Geography

Indonesia is an archipelago of 13,500 islands located in south-east Asia
between Malaysia and Australia. It occupies a total area of 1,919,400 sq km of which 1,826,440 sq km is on land. The country has a 2,602 km land boundary (1,782 km with Malaysia and 820 km with Papua New Guinea) and 54,716 km of coastline. It has a strategic location along major sea lanes from Indian Ocean to Pacific Ocean.

Indonesia has a tropical climate - hot and humid, but more moderate in highlands. The terrain is mostly coastal lowlands while larger islands have interior mountains. Natural resources include petroleum, tin, natural gas, nickel, timber, bauxite, copper, fertile soils, coal, gold and silver. Indonesia has occasional floods, severe droughts, tsunamis and deforestation.

People
Indonesia has a population of 197,232,428 (July 1993 est.). Nationals of Indonesia are known as Indonesian(s). The primary ethnic group is Javanese (45%) and Sundanese (14%). The predominant religion is Muslim (87%) Languages spoken include Bahasa Indonesia (official), English, and Dutch.

Government
The country is known officially as Republic of Indonesia and in short, Indonesia. Indonesia is a republic, the capital is Jakarta.
The national holiday is on 17 August (1945).
Executive power is vested in the president, who is elected by the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) for a 5-year term.

The Indonesian flag consists of 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
Indonesia is a mixed economy with many socialist institutions and central planning but with a recent emphasis on deregulation and private enterprise.
Indonesia has extensive natural wealth, yet, with a large and rapidly increasing population, it remains a poor country.
Real GDP growth in 1985-92 averaged about 6%, quite impressive, but not sufficient to both slash underemployment and absorb the 2.3 million workers annually entering the labor force. Agriculture, including forestry and fishing, is an important sector, accounting for almost 20% of
GDP and over 50% of the labor force. The staple crop is rice.
Once the world's largest rice importer, Indonesia is now nearly self-sufficient.
Plantation crops - rubber and palm oil - and textiles and plywood are being encouraged for both export and job generation. Industrial output now accounts for almost 40% of GDP and is based on a supply of diverse natural resources, including crude oil, natural gas, timber, metals, and coal.
Of these, the oil sector dominates the external economy, generating more than 20% of the government's revenues and 40% of export earnings in 1989. However, the economy's growth is highly dependent on the continuing expansion of nonoil exports. Japan remains Indonesia's most important customer and supplier of aid. Rapid growth in the money supply in 1989-90 prompted Jakarta to implement a tight monetary policy in 1991, forcing the private sector to go to foreign banks for investment financing.
Real interest rates remained above 10% and off-shore commercial debt grew. The growth in off-shore debt prompted Jakarta to limit foreign borrowing beginning in late 1991. Despite the continued problems in moving toward a more open financial system and the persistence of a fairly tight credit situation, GDP growth in 1992 is estimated to have stayed at 6%.

Transportation
Despite Indonesia's rough terrain and separated commercial centers, transportation is improving. Most of the highways are spread over Sumatra, Sulawesi and Kalimantan, the antiquated railways system is concentrated on Java. Most of the country's imports and exports pass through Tanjung Priok (near Jakarta), Tanjung Perak (near Surabaya), Belawan (near Medan) and Padang. A new international airport in Jakarta opened in 1995.