section_path: Demographics/Ethnic groups and languages
section_name: Ethnic groups and languages
paragraph_text: Ethnic groups and languages
  
  Indonesia is home to around 600 distinct native ethnic groups, predominantly descended from Austronesian peoples speaking Proto-Austronesian languages, likely from modern-day Taiwan. The Melanesians, who inhabit eastern Indonesia, represent another significant ethnic grouping. The Javanese, making up 40% of the population, are the largest ethnic group and the politically dominant one, primarily residing in central and eastern Java, with sizeable numbers in other provinces. Other major groups include the Sundanese, Malay, Batak, Madurese, Betawi, Minangkabau, and Bugis. A sense of Indonesian nationhood exists alongside strong regional identities.
  
  The official language, Indonesian, is a variant of Malay based on its prestige dialect, which became the archipelago's lingua franca over the course of centuries. It was first promoted by nationalists in the 1920s and gained official status in 1945, following independence, under the name Bahasa Indonesia, and has since been widely adopted due to its use in education, media, business, and governance. While nearly all Indonesians speak Bahasa, most also speak one of over 700 local languages, often as their first language. These are predominantly from the Austronesian family, with over 270 Papuan languages in eastern Indonesia. Javanese is the most widely spoken local language and holds co-official status in Yogyakarta.
  
  The Dutch and other European-descended populations like the Indos, though significant during colonial times, always represented a small fraction of the population, numbering only around 200,000 in 1930. The Dutch language never gained substantial traction due to the Dutch colonial focus on commerce rather than cultural integration. Dutch fluency exists today in small numbers among some older generations and legal professionals, as specific legal codes remain available only in that language.