COUNTRY FACTS
INDONESIA IN SHORT
Indonesia is the world’s largest archipelago, with a landmass of 1.8 million square km and a coastline of 55,000km. It consists of more than 17,000 islands around equator, between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific, and stretches over three time zones. Climate is tropical; hot and humid in the lowlands while somewhat moderate in the highlands.
Major natural resources; petroleum, natural gas, tin, nickel and copper, bauxite, coal, timber and fertile soils. Almost half the labor force is occupied in agriculture, compared with about 12 percent in the industry. In terms of Gross Domestic Production, the figure is inverse. Official unemployment is around 11 percent.
The country is home to the world’s largest Muslim population; of the country’s 250 million people, almost 90% are Muslim. The remainder are Protestants, Roman Catholics, Hindu and Buddhists. Animism is still alive on several of the outer islands.
The population is well balanced, male/females. Of ethnic groups, the Javanese dominates, representing almost half of the country’s population.
Official language is Bahasa Indonesia, spoken by most inhabitants but with many local languages and dialects also in use. Literacy is on average almost 90%.
Indonesia is a republic, consisting of 30 provinces, 2 special regions and one special city district, i.e. the Capital city Jakarta.