Geo Language Services

Indonesian (Bahasa)

Indonesian, the official language of Indonesia, is spoken by millions and serves as a unifying language in a diverse country.

  • Classification

    Austronesian > Malayo-Polynesian

  • Speakers

    23 million

  • Script

    Roman

  • Text direction

    Left-to-right

  • Official language

    Indonesia

  • Other names

    Bahasa Indonesia

Indonesian (Bahasa)

Indonesian is the official language of Indonesia. It’s a standardised register of Malay and the two languages are about 95% similar. “Bahasa” literally means “the language”.

Bahasa Indonesian is a member of the Malayo-Polynesian language group. Other languages in this language group include Tagalog, Maori and Malagasy to name but a few.

Most Indonesians speak another language at home, for example Javanese or Sundanese. When Indonesia declared independence in 1945, Bahasa Indonesia was only spoken by 5% of the population whereas half of the population spoke Javanese or Sundanese.

At Geo Language Services, our translations in Bahasa Indonesia maintain clarity, relevance, and cultural appropriateness, allowing your message to connect with Indonesian speakers both locally and globally.

Services offered for this language

Translation / Transcreation / Subtitling / Localization / Adaptation / Copywriting / Authoring / Proofreading / Revision / Editing / Translation quality assurance / Terminology / Linguistic validation / Glossary creation / Dubbing / Voice-overs / Transcription / Typesetting / Simultaneous interpreting / Consecutive interpreting / Conference interpreting / Telephone interpreting / Public service interpreting / Interpreting equipment hire / Foreign language consulting

Interesting fact

The best of all condiments, the word ketchup is from the Indonesian word kecap, although it's actually a soy sauce, rather than a tomato sauce.

How can we help you?

Let us know about your needs, and we’ll guide you through every step of the way.