The Republic of Indonesia is located in the Malay Archipelago, the world's largest archipelago, between Indochina and Australia, between the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the most populous Muslim-majority nation in the world and the fourth most populous overall. It has had free elections since the 1998 Revolution which led to the resignation of President Suharto, who came to power in 1965.
Indonesia borders Malaysia on the island of Borneo (Indonesian: Kalimantan), Papua New Guinea on the island of New Guinea and East Timor on the island of Timor. In addition to the capital city of Jakarta, principal cities of high population include Surabaya, Bandung, Medan, Palembang, and Semarang.
Indonesia has 33 provinces (of those, 2 are special territories and 1 capital city territory). The Indonesia provinces are subdivided into regencies and cities, which are in turn split up in sub-districts. The provinces are: Bali, Bangka-Belitung, Banten, Bengkulu, Central Java, Central Kalimantan, Central Sulawesi, East Java, East Kalimantan, East Nusa Tenggara, South Sumatra, Gorontalo, Jambi, Lampung, Maluku, North Maluku, North Sulawesi, North Sumatra, Papua (Irian Jaya), Riau, Riau Kepulauan, South East Sulawesi, South Kalimantan, South Sulawesi, West Irian Jaya, West Java, West Kalimantan, West Nusa Tenggara, West Sulawesi, West Sumatra.
World War II saw Indonesia put in the middle of warfare between the Dutch and Imperial Japan. The defeat of the Dutch saw them driven out and replaced with Japanese occupation forces, but the weakening of these two world powers provided an opening for Indonesian Nationalists, led by Sukarno, and other independence movements to launch an armed conflict. After a brief time, during which the Dutch sought to re-colonize the country, the Indonesian Nationalists won recognition for the newly formed Republic of Indonesia. In doing so, it became among the first Third World nations to gain its independence.
After independence, Republic of Indonesia has largely been ruled from a strong central government in Jakarta. After Indonesia's founding President Sukarno was weakened by prolonged warfare with Malaysia and its allies in the Konfrontasi, and by internal conflict between the Indonesian Army and the Communist Party of Indonesia, the general Suharto took power in 1966. The period of his rule, known as the era of the New Order, would last 32 years and would make Indonesia a rapidly industrializing nation, though not without the problems of extensive corruption and popular discontent. After a wave of protests demanding democracy, Suharto stepped down, beginning the present period of Indonesian history, known as the Reformation era.
Indonesia had three presidents from 1998 to 2001: Bacharuddin Jusuf (BJ) Habibie, Abdurrahman Wahid and Megawati Sukarnoputri. Indonesia's first direct presidential election was held in 2004, and won by Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. It was the largest one-day election in the world.
A massive earthquake and tsunami on 26 December 2004 devastated parts of northern Sumatra, particularly Aceh.
Indonesian culture have been influenced by several cultures. The famous Javanese and Balinese dances, contain aspects of Hindu culture and mythology. But as a matter of fact, the diversity of Indonesian culture has come as a result of a long process of acculturation between the original customs and myriad of influences.
Indonesia is culturally diverse and is home to hundreds of forms of music, with those from the islands of Java, Sumatra and Bali being the most frequently recorded. The best-known traditional music from central/east Java and Bali is the Gamelan. A very popular modern style of music is the Dangdut, with the accompanying dance style.
With the fifth largest population in the world, Indonesians number 190 million and are basically of Malay and Polynesian stock comprising of 300 ethnic groups and subgroups having their own traditions. Early immigrants from the Indian subcontinent, China, the Arab peninsula and Persia have left their mark on culture and religion followed by influences of Portuguese, Spanish, English and Dutch traders and colonials.
Republic of Indonesia
National name: Republik Indonesia
Area: 699,548 sq mi (1,811,831 sq km)
Population (2006): 245,452,739 (growth rate: 1.4%); birth rate: 20.3/1000;
Capital: Jakarta
Other Cities: Surabaya, Bandung, Medan, Semarang
Currency : Rupiah
Languages: Bahasa Indonesia (official), English, Dutch, Javanese, and more than 580 other languages and dialects
Ethnicity Javanese 45%, Sundanese 14%, Madurese 7.5%, coastal Malays 7.5%, other 26%
Religions: Islam 88%, Protestant 5%, Roman Catholic 3%, Hindu 2%, Buddhist 1%, other 1%
Literacy : 89% |
