Fast Facts about Indonesia

Whenever we, the Indonesians, travelling to strange country, there are always questions about Indonesia that we found shocking sometimes.

Do you want to know some examples?
Here they are:
Do you have many cars in your country?
Do you have pinneaple in your country?
Do you eat avocado?

What is your native language?
and one of the the most common was,
Where is it?

Somehow it feels a little sad to realize that when we, the Indonesians was in school, we learned so much about the other countries in the world, yet there are not many people abroad learning about us. So, here are some informations about Indonesia that you might want to know:

Starting with the answers for the questions above....
Cars in my country?
Sure,we have a lot of cars. Besides serving as the assembly sites for some Japanese automobile companies, we also have a vocabulary for traffic jam: "macet". For sure you can see a lot of "macet" in some big cities in Indonesia. :-)

In the case for pinneaple and avocado, I believe that you know that those exotic fruits just live in tropical weather. And, Indonesia is obviously crossed by the equator line.

Speaking of language, Rita Golden Gelman in her book, the Tales of a Female Nomad, expressed the Indonesians so well, that most of the Indonesians speak two languages: their traditional language and Bahasa Indonesia, the national language. Yes, that is true. And speaking of traditional language, our national survey bureau listed found that there are 726 languages spoken by more than 230 millions of Indonesia. Sounds too fantastic? Well, there are around 300 ethnic groups in our country, so it really makes sense.

Here are some more interesting information about Indonesia that we compile from various sources:

One, and very important, Indonesia is the world's largest archipelagic state. Indonesia consists of 17,508 islands!

LOCATION
Southeastern Asia, archipelago between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean
Area:
total: 1,904,569 sq km
country comparison to the world: 23
land: 1,811,569 sq km
water: 93,000 sq km

Coastline:
54,716 km (so, sure, we have a lot of nice beaches :-))

Climate:
tropical; hot, humid; more moderate in highlands

Terrain:
mostly coastal lowlands; larger islands have interior mountains

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
highest point: Puncak Jaya 5,030 m (we have eternal snow on the peak of Puncak Jaya)

NATURAL RESOURCES
petroleum, tin, natural gas, nickel, timber, bauxite, copper, fertile soils, coal, gold, silver

Environment - international agreements
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Marine Life Conservation

Geography
archipelago of 17,508 (!) islands (6,000 inhabited); straddles equator; strategic location astride or along major sea lanes from Indian Ocean to Pacific Ocean

Population
240,271,522 (July 2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 5

Age structure
0-14 years: 28.1% (male 34,337,341/female 33,162,207)
15-64 years: 66% (male 79,549,569/female 78,918,321)
65 years and over: 6% (male 6,335,208/female 7,968,876) (2009 est.)

Nationality
noun: Indonesian(s)
adjective: Indonesian

Ethnic groups
Javanese 40.6%, Sundanese 15%, Madurese 3.3%, Minangkabau 2.7%, Betawi 2.4%, Bugis 2.4%, Banten 2%, Banjar 1.7%, other or unspecified 29.9% (2000 census)

Religions
Muslim 86.1%, Protestant 5.7%, Roman Catholic 3%, Hindu 1.8%, other or unspecified 3.4% (2000 census). 86% out of 230 million populations... It makes Indonesia a country with the biggest muslim population in the world! :)

Languages
Bahasa Indonesia as official language, and local languages. according to Bakosurtanal, the Government Agency for Land and Ocean Mapping, there are 726 local languages with 13 among those languages are spoken by more than one million native speakers.

Country name:
conventional long form: Republic of Indonesia
conventional short form: Indonesia
local long form: Republik Indonesia
local short form: Indonesia


Government type
Republic

Capital
name: Jakarta
time difference: UTC+7 (12 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
note: Indonesia is divided into three time zones

Administrative divisions
30 provinces, 2 special regions*, and 1 special capital city district**;
Aceh*, Bali, Banten, Bengkulu, Gorontalo, Jakarta Raya**, Jambi, Jawa Barat, Jawa Tengah, Jawa Timur, Kalimantan Barat, Kalimantan Selatan, Kalimantan Tengah, Kalimantan Timur, Kepulauan Bangka Belitung, Kepulauan Riau, Lampung, Maluku, Maluku Utara, Nusa Tenggara Barat, Nusa Tenggara Timur, Papua, Papua Barat, Riau, Sulawesi Barat, Sulawesi Selatan, Sulawesi Tengah, Sulawesi Tenggara, Sulawesi Utara, Sumatera Barat, Sumatera Selatan, Sumatera Utara, Yogyakarta*

note: following the implementation of decentralization beginning on 1 January 2001, the 465 regencies and municipalities have become the key administrative units responsible for providing most government services

Independence
17 August 1945 (declared)

Executive branch
chief of state: President Susilo Bambang YUDHOYONO (since 20 October 2004); Vice President Muhammad Yusuf KALLA (since 20 October 2004); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government

head of government: President Susilo Bambang YUDHOYONO (since 20 October 2004); Vice President Muhammad Yusuf KALLA (since 20 October 2004)

cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president

Elections

president and vice president are elected for five-year terms (eligible for a second term) by direct vote of the citizenry; last held on 8 July 2009 (next to be held in July 2014)

elections: last held 9 April 2009 (next to be held in 2014) election results: percent of vote by party - PD 20.9%, GOLKAR 14.5%, PDI-P 14.0%, PKS 7.9%, PAN 6.0%, PPP 5.3%, PKB 4.9%, GERINDRA 4.5%, HANURA 3.8%, others 18.2%; seats by party - PD 148, GOLKAR 108, PDI-P 93, PKS 59, PAN 42, PPP 39, PKB 26, GERINDRA 30, HANURA 15 note: 29 other parties received less than 2.5% of the vote so did not obtain any seats; because of election rules, the number of seats won does not always follow the percentage of votes received by parties

Indonesia is praised as a newly democratic country that have succeeded a peaceful, fair and free election.

Legislative branch
People's Consultative Assembly (Majelis Permusyawaratan Rakyat or MPR) is the upper house, consists of members of DPR and DPD, has role in inaugurating and impeaching the president and in amending the constitution, does not formulate national policy; House of Representatives or Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat (DPR) (550 seats, members elected to serve five-year terms), formulates and passes legislation at the national level; House of Regional Representatives (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah or DPD), constitutionally mandated role includes providing legislative input to DPR on issues affecting regions

International organization participation
ADB, APEC, APT, ARF, ASEAN, BIS, CP, EAS, FAO, G-15, G-20, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, MONUC, NAM, OIC, OPCW, OPEC, PIF (partner), UN, UNAMID, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNMIL, UNMIS, UNOMIG, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Flag description
two equal horizontal bands of red (top) and white; similar to the flag of Monaco, which is shorter; also similar to the flag of Poland, which is white (top) and red

Economy - overview:
Indonesia, a vast polyglot nation, has made significant economic advances under the administration of President YUDHOYONO, but faces challenges stemming from the global financial crisis and world economic downturn. Indonesia's debt-to-GDP ratio in recent years has declined steadily because of increasingly robust GDP growth and sound fiscal stewardship. The government has introduced significant reforms in the financial sector, including in the areas of tax and customs, the use of Treasury bills, and capital market supervision. Indonesia's investment law, passed in March 2007, seeks to address some of the concerns of foreign and domestic investors. Indonesia still struggles with poverty and unemployment, inadequate infrastructure, corruption, a complex regulatory environment, and unequal resource distribution among regions. The non-bank financial sector, including pension funds and insurance, remains weak, and despite efforts to broaden and deepen capital markets, they remain underdeveloped. Economic difficulties in early 2008 centered on high global food and oil prices and their impact on Indonesia's poor and on the budget. The onset of the global financial crisis dampened inflationary pressures, but increased risk aversion for emerging market assets resulted in large losses in the stock market, significant depreciation of the rupiah, and a difficult environment for bond issuance. As global demand has slowed and prices for Indonesia's commodity exports have fallen, Indonesia faces the prospect of growth significantly below the 6-plus percent recorded in 2007 and 2008.

GDPs
GDP (purchasing power parity):
$915.9 billion (2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 16
$863.1 billion (2007)
$811.1 billion (2006)
note: data are in 2008 US dollars

GDP (official exchange rate):
$510.8 billion (2008 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
6.1% (2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 56
6.4% (2007 est.)
5.5% (2006 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP):
$3,900 (2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 157
$3,700 (2007 est.)
$3,500 (2006 est.)
note: data are in 2008 US dollars

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 13.5%
industry: 45.6%
services: 40.8% (2008 est.)

Labor force:
112 million (2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 5

Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture: 42.1%
industry: 18.6%
services: 39.3% (2005 est.)

Unemployment rate:
8.4% (2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 112

Agriculture - products:
rice, cassava (tapioca), peanuts, rubber, cocoa, coffee, palm oil, copra; poultry, beef, pork, eggs

Industries:
petroleum and natural gas, textiles, apparel, footwear, mining, cement, chemical fertilizers, plywood, rubber, food, tourism

Exports - commodities:
oil and gas, electrical appliances, plywood, textiles, rubber

Exports - partners:
Japan 20.7%, US 10.2%, Singapore 9.2%, China 8.5%, South Korea 6.6%, Malaysia 4.5%, India 4.3% (2007)
Exchange rates:
Indonesian rupiah (IDR) per US dollar - 9,698.9 (2008), 9,143 (2007), 9,159.3 (2006), 9,704.7 (2005), 8,938.9 (2004)

Communications
Telephones - main lines in use:
17.828 million (2007)
country comparison to the world: 18

Telephones - mobile cellular:
81.835 million (2007)
country comparison to the world: 10

international: country code - 62; landing point for both the SEA-ME-WE-3 and SEA-ME-WE-4 submarine cable networks that provide links throughout Asia, the Middle East, and Europe; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Indian Ocean and 1 Pacific Ocean)

Television broadcast stations:
54 local TV stations (11 national TV networks; each with its group of local transmitters) (2006)

Internet country code:
.id

Internet hosts:
753,200 (2008)
country comparison to the world: 43

Internet users:
13 million (2007)
country comparison to the world: 25

Transportation

Airports:
669 (2008)
country comparison to the world: 10

Railways:
total: 8,529 km
country comparison to the world: 26

Roadways:
total: 391,009 km
country comparison to the world: 18

Waterways:
21,579 km (2008)
country comparison to the world: 6

Ports and terminals:
Banjarmasin, Belawan, Ciwandan, Kotabaru, Krueg Geukueh, Palembang, Panjang, Sungai Pakning, Tanjung Perak, Tanjung Priok

Sources: CIA World Factbook, Bakosurtanal