History of Indonesia

The Dutch began to colonizeIndonesia in the early 17thcentury; Japan occupied theislands from 1942 to 1945.Indonesia declared itsindependence after Japan'ssurrender, but it required fouryears of intermittentnegotiations, recurring hostilities,and UN mediation before theNetherlands agreed to transfersovereignty in 1949. Indonesia'sfirst free parliamentary electionafter decades of repressive ruletook place in 1999. Indonesia isnow the world's third-largestdemocracy, the world's largestarchipelagic state, and home tothe world's largest Muslimpopulation. Current issuesinclude: alleviating poverty,improving education, preventingterrorism, consolidatingdemocracy after four decades ofauthoritarianism, implementingeconomic and financial reforms,stemming corruption, holding themilitary and police accountablefor past human rights violations,addressing climate change, andcontrolling avian influenza. In2005, Indonesia reached ahistoric peace agreement witharmed separatists in Aceh, whichled to democratic elections inAceh in December 2006. Indonesiacontinues to face a low intensityseparatist movement in Papua.