The Land (3)

Indonesia consists of more than 17.000 islands, of these about 6.000 which are permanently inhabited. About 80 percent of the archipelago is water. The country stretches across some 5.150 km from Sumatra in the west to Papua in the east, almost one eighth of the Earth's circumference. The distance from north to south is about 1.931 km. Indonesia lies at the junction of the Asian and the Australian continental plates, which is the reason for the high volcanic activity in this region.

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The People (15)

For centuries the many thousands of islands and mountainous terrain have separated groups of people in the Indonesian archipelago from each other. The result of this is huge variations in culture and languages across the nation. The exact number is not clear, but approximately 300 ethnic groups live here, which speak 365 languages and a large number of dialects.

The History (16)

Before European intrusions into the islands by Portuguese, Spanish, and Dutch seeking to monopolize the lucrative trade in spices and other marketable products, the more than 13,000 islands constituting the Republic of Indonesia were home to a diverse array of cultures and civilizations that had been influenced by HinduBuddhist ideas from India and by Islam, as well as indigenous beliefs.

Life (13)

Indonesian culture and society has been shaped by long interaction between original indigenous customs and multiple foreign influences. Indonesia  is central along ancient trading routes between the Far East and the Middle East, resulting in many cultural practices being strongly influenced by a multitude of religions, including Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism and Islam.

Travel Info (4)

Tourism in Indonesia is an important component of the Indonesian  economy. With a vast archipelago of more than 17,000 islands,  the second longest shoreline in the world,  over 700 languages and tropical climate, nature and culture are both major components of Indonesian tourism.