Bahasa Indonesia (which is also referred to simply as Indonesian) is heavily influenced by Malay, which was the most widely used language on the Indonesian archipelago for many centuries. Indonesian was made the official language of Indonesia with the promulgation of the 1945 declaration of independence. Still, Bahasa Indonesia is basically the same language as Bahasa Malaysia, Malaysia's official tongue. Indonesian and Malaysian have borrowed significantly from other languages including Chinese, Dutch, Portuguese, Arabic and Sanskrit. The language is spoken as a first language by a scant 7 percent of Indonesia's population and only 45 percent of the population of Malaysia. Almost 200 million people, however, speak it as a second language with widely varying levels of proficiency. Despite what these figures may suggest, Indonesian is an essential means of communication in the region, which boasts over 300 distinct languages. Bahasa Indonesia is used in all mass media, at all levels of education, and is the primary language for business and commerce.