Native Indonesians, also known asPribumi (lit. 'first on the soil') areIndonesians whose ancestral roots lie mainly in the archipelago and consist of variousethnic groups, predominantly ofAustronesian andMelanesian descent. In contrast are Indonesians of known (partial) foreign descent, likeChinese Indonesians,Arab Indonesians,Indian Indonesians,Japanese Indonesians, andIndo-Europeans (Eurasians).
The termpribumi was popularized after Indonesian independence as a respectful replacement for the Dutch colonial terminlander (normally translated as "native" and seen as derogatory).[4] It derives fromSanskrit termspri (before) andbhumi (earth).
Following independence, the term was normally used to distinguish indigenous Indonesians from citizens of foreign descent (especiallyChinese Indonesians). Common usage distinguished betweenpribumi andnon-pribumi.[5] Although the term is sometimes translated as "indigenous", it has a broader meaning than that associated withIndigenous peoples.
The termWNI keturunan asing (WNI = "Indonesian citizen",keturunan asing = foreign descent), sometimes justWNI keturunan or evenWNI, has also been used to designatenon-pribumi Indonesians.[6]
In practice, the usage of the term is fluid.Pribumi is seldom used to refer to Indonesians ofMelanesian descent, such asMoluccans andPapuans, although it does not exclude them. Indonesians ofArab descent sometimes refer to themselves aspribumi. Indonesians with some exogenous ancestry who show no obvious signs of identification with that ancestry (such as former PresidentAbdurrahman Wahid who is said to have had Chinese ancestry) are seldom callednon-pribumi.
The termputra daerah ("son of the region") refers to a person who is indigenous to a specific locality or region.
In 1998, the Indonesian government of PresidentB. J. Habibie instructed that neitherpribumi nornon-pribumi should be used withinthe government because they promoted ethnic discrimination.[7][8]
TheDutch East India Company, which dominated parts of the archipelago from the 17th century, classified its subjects mainly by religion, rather than ethnicity. The colonial administration which took power in 1815 shifted to a system of ethnic classification. Initially, they distinguished between Europeans (Europeanen) and those equated with them (including native Christians) andInlanders and those equated with them (including non-Christian Asians).
Over time, natives were gradually shifted de facto into theInlander category, whileChinese Indonesians,Arab Indonesians, and others of non-Indonesian descent were gradually given separate status asVreemde Oosterlingen ("Foreign Orientals"). The system was patriarchal, rather than formally racial. A child inherited his/her father's ethnicity if the parents were married; and the mother's ethnicity if they were unmarried. The offspring of a marriage between a European man and an Indonesian woman were legally European.
Today,the Indonesian dictionary definespribumi aspenghuni asli which translates into "original, native, or indigenous inhabitant".[9]
Pribumi make up about 95% of the Indonesian population.[2] Using Indonesia's population estimate in 2006, this translates to about 230 million people. As an umbrella of similar cultural heritage among various ethnic groups in Indonesia, Pribumi culture plays a significant role in shaping the country's socioeconomic circumstances.
The United StatesLibrary of Congress Country Study of Indonesia definesPribumi as:
Literally, an indigene, or native. In the colonial era, the great majority of the population of the archipelago came to regard themselves as indigenous, in contrast to the non-indigenous Dutch and Chinese (and, to a degree, Arab) communities. After independence the distinction persisted, expressed as a dichotomy between elements that werepribumi and those that were not. The distinction has had significant implications for economic development policy
— Indonesia: A Country Study, Glossary[10]
There are over 600 ethnic groups inIndonesia,[11]
The largest ethnic group in Indonesia is theJavanese people who make up 41% of the total population. The Javanese are concentrated on the island ofJava but millions have migrated to other islands throughout the archipelago.[12] TheSundanese,Malay,Batak, andMadurese are the next largest groups in the country.[12] Many ethnic groups, particularly inKalimantan and the province ofPapua, have only hundreds of members. Most of the local languages belong to theAustronesian language family, although a significant number, particularly inNorth Maluku,Timor,Alor, andWest Papua, speakPapuan languages.
The division and classification of ethnic groups in Indonesia are not rigid and in some cases are unclear as the result of migrations, along with cultural and linguistic influences; for example, some[who?] may agree that theBantenese andCirebonese belong to different ethnic groups with their distinct dialect, however others[who?] might consider them to be Javanese sub-ethnicities, as members of the largerJavanese people. The same considerations may apply to theBaduy people who share so many similarities with theSundanese people that they can be considered as belonging to the same ethnic group. The clearest example of hybrid ethnicity is theBetawi people, the result of a mixture of different native ethnicities that have merged with people of Arab, Chinese, and Indian origins since the era of colonial Batavia (Jakarta), as well as the population ofLarantuka known asTopasses who were of mixed descent from theMalaccan Malays, theLamaholot, andPortuguese.
The proportional populations ofNative Indonesians according to the 2010 census is as follows:
| Ethnic groups | Population (million) | Percentage | Main regions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Javanese | 95.217[13] | 40.2[13] | Central Java,Yogyakarta,East Java,Lampung,Jakarta[13] |
| Sundanese | 31.765 | 15.4 | West Java,Banten,Lampung |
| Malay | 8.789 | 4.1 | Sumatra eastern coast,West Kalimantan |
| Batak | 8.467 | 3.58 | North Sumatra |
| Madurese | 7 .179 | 3.03 | Madura island,East Java |
| Bugis | 6.000 | 2.9 | South Sulawesi,East Kalimantan |
| Minangkabau | 5.569 | 2.7 | West Sumatra,Riau |
| Betawi | 5.157 | 2.5 | Jakarta,Banten,West Java |
| Banjarese | 4.800 | 2.3 | South Kalimantan,East Kalimantan |
| Bantenese | 4.331 | 2.1 | Banten,West Java |
| Acehnese | 4.000 | 1.9 | Aceh |
| Balinese | 3.094 | 1.5 | Bali |
| Dayak | 3.009 | 1.5 | North Kalimantan,West Kalimantan,Central Kalimantan |
| Sasak | 3.000 | 1.4 | West Nusa Tenggara |
| Makassarese | 2.063 | 1.0 | South Sulawesi |
| Cirebonese | 1.856 | 0.9 | West Java,Central Java |
The regions of Indonesia have some of theirindigenous ethnic groups. Due to migration within Indonesia (as part of governmenttransmigration programs or otherwise), there are significant populations of ethnic groups who reside outside of their traditional regions.
