From this point of view, it is clear that from the early 18th century until the second half of the 19th century, there had been a dichotomous economic development between Java and the Outer Islands. Although the surface area of Java and Madura was only nine per cent of the whole surface area of the Netherlands Indies, it played a chief role as the centre of economic activities (Boomgaard and Gooszen,
1990). 55 In 1900, Java and Madura were inhabited by 69 per cent of the total population of the Netherlands Indies (Touwen, 2001). 56 The most populous provinces among the Outer Islands were South Sulawesi, West Sumatra, Bali, East Sumatra, and Timor. In 1930, these five provinces were inhabited by 55 per cent of the total population of the Outer Islands. The least populous provinces were Belitung, Bangka, Jambi, Riau and Bengkulu, all with less than 2 per cent each.