Nusantara (term)

Nusantara is the Indonesian name for the region spanning the Indonesian Archipelago and the Malay Peninsula. It is an Old Javanese term that literally means "outer islands".^[1] In Indonesia, it is generally taken to mean the Indonesian Archipelago.^[2][3] Outside of Indonesia, the term has been adopted to refer to the Malay Archipelago.^[4]

The word Nusantara is taken from an oath by Gajah Mada in 1336, as written in the Old Javanese Pararaton.^[5] Gajah Mada was a powerful military leader and prime minister of Majapahit credited with bringing the empire to its peak of glory. Gajah Mada delivered an oath called Sumpah Palapa, in which he vowed not to eat any food containing spices until he had conquered all of Nusantara under the glory of Majapahit.

In a wider sense, Nusantara in modern language usage includes Austronesian-related cultural and linguistic lands, namely, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Southern Thailand, the Philippines, Brunei, East Timor and Taiwan, while excluding Papua New Guinea.^{[6][circular reference][7][8][failed verification]}