Nusantara (archipelago)

Nusantara (archipelago) is the name of the territory of the Indonesian archipelago stretching from Sumatra to Papua word archipelago was first recorded in the Middle Javanese literature ( 12th century to 16th ) , to illustrate the concept of power in use by the kingdom of Majapahit after 4 centuries forgotten , in the early 20th century Dewantara revive Ki Hajar said one of the archipelago as an alternative name for an independent state progressors Dutch East Indies that has not materialized . Archipelago continues to use the word as a synonym for the Indonesian archipelago . This understanding is now growing up in Indonesia . The term was later used also to describe the unity of geography - anthropology archipelago that lies between the continents of Asia and Australia , including the Malay Peninsula but does not include the Philippines . In this latter sense , the archipelago is equivalent to the Malay Archipelago , a term popular in the late 19th century until the early 20th century , especially in the English language literature .