Names of Indonesia Oceania and Maritime Southeast Asia. During that era, the East Indies portion now called "Indonesia" fell under Dutch colonial control and therefore was referred to as Dutch East Indies. Insulindia or Insulinde, is an archaic geographical term for Maritime Southeast Asia, encompassing the entire area situated between Australasia and Indochina. More common in Portuguese and Spanish, it is a combined word (portmanteau) from "insula" ("island") and "india" (India). "Indonesia" derives from the Latin and Greek "Indus" (Ἰνδός), and the Greek "nésos" (νῆσος), meaning "island". The name dates to the 18th century, far predating the formation of independent Indonesia. In 1850,
Indos in colonial history pressure to assimilate Indo culture into dominant Dutch culture. At the end of the colonial era, a community of about 300,000 Indo-Europeans was registered as Dutch citizens and Indos continued to form the majority of the European legal class. When, in the second half of the 20th century, the independent Republic of Indonesia was established, practically all Europeans, including the Indo-Europeans who by now had adopted a one sided identification with their paternal lineage, emigrated from the country. There are distinctive historical patterns of evolving social and cultural perspectives on Indo-European society and its culture. Throughout the colonial history of