Indonesia Genealogy

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Indonesia

Guide to Indonesia, family history and genealogy parish registers, transcripts, census records, birth records, marriage records, and death records.

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Country Information

Indonesia is the world’s 4^th most populous country with over 264 million people, as well as the most populous Muslim-majority country. All Muslim countries combined are still smaller than the Muslim population in Indonesia. With more than seventeen thousand islands, Indonesia is also the world’s largest archipelagic country. Java, the world’s most populous Island contains over 60% of the country’s population. There are 737 languages spoken in Indonesia, with Bahasa Indonesia as the national language and Javanese as the most spoken traditional language.

Indonesia is a very multi-cultural country. There were multiple foreign countries fighting to draw natural resources in Indonesia, at least since the 7^th century. Local rulers gradually absorbed foreign cultural, religious, and political models from these countries, and Hindu and Buddhist kingdoms developed. Islam was brought by the Muslim traders and Sufi scholars, while European brought Christianity during the Age of Discovery. Indonesia experienced the Dutch colonialism for a long period of time. During World War II, Japan interrupted the colonialism by the Dutch and occupied Indonesia for a little over three years. In August 17, 1945 Indonesia declared their independence, but achieved its full independent in 1949 after an armed and diplomatic conflict with the Netherlands.

Even after being independent, the influence of the Dutch is still affecting the country. Due to very minimal education system in Indonesia, illiteracy was quite common among the society. Only Dutch companies’ employees’ family can get a decent education, and the rest of the people only received very basic education, which will give benefits to the Dutch. For this reason, many native Indonesians did not have any understandings about keeping family records. 

Getting Started

Getting Started with Indonesia Research Links to articles on getting started with Indonesia research. Indonesia Civil Registration Indonesia Church Records Indonesia Census

Indonesia Research Tools Links to articles and websites that assist in Indonesia research. Indonesia Genealogy (MyHeritage) Indonesia Genealogy (Geneanet) Bridging the gap in Dutch-Indonesian Genealogy UN article on Indonesian records Court of Yogyakarta Documents in Javanese dating from 1772 to 1813, originating from the court of Yogyakarta Data collections in Oceania and Indonesia (Ancestry) Indonesia Genealogy Records (Forebears) Indonesia - Message Boards (Rootsweb) Chinese Epigraphic Materials In Indonesia 印度尼西亚华文文铭刻汇编

Indonesia Online Genealogy Records

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Indonesia Map

Genealogy records are kept on the local level in Indonesia.

Aceh

North
Sumatra

West
Sumatra

Riau

Riau
Islands

Bangka–
Belitung

Jambi

South
Sumatra

Bengkulu

Lampung

Banten

Jakarta

West
Java

Central
Java

Yogyakarta

East
Java

Bali

West Nusa
Tenggara

East Nusa
Tenggara

West
Kalimantan

Central
Kalimantan

North
Kalimantan

East
Kalimantan

South
Kalimantan

North
Sulawesi

North
Maluku

Central
Sulawesi

Gorontalo

West
Sulawesi

South
Sulawesi

Southeast
Sulawesi

Maluku

West
Papua

Papua

Provinces

Indonesian provinces and their capitals, listed by region

Indonesian name is in parentheses if different from English. An asterisk (*) in the list below indicates a locality with special status (Daerah Istimewa or Daerah Khusus Ibukota).

Sumatra

• Aceh (Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam) ^*– Banda Aceh
• North Sumatra (Sumatera Utara)– Medan
• West Sumatra (Sumatera Barat)– Padang
• Riau– Pekanbaru
• Riau Islands (Kepulauan Riau)– Tanjung Pinang
• Jambi– Jambi City
• South Sumatra (Sumatera Selatan)– Palembang
• Bangka-Belitung Islands (Kepulauan Bangka-Belitung)– Pangkal Pinang
• Bengkulu– Bengkulu City
• Lampung– Bandar Lampung

Java

• Special Capital Region of Jakarta^* (Daerah Khusus Ibu Kota Jakarta) – Jakarta
• Banten– Serang
• West Java (Jawa Barat)– Bandung
• Central Java (Jawa Tengah) – Semarang
• Yogyakarta Special Region^* (Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta)– Yogyakarta (city)
• East Java (Jawa Timur)– Surabaya

Lesser Sunda Islands

• Bali– Denpasar
• West Nusa Tenggara (Nusa Tenggara Barat)– Mataram
• East Nusa Tenggara (Nusa Tenggara Timur)– Kupang

Kalimantan

• West Kalimantan (Kalimantan Barat)– Pontianak
• Central Kalimantan (Kalimantan Tengah)– Palangkaraya
• South Kalimantan (Kalimantan Selatan)– Banjarmasin
• East Kalimantan (Kalimantan Timur)– Samarinda
• North Kalimantan (Kalimantan Utara)– Tanjung Selor

Sulawesi

• North Sulawesi (Sulawesi Utara)– Manado
• Gorontalo– Gorontalo City
• Central Sulawesi (Sulawesi Tengah)– Palu
• West Sulawesi (Sulawesi Barat)– Mamuju
• South Sulawesi (Sulawesi Selatan)– Makassar
• Southeast Sulawesi (Sulawesi Tenggara)– Kendari

Maluku Islands

• Maluku (province)– Ambon
• North Maluku (Maluku Utara)– Sofifi

West Papua (region)|Western New Guinea

• West Papua (province)^* (Papua Barat)– Manokwari
• Papua (province)^*– Jayapura

FamilySearch Resources

Below are FamilySearch resources that can assist you in researching your family.

• Facebook Communities - Facebook groups discussing genealogy research
• Learning Center - Online genealogy courses
• Historical Records
• Family History Center locator map

In other languages: Bahasa Indonesia | English

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