Indonesia

Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 17,508 islands.

Capital: Jakarta Dialing code: 62 Currency: Indonesian rupiah Official language: Indonesian Language Population: 242,325,638 (2011) Government: Presidential system, Constitutional republic, Unitary state,Multi-party system

History

Indonesia officially the Republic of Indonesia (Indonesian: Republik IndonesiaIndonesian pronunciation: [rpblik ndonesia]), is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately17,508 islands. It has 34 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an elected legislature and president. The nation's capital city is Jakarta. The country shares land borders with Papua New Guinea, East Timor, andMalaysia. Other neighboring countries include Singapore, Philippines, Australia, Palau, and the Indian territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Indonesia is a founding member of ASEAN and a member of the G-20 major economies. The Indonesian economy is the world's sixteenth largest by nominal GDP and fifteenth largest by purchasing power parity. The Indonesian archipelago has been an important trade region since at least the 7th century, when Srivijaya and then later Majapahit traded with China and India. Local rulers gradually absorbed foreign cultural, religious and political models from the early centuries CE, and Hindu and Buddhistkingdoms flourished. Indonesian history has been influenced by foreign powers drawn to its natural resources. Muslim traders brought Islam, and European powers brought Christianity and fought one another to monopolize trade in the Spice Islands of Maluku during the Age of Discovery. Following three and a half centuries of Dutch colonialism, Indonesia secured its independence after World War II. Indonesia's history has since been turbulent, with challenges posed by natural disasters, corruption, separatism, a democratization process, and periods of rapid economic change. Across its many islands, Indonesia consists of hundreds of distinct native ethnic and linguistic groups. The largestand politically dominantethnic group are the Javanese. A shared identity has developed, defined by a national language, ethnic diversity, religious pluralism within a majority Muslim population, and a history of colonialism and rebellion against it. Indonesia's national motto, "Bhinneka Tunggal Ika" ("Unity in Diversity" literally,"many, yet one"), articulates the diversity that shapes the country. Despite

its large population and densely populated regions, Indonesia has vast areas of wilderness that support the world's second highest level of biodiversity. The country has abundant natural resources, yet poverty remains widespread.

Geography
Indonesia lies between latitudes 11S and 6N, and longitudes 95E and 141E. It consists of 17,508 islands, about 6,000 of which are inhabited. These are scattered over both sides of the equator. The largest are Java, Sumatra, Borneo (shared with Brunei and Malaysia), New Guinea (shared with Papua New Guinea), and Sulawesi. Indonesia shares land borders with Malaysia on Borneo, Papua New Guinea on the island of New Guinea, and East Timor on the island of Timor. Indonesia shares maritime borders across narrow straits with Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Palau to the north, and with Australia to the south. The capital, Jakarta, is on Java and is the nation's largest city, followed by Surabaya, Bandung, Medan, and Semarang. At 1,919,440 square kilometers (741,050 sq mi), Indonesia is the world's 16th-largest country in terms of land area. Its average population density is 134 people per square kilometer (347 per sq mi), 79th in the ] world, although Java, the world's most populous island, has a population density of 940 people per square kilometer (2,435 per sq mi). At 4,884 metres (16,024 ft), Puncak Jaya in Papua is Indonesia's highest peak, and Lake Toba in Sumatra its largest lake, with an area of 1,145 square kilometers (442 sq mi). The country's largest rivers are in Kalimantan, and include the Mahakamand Barito; such rivers are communication and transport links between the island's river settlements. Indonesia's location on the edges of the Pacific, Eurasian, and Australian tectonic plates makes it the site of numerous volcanoes and frequent earthquakes. Indonesia has at least 150 active volcanoes, including Krakatoa and Tambora, both famous for their devastating eruptions in the 19th century. The eruption of the Toba supervolcano, approximately 70,000 years ago, was one of the largest eruptions ever, and a global catastrophe. Recent disasters due to seismic activity include the 2004 tsunami that killed an estimated 167,736 in northern Sumatra, and the Yogyakarta earthquake in 2006. However, volcanic ash is a major contributor to the high agricultural fertility that has historically sustained the high population densities of Java and Bali. Lying along the equator, Indonesia has a tropical climate, with two distinct monsoonal wet and dry seasons. Average annual rainfall in the lowlands varies from 1,780 3,175 millimeters (70125 in), and up to 6,100 millimeters (240 in) in mountainous regions. Mountainous areasparticularly in the west coast of Sumatra, West Java, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, and Papuareceive the highest rainfall. Humidity is generally high, averaging about 80%. Temperatures vary little throughout the year; the average daily temperature range of Jakarta is 2630 C (7986 F).

Foreign Relations with Malaysia Indonesia and Malaysia enjoy friendly relations. The populations of both countries have cordial relations and trade between the two countries has greatly increased over the years. Indonesia has an embassy in Kuala Lumpur and consulate generals in Johor Bahru, George Town, Kota Kinabalu and Kuching. Malaysia has an embassy in Jakarta and a consulate general inMedan and Pekanbaru. Both nations are founding members of ASEAN and APEC. Both nations are also members of the Non-aligned Movement. Relations between the two nations deteriorated under President Sukarno (see IndonesiaMalaysia confrontation, see Indonesian withdrawal from the United Nations), however relations were restored under President Suharto. Currently, both nations are in a territorial dispute over the oil rich islands of Ambalat. Previously, they were over territorial disputes over the islands of Sipadan and Ligitan, which were won by Malaysia. The Indonesian migrant workers (Indonesian: TKI/Tenaga Kerja Indonesia) have become the important issue between both countries. The problems concerning migrant workers such as illegal immigration, crime, human traficking, abuse, poor treatment and extortion upon migrant workers. Since 2009 Indonesia has temporarily stop sending domestic workers to Malaysia until both countries agree on ways to protect them Indonesia will resume sending migrant workers to Malaysia in May 2011 as both countries will sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) about worker protection by the end of April 2011.

Foreign relations with south korea

Indonesia has an embassy in Seoul. South Korea has an embassy in Jakarta. Scale of bilateral trade between two nation is US$14.88 billion. South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade about relations with Indonesia Indonesia and South Korea have invested in multiple joint military development projects, including the KFX/IFX fighter jet South Korean firm Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME) is in final contract negotiations to supply Indonesia with three Type-209 submarines. This will be the largest ever bilateral defense deal, valued at USD1