The population of Indonesia was 237.64 million according to the 2010 national census, and it was estimated to reach 255.4 million in 2015. Fifty-eight per cent live on the island of Java, the world's most populous island. Despite a fairly effective family planning program that has been in place since 1967, Indonesia's population growth was 1.49% for the decade ending in 2010. At that rate, Indonesia's population is projected to surpass the present population of the United States. Some say family planning should be revitalised based on the 1967 program to avoid Indonesia becoming the world's third most populous country, but this aim has been criticised by religious groups who believe that family planning goes against religious teachings. Indonesia has a relatively young population compared to Western nations, though it is ageing as the country's birth rate has slowed and its life expectancy has increased. The median age was 30.2 years in 2017. Indonesia includes numerous ethnic, cultural and linguistic groups, some of which are related to each other. Since independence, Indonesian is the language of most written communication, education, government, and business. Many local ethnic languages are the first language of most Indonesians and are still important.
There are over 300 ethnic groups in Indonesia; 95% of those are of Native Indonesian ancestry. Javanese is the largest group with 100 million people, followed by Sundanese, who number nearly 40 million.
Religions
Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation; almost 87.18% of Indonesians declared themselves Muslim in the 2010 census. 9.87% of the population adhered to Christianity, 1.69% were Hindu, 0.72% Buddhist, and 0.56 of other faiths. Most Indonesian Hindus are Balinese and most Buddhists in modern-day Indonesia are Chinese.
Languages
is the official language, but there are many different languages native to Indonesia. According to Ethnologue, there are currently 737 living languages spoken in Indonesia, the most widely spoken being Javanese. Some Chinese varieties, most prominently Min Nan, are also spoken. The public use of Chinese, especially Chinese characters, was officially discouraged between 1966 and 1998.
Literacy
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 92.81%
male: 95.5%
female: 90.4% Education is free in state schools; it is compulsory for children through to grade 12. Although about 92% of eligible children are enrolled in primary school, a much smaller percentage attends full-time. About 44% of secondary school-age children attend junior high school, and some others of this age group attend vocational schools.
The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated. Age structure Median age Birth rate Death rate Population growth rate Urbanization Sex ratio Infant mortality rate Life expectancy at birth HIV/AIDS Obesity - adult prevalence rate Children under the age of 5 years underweight Nationality Religions Languages School life expectancy Education expenditures
