Author : Djuara Pangihutan Lubis

Summary : The objective of this study was to describe the communication (mass media ownership and network indices) and socio-cultural (age, education, and organizational membership) variables influencing transmigrants ability to adapt to their new environment, as well as the contexts of the transmigration program. Analysis was done in three levels, namely, the national, regional (province and kabupaten), and resettlement levels. Transmigration, as a program related to uneven population among indonesian islands, was started in 1905 by the Dutch colonial government and then continued by the government of Republic Indonesia. The program has economic, political, and social objectives. Unitl 1998, the program was able to move than 1,000,000 households from Java, Bali, and Lombok islands to Sumatra, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, and Irian Jaya. From the new settlements formed by the program, aroung 2,500 new villages, 73 new kecamatans, and seven new kabupatens were formed.