Indonesian Americans

Clark E. Cunningham

Most Indonesians are recent migrants, arriving after passage of the 1965 Hart-Celler Act, and they share social and cultural characteristics of people in their homeland. Racial, ethnic, and religious differences and intergroup relations are important because of the cultural diversity in Indonesia and events in Indonesia relating to these differences that encouraged migration, as described in this entry. Indonesia has about 8,000 inhabited islands and an estimated population of 231.6 million people as of 2007. Some 200 culturally diverse ethnic groups range in population from several thousands to tens of millions, most with homelands within Indonesia in which they represent the dominant culture. Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, and local supernatural traditions are found there. Indonesia has the largest Muslim population of any nation, with about 90% of its people said to be Muslim. Some ethnic groups mostly follow one faith (for example, Acehnese are Muslim; Batak, Protestant; Florenese, Catholic; Balinese, ...

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