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 status. Notable examples are South Mollucan leaders Chris Soumokil (1905–1966) and Johan Manusama (1910–1995) who both had Indo mothers and were legally classified as European. Notwithstanding Indos officially belonged to the European legal class, colonial society consisted of a very complex structure of many social distinctions. The European segment of society can broadly be divided into the following 3 social layers: Although Indos were legally European and could be found in all layers of society, with the continued arrival of white (totok) Dutch settlers and expatriates, their social status in colonial times increasingly depended on their efforts to blend into