<p><strong>Noun</strong></p><ul><li>East Indies.</li><li>Republic of.</li><li>Formerly Netherlands East Indies, a republic in the Malay Archipelago consisting of 13,677 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, the S part of Borneo, the W part of New Guinea, the Moluccas, Bali, Madura, and most of the Lesser Sunda Islands.</li><li>Gained independence from the Netherlands in 1949.</li><li>735,358 sq. mi. (1,904,569 sq. km).</li><li>Jakarta.</li></ul>