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The main islands are Sumatra ( 473.606 sq.km ), Kalimantan ( 539.460 sq.km ),Irian Jaya ( 421.981 sq.km ), and the smallest but most populated is Java ( 132,187 sq.km)
Indonesia sares the islands of Kalimantan ( two thirds ) with malaysian and Irian Jaya with Papua New Guinea.

A  democratic republic, Indonesia  is divided into 27 provinces and special territories and classified geographically into four groups. First is the Great Sundas, comprising the larger islands of Sumatra , Java, Kalimantan and Sulawesi.

Second is the Lesser Sundas consisting of smaller islands from Bali eastward to Timor. Third is Maluku which includes all islands between Irian Jaya and Sulawesi.
The fourth group is Irian Jaya in the extreme eastern part of the country. The strategic position of the archipelago, the history of Indonesia, both political and economic, has been conditioned by geography.

HISTORY

The first proof of the earliest inhabitants of Java was discovered by Dr. Eugene Dubois in 1890. Fossils of the "Java Man" ( Pithecanthroupus Erectus ) dating back 500.000 years were excavated near Trinil village in East Java followed by other finds in later years.

Migration movements to Indonesia have been traced back to 3.000-500 B.C. of Mongoloid stock from China and Tonkin introducing New Stone, Bronze and Iron Age Cultures and the Austronesian language. Indonesia came under the influence of the Indian civilization through the gradual in flux of Indian traders in the first century A.D. when great empires began to emerge bound to  Hinduism and Buddhism.

By the seventh century, the powerful Buddhist Kingdom of Sriwijaya expanded and it was probably during this period that the spectacular Borobudur Buddhist sanctuary was built in Central Java. The thirteenth century saw the rise of the fabulous HIndu empire of Majapahit in East java which united the whole of Indonesia and parts of the Malay peninsula and ruled for two centuries. Remnants of this glorious periond in Indonesia's history are the many monuments spread through Java, like the Prambanan temple near Yogyakarta, the Penataran temple complex in East Java, the temples on the Dieng Plateau and many others.

The first attempt to invade Indonesia was by the Mongol emperor Kubilai Khan who wa driven back in 1293. With the arrival of Arab traders. Island spread gradually till  the  end  of  the 16^th  century  and  replaced Hinduism  and Buddhism as the dominant  religion.  Small  Moslem  kingdoms arose,  but  none too strong toward European enetrations which followed

The first European to set foot on Java was Marco Polo in 1292 but it was much later that the Portuguese arrived in pursuit of the spice trade in 1509 and established trading posts which they controlled from the strategic commercial centre of Malacca on the Malay peninsula.

The Dutch followed at the turn of the 16^th century and succeded in ousting the Portuguese to the easternmost islands where the Spaniards held some ports. The Dutch expanded control of the entire area in the 17^th and 18^th centuries and held it till the outbreak of World War II. Known as the Dutch East Indies, it feel under British rule for a short period ( 1811 - 1816 ) when Holland was occupied France
during the Napoleonic wars. The British Lt. Governor for Java and its dependencies.
Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, was known for his liberal attitude towards the poeple under colonial rule and his research on the history of Java. Long bloody wars were launched by the native poeple against the colonia government where as
independence movements rose at the beginning of the 20^th century.

With the surrender of the Japanese in 1945. Indonesia proclaimed its independence
on August 17 that same year.

The returning Dutch bitterly resisted the nationalist movement as interminttent fighting followed. Finally an agreement was reached at the Hague under United
Nations auspices when Indonesia's sovereignty over the former Dutch East Indies
was recognized on December 9, 1949.