Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans, comprising between 13,000 and 17,000 islands and the world's largest archipelagic state. The Indonesian archipelago has been inhabited since prehistoric times, became connected to regional and international maritime trade networks by the first millennium BCE, and saw Hindu and Buddhist kingdoms develop by early centuries CE followed by the spread of Islam. European powers competed to monopolise trade in the Spice Islands of Maluku during the Age of Discovery, and Dutch commercial and colonial control expanded from the 17th century and was consolidated over most of the archipelago during the 19th and early 20th centuries, before Indonesia proclaimed its independence in the aftermath of World War II. The country today is a presidential republic of 38 provinces and, with over 280 million people, has the largest Muslim population of any country.
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