Languages
Indonesian is the official national language, but there are many different languages native to Indonesia. According to Ethnologue, there are currently 737 living languages the most widely spoken of which is Javanese.
A number of Chinese dialects, most prominently Min Nan, are also spoken. The public use of Chinese, especially Chinese characters, was officially discouraged between 1966 and 1998.
Read more about this topic: Demographics Of Indonesia
Famous quotes containing the word languages:
“Wealth is so much the greatest good that Fortune has to bestow that in the Latin and English languages it has usurped her name.”
—William Lamb Melbourne, 2nd Viscount (1779–1848)
“The trouble with foreign languages is, you have to think before your speak.”
—Swedish proverb, trans. by Verne Moberg.
“I am always sorry when any language is lost, because languages are the pedigree of nations.”
—Samuel Johnson (1709–1784)