Indonesian: The Standardized Form of Malay

Indonesian (Bahasa Indonesia) is the official standardized variety of Malay, based on the Riau dialect historically spoken in the Riau Islands and coastal Sumatra.

It was declared the national language at independence (1945) to unify the archipelago's hundreds of ethnic groups and languages. While Indonesian is the official language of government, education, and media, most Indonesians speak a regional language (Javanese, Sundanese, Balinese, etc.) as their mother tongue and learn Indonesian as a second language.