Protestantism in Indonesia

Protestantism (Indonesian: Protestanisme) is one of the six approved religions in Indonesia, the others being Islam, Roman Catholicism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Confucianism. Its followers comprise the majority of Christians in Indonesia, who are the second largest religious group in the country after Muslims.

According to CIA statistics, in 2000 5.7% of the population of Indonesia were Protestant.^[1] A nationwide census of 2018 noted that 7.6% (20,250,000) of the population considered themselves Protestant, the largest such community in Southeast Asia.^[2]

Protestantism in Indonesia is largely a result of Calvinist (Reformed) and Lutheran missionary efforts during the country's colonial period.^[3][4][5] The Dutch East India Company regulated the missionary work so it could serve its own interests and restricted it to the eastern part of the Indonesian archipelago.^[6] Although these two branches are the most common, a multitude of other denominations can be found elsewhere in Indonesia.^[7] The Batak Protestant Christian Church, founded in 1861 by German Lutheran missionary Ludwig Ingwer Nommensen, is the largest one.^[8]