The Pusat Bahasa (Indonesian for "Language Center") is the institution responsible for designing and regulating the growth of the Indonesian language in Indonesia.
Founded in 1947 the Instituut voor Taal en Cultuur Onderzoek (Language and Culture Research Institute) for (ITCO), was a part of the University of Indonesia. The institute was headed by Prof. Dr. Gerrit Jan Held. Parallel to this, the newly formed Indonesian government, having just celebrated their independence in 1945, created Balai Bahasa (roughly translated as "Home of Language") in March of 1948. At that time, Balai Bahasa was under the Culture Division of the Kementrian Pendidikan, Pengajaran dan Kebudayaan (or "Ministry of Education, Teaching and Culture").
In 1952, Balai Bahasa and ITCO were integrated into Fakultas Sastra (the Faculty of Literature) at the University of Indonesia. Its name was then changed to Lembaga Bahasa dan Budaya (Division of Language and Culture). Seven years later, on June 1, 1959, the division was renamed Lembaga Bahasa dan Kesusastraan (Division of Language and Literature). At this time, it was also moved under the Department of Education, Teaching and Culture (formerly the Ministry).
On November 3, 1966, the division was again renamed to Direktorat Bahasa dan Kesusasteraan (Directorate of Language and Literature) under Direktorat Jendral Kebudayaan (Directorate General of Culture). The Directorate General was itself under Departemen Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan (Department of Education and Culture), after having been renamed.
On May 27, 1969, the directorate was renamed to Lembaga Bahasa Nasional (Division of National Language, LBN) under the same Directorate General.
On April 1, 1975, LBN was once again renamed to Pusat Pembinaan dan Pengembangan Bahasa (roughly "The Center of Language Learning and Research", PPPB). Unofficially, the term Pusat Bahasa is used to refer to PPPB, due to its lengthy name.[1]
Based on the (Indonesian) President's mandate in 2000, PPPB was officially renamed to Pusat Bahasa, which still stands until now (2006), although it is now under Sekretariat Jendral Department Pendidikan Nasional (Secretariate General of the Department of National Education).
As of 2006, Pusat Bahasa has a division named Balai Bahasa in the twenty-one provinces of Indonesia.