Indonesian

Indonesian is a standardised variety of Malay, and the official language of Indonesia. The language takes its origins from Riau Malay which had been used by traders for hundreds of years. Indonesia is home to more than 700 native languages, making a common language for trade necessary, but Malay did not spread into wider use across the rest of the population.

Indonesia became a Dutch colony in the 1800s, but unlike other colonised countries it never adopted the language. Dutch was never widely spoken and so was not considered as a national language when Indonesia gained independence in 1945. To help create a unified national identity and avoid favouring one ethnic group over another Malay was chosen as the national language of Indonesia. This variety of Malay was standardised as Indonesian, giving us the language, we know today.

Indonesian is primarily used for formal communication including government, mass media, administration, law, and education. When Indonesian became Indonesia’s national language in 1945 only 5% of the population were native speakers, since then the figure has raised to 16%. Most of Indonesia’s population speak Indonesian as a second or third language, while speaking a different language like Javanese or Sundanese within their local community.

Most native Indonesian speakers live in urban areas, with second language speakers being more prominent in rural areas. While Indonesian has a national standard dialect, there are also local variants used for daily communication outside of formal context.