea that was a part of the Dutch East Indies until 1949, later an overseas administrative territorial entity, overseas territory of ...

) became the State of the Great East (later the State of East Indonesia) on 24 December 1946. This state became a constituent of the federal

United States of Indonesia The United States of Indonesia (, ; abbreviated as RIS or RUSI, also known as Federal Republic of Indonesia) was a short-lived federal state to which the Netherlands formally transferred sovereignty of the Dutch East Indies (except Netherlands N ...

in 1949 and was integrated into a unitary Indonesia in 1950 (except West New Guinea, which was only integrated in 1963). As of December 2022, the area is divided into the eastern 17 of Indonesia's 38 provinces.

Administrative divisions

The Great East ''gouvernement'' consisted of the following residencies: * Bali and Lombok ( Singaradja) * Celebes en Onderhoorigheden ( Macassar), including southern Celebes and neighbouring islands * Menado (Menado), including all of northern Celebes *

( Amboina), including the Moluccas, West New Guinea, and other outlying islands such as Wetar and Aru * Timor en Onderhoorigheden (

Kupang Kupang (, ), formerly known as Koepang, is the capital of the Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara. At the 2020 Indonesian census, 2020 Census, it had a population of 442,758;Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2021. the official estimate as o ...

), including western

Timor Timor (, , ) is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, in the north of the Timor Sea. The island is Indonesia–Timor-Leste border, divided between the sovereign states of Timor-Leste in the eastern part and Indonesia in the ...

and the other

(except for Bali and Lombok)

Notes

References

* * *{{cite thesis , last1=Harvey , first1=Barbara Sillars , type=PhD , year=1974, title=Tradition, Islam, and Rebellion: South Sulawesi 1950-1965 , url=https://www.oxis.org/theses/harvey-1974.pdf , publisher=Cornell University Subdivisions of the Dutch East Indies Indonesia in World War II History of New Guinea History of Timor West Timor Western New Guinea 1938 establishments in the Dutch East Indies 1940s disestablishments in the Dutch East Indies 1946 disestablishments

Administrative divisions

See also

Notes

References