The colonial history of Indonesia
Indonesia has a long history of foreign rule, with the Dutch occupying the country for over 300 years. In the 17th century, the Dutch began to colonize Indonesia and established Dutch East India as a company. They brought their language and culture to the region, eventually known as the Dutch East Indies. Dutch speakers were the majority in Indonesia during this period, with English speakers and native Indonesian speakers being a minority. By the 19th century, the Dutch presence in Indonesia was solid, and many of its languages had been adopted by the region’s people. Dutch was widely spoken and the primary foreign language, while the native Indonesian language, Malay, was also popular. The Dutch also introduced their Latin alphabet to the region and taught it to many Indonesians, who then used it to write their native languages. The Indonesian independence movement of the 20th century saw a gradual shift away from the Dutch language. The movement sought to liberate the country from colonial rule. As part of this, Bahasa Indonesia (the Indonesian language) was promoted as a national language to replace the Dutch language. This effort was successful; today, Indonesian is the nation’s official language. While Dutch is no longer an official language in Indonesia, it is still spoken by some people in some regions of the country. Many Indonesians have some knowledge of Dutch due to its historical presence in Indonesia, and it is also still used in East Timor, Sint Maarten, and other regions with ties to the Netherlands. Additionally, there are still Dutch people living in Indonesia today who speak the language as their mother tongue. However, Dutch is no longer considered a popular or common language in Indonesia, with most Indonesians speaking only Bahasa Indonesia.