Directory_and_Chronicle_1941 — Page 1377

NETHERLANDS INDIES

SITUATION, AREA AND POPULATION

The Dutch possessions in Asia are situated in the Indian Archipelago, between 6° N. and 11° S. latitude and 95° 40′ and about 141° E. longitude. They comprise Sumatra with adjacent islands, the archipelago of Bintang or Riouw, the archipelago of Lingga, the Karimon, Tambelan, Anambas and Natoena islands, the Islands Bangka and Billiton, Java and Madoera, the western, southern and eastern part of Borneo, Celebes and all the other islands eastward of Borneo and Java to 141° E. longitude, with the exception of the eastern part of Timor (Timor-Dilli). Java and Madoera extend over 132,274.1 k. m. and the other islands together over 1,767,476.9 k. m.

With regard to the legal position, the population is divided into Europeans, with those who are considered equal to them (half-castes, Armenians, Japanese), and natives, with those who are considered equal to them (Chinese, Klings, Arabs, etc.). In 1930 the total number of Europeans amounted to 242,372 (census figures). The number of Chinese, Arabs and other foreign Asiatics in 1930 (census figures) was 1,344,878 of whom 709,218 were in Java and Madoera. The natives numbered 41,719,524 in Java and Madoera, and the total number of natives on all the other islands together amounted to 19,011,501. The total population of the Netherlands Indies at the time of the 1930 census was 60,727,000 inhabitants, since when the number of souls is estimated to have increased by approximately 10 millions

A great part of the Europeans are employed in, or retired from, the Governmen service; next in number are the planters, traders and industrialists. The Arabs, Chinese and other Orientals are almost all tradesmen, but it must be mentioned that some Chinese are in possession of, or are employed on, plantations in Java, and that more than 20,000 Chinese are working as labourers on the tobacco estates on the East Coast of Sumatra, and that thousands of Chinese labourers are employed under European superintendence in the exploitation of the tin mines of Bangka and Billiton. The natives cultivate the soil; in the larger places they also are mechanics, but the practice of the handicrafts is for the greater part in the hands of Chinese. Of the people of Java only 4 per cent live in cities of more than 50,000 inhabitants, whilst in the other islands the percentage is considerably lower.

HISTORY AND GOVERNMENT

When the Dutch in the last years of the sixteenth century established themselves in the Archipelago they found the Portuguese there. In order to be strong against other European rivals, the Dutch East Indian Company was established in 1602 by charter of the States General of the United Netherlands, granting a monopoly for the trade in all the countries east of the Cape of Good Hope to the Straits of Magellan, and the right to make treaties with Indian princes, to make war, build fortifications, and give commissions to civil and military officers, etc. The East Indian Company was nearly independent and disposed of large capital. The first proceedings were commercial, but soon the Company extended its power and conquered territory in Java and the Moluccas. The first "loge" was established at Bantam, then at Jakatra, where the Governor-General, J. P. Coen, made a fortress, which he called Batavia (1619). After a long period of great prosperity the Company fell into decay, the difficulties increased under a heavy burden of debts, and in 1800 the States General cancelled the charter and took the administration of the possessions into their own hands. At the same time the British, during the war with France and the Netherlands, conquered the greater part of the Dutch colonies. In 1802, by the treaty of peace concluded at Amiens, the colonies, with the exception of Ceylon, were restored to the Batavian Republic, as the Netherlands were then called, but during the war with England that was soon afterwards declared the Dutch again lost all their possessions. After the fall of Napoleon, in 1815, the greater part of the colonies were restored to the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and by the London treaty of 17th March, 1824, Malacca and the establishments on the continent of India were exchanged for Benkoelen.