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Indonesia Country Guide

Explore Indonesia in Asia

Indonesia with the capital city Jakarta is located in Asia (Southeastern Asia, archipelago between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean). It covers some 1,919,440 square kilometres (slightly less than three times the size of Texas) with 237,512,000 citizens.

Interactive map of Indonesia

The terrain features mostly coastal lowlands with larger islands have interior mountains. The average density of population is approximately 124 per km². The notable climate conditions in Indonesia can be described as tropical with hot, humid and more moderate in highlands. Potential natural disasters are occasional floods or severe droughts, tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanoes or forest fires.

To reach someone in Indonesia dial +62 prior to a number. There are 33,958,000 installed telephones. And there are 159,248,000 registered mobile phones. The cellular networks commonly support frequencies of 900/1800/3G MHz. Websites registered in this country end with the top level domain ".id". If you want to bring electric equipment on your trip (e.g. laptop power supply), note the local power outlet of 127/230V - 50Hz.

About the flag and history of Indonesia

Indonesia Flag Icon

Two equal horizontal bands of red (top) and white; the colors derive from the banner of the Majapahit Empire of the 13th-15th centuries; red symbolizes courage, white represents purity note: similar to the flag of Monaco, which is shorter; also similar to the flag of Poland, which is white (top) and red.


The Dutch began to colonize Indonesia in the early 17th century; Japan occupied the islands from 1942 to 1945. Indonesia declared its independence shortly before Japan's surrender, but it required four years of sometimes brutal fighting, intermittent negotiations, and UN mediation before the Netherlands agreed to transfer sovereignty in 1949. A period of sometimes unruly parliamentary democracy ended in 1957 when President SOEKARNO declared martial law and instituted "Guided Democracy." After an abortive coup in 1965 by alleged Communist sympathizers, SOEKARNO was removed from power. From 1966 until 1988, President SUHARTO ruled Indonesia with his "New Order" Government. After rioting toppled Suharto in 1998, free and fair legislative elections took place in 1999. Indonesia is now the world''s third most populous democracy, the world''s largest archipelagic state, and the world''s largest Muslim-majority nation. Current issues include: alleviating poverty, improving education, preventing terrorism, consolidating democracy after four decades of authoritarianism, implementing economic and financial reforms, stemming corruption, reforming the criminal justice system, holding the military and police accountable for human rights violations, addressing climate change, and controlling infectious diseases, particularly those of global and regional importance. In 2005, Indonesia reached a historic peace agreement with armed separatists in Aceh, which led to democratic elections in Aceh in December 2006. Indonesia continues to face low intensity armed resistance in Papua by the separatist Free Papua Movement.



Geography Quick-Facts

SummaryContinent: Asia
Neighbours: Papua New Guinea, East Timor, Malaysia
Capital: Jakarta
Size1,919,440 square kilometers (km² or sqkm) or 741,099 square miles (mi² or sqmi)
slightly less than three times the size of Texas
Population237,512,000
CurrencyName Rupiah, Currency Code:IDR
Country Top Level Domain (cTLD).id
Telephone Country Prefix+62
Mobile Phone Connections159,248,000
Landline Phone Connections33,958,000

Country Position in World Rankings

Information about single country attributes and how these compare against the rest of the world. The information below is compiled with data from 2013. As such, it may differ a bit to the Information above in the text (which is from 2010).

Geography

Value nameValueWorld Rank
Area1,904,569 (sq km)15

People and Society

Value nameValueWorld Rank
Population251,160,124 4
Population growth rate0.99 (%)116
Birth rate17.38 (births/1,000 population)107
Death rate6.31 (deaths/1,000 population)155
Net migration rate-1.19 (migrant(s)/1,000 population)149
Maternal mortality rate220.00 (deaths/100,000 live births)51
Infant mortality rate26.06 (deaths/1,000 live births)72
Life expectancy at birth71.90 (years)138
Total fertility rate2.20 (children born/woman)104
Health expenditures2.60 (% of GDP)184
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate0.20 (%)99
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS310,000 19
HIV/AIDS - deaths8,300 27
Obesity - adult prevalence rate4.80 (%)160
Children under the age of 5 years underweight19.60 (%)36
Education expenditures3.00 (% of GDP)141
Unemployment, youth ages 15-2422.20 (%)48

Economy

Value nameValueWorld Rank
GDP (purchasing power parity)1,237,000,000,000 16
GDP - real growth rate6.20 (%)43
GDP - per capita (PPP)5,100 158
Labor force118,000,000 5
Unemployment rate6.10 (%)58
Distribution of family income - Gini index36.80 80
Investment (gross fixed)36.70 (% of GDP)9
Taxes and other revenues18.70 (% of GDP)173
Budget surplus (+) or deficit (-)-1.90 (% of GDP)84
Public debt24.80 (% of GDP)121
Inflation rate (consumer prices)4.50 (%)123
Central bank discount rate6.46 (%)56
Commercial bank prime lending rate12.40 (%)67
Stock of narrow money90,240,000,000 37
Stock of broad money355,400,000,000 29
Stock of domestic credit323,000,000,000 34
Market value of publicly traded shares390,100,000,000 24
Industrial production growth rate4.10 (%)72
Current account balance-20,730,000,000 182
Exports188,700,000,000 28
Imports179,000,000,000 28
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold103,800,000,000 22
Debt - external251,200,000,000 33
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home125,800,000,000 32
Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad48,570,000,000 37

Energy

Value nameValueWorld Rank
Electricity - production183,400,000,000 (kWh)24
Electricity - consumption158,000,000,000 (kWh)24
Electricity - imports2,542,000,000 (kWh)49
Electricity - installed generating capacity39,900,000 (kW)23
Electricity - from fossil fuels87.00 (% of total installed capacity)83
Electricity - from hydroelectric plants9.90 (% of total installed capacity)116
Electricity - from other renewable sources3.10 (% of total installed capacity)47
Crude oil - production912,100 (bbl/day)24
Crude oil - exports371,400 (bbl/day)22
Crude oil - imports265,400 (bbl/day)27
Crude oil - proved reserves4,000,000,000 (bbl)29
Refined petroleum products - production935,300 (bbl/day)22
Refined petroleum products - consumption1,322,000 (bbl/day)19
Refined petroleum products - exports142,400 (bbl/day)39
Refined petroleum products - imports407,700 (bbl/day)14
Natural gas - production82,800,000,000 (cu m)12
Natural gas - consumption41,350,000,000 (cu m)26
Natural gas - exports41,250,000,000 (cu m)10
Natural gas - proved reserves3,994,000,000,000 (cu m)12
Carbon dioxide emissions from consumption of energy402,100,000 (Mt)18

Communications

Value nameValueWorld Rank
Telephones - main lines in use38,618,000 8
Telephones - mobile cellular249,800,000 4
Internet hosts1,344,000 42
Internet users20,000,000 22

Transportation

Value nameValueWorld Rank
Airports676 10
Railways5,042 (km)35
Roadways437,759 (km)14
Waterways21,579 (km)6
Merchant marine1,340 8

Military

Value nameValueWorld Rank
Military expenditures0.90 (% of GDP)130

Data based on CIA facts book 2010 & 2013, wikipedia, national statistical offices and their census releases

List of current world heritage sites

NameSince
Borobudur Temple Compounds
This famous Buddhist temple, dating from the 8th and 9th centuries, is located in central Java. It was built in three tiers: a pyramidal base with five concentric square terraces, the trunk of a cone with three circular platforms and, at the top, a m ...
1991
Cultural Landscape of Bali Province: the Subak System as a Manifestation of the Tri Hita Karana Philosophy
The cultural landscape of Bali consists of five rice terraces and their water temples that cover 19,500 ha. The temples are the focus of a cooperative water management system of canals and weirs, known as subak, that dates back to the 9th century. In ...
2012
Komodo National Park
These volcanic islands are inhabited by a population of around 5,700 giant lizards, whose appearance and aggressive behaviour have led to them being called 'Komodo dragons'. They exist nowhere else in the world and are of great interest to scientists ...
1991
Lorentz National Park
Lorentz National Park (2.35 million ha) is the largest protected area in South-East Asia. It is the only protected area in the world to incorporate a continuous, intact transect from snowcap to tropical marine environment, including extensive lowland ...
1999
Prambanan Temple Compounds
Built in the 10th century, this is the largest temple compound dedicated to Shiva in Indonesia. Rising above the centre of the last of these concentric squares are three temples decorated with reliefs illustrating the epic of the Ramayana, dedicated ...
1991
Sangiran Early Man Site
Excavations here from 1936 to 1941 led to the discovery of the first hominid fossil at this site. Later, 50 fossils of Meganthropus palaeo and Pithecanthropus erectus/Homo erectus were found – half of all the world's known hominid fossils. Inhabited ...
1996
Tropical Rainforest Heritage of Sumatra
The 2.5 million hectare Tropical Rainforest Heritage of Sumatra site comprises three national parks: Gunung Leuser National Park, Kerinci Seblat National Park and Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park. The site holds the greatest potential for long-ter ...
2004
Ujung Kulon National Park
This national park, located in the extreme south-western tip of Java on the Sunda shelf, includes the Ujung Kulon peninsula and several offshore islands and encompasses the natural reserve of Krakatoa. In addition to its natural beauty and geological ...
1991