Indonesia Information
About Indonesia
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. A map of Indonesia is available.
Indonesia has a tropical climate - hot and humid, but more moderate in
the 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).
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%.
Communications
Indonesia has 6,964 km of railroads, 119,500 km of highways and 21,579 km
of inland waterways. The ports are in Cilacap, Cirebon, Jakarta, Kupang,
Palembang, Ujungpandang, Semarang and Surabaya. There are 435
(mostly small) airports, 119 with permanent surface runways.
The telecommunications infrastructure includes an inter-island
microwave system. Domestic service is fair; international service is good.