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Background: The Dutch began to colonize Indonesia in the early 17th century; the islands were occupied by Japan from 1942 to 1945. Indonesia declared its independence after Japan's surrender, but it required four years of intermittent negotiations, recurring hostilities, and UN mediation before the Netherlands agreed to relinquish its colony. Indonesia is the world's largest archipelagic state and home to the world's largest Muslim population. Current issues include: alleviating poverty, preventing terrorism, consolidating democracy after four decades of authoritarianism, implementing financial sector reforms, stemming corruption, holding the military and police accountable for human rights violations, and controlling avian influenza. In 2005, Indonesia reached a historic peace agreement with armed separatists in Aceh, which led to democratic elections in December 2006. Indonesia continues to face a low intensity separatist guerilla movement in Papua.
Geography
Location: Southeastern Asia, archipelago between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean
Area: total: 1,919,440 sq km; land: 1,826,440 sq km; water: 93,000 sq km
Land boundaries: total: 2,830 km, border countries: Timor-Leste 228 km, Malaysia 1,782 km, Papua New Guinea 820 km
Coastline: 54,716 km
Climate: tropical; hot, humid; more moderate in highlands
Terrain: mostly coastal lowlands; larger islands have interior mountains
Natural resources: petroleum, tin, natural gas, nickel, timber, bauxite, copper, fertile soils, coal, gold, silver
People
Population: 234,693,997 (2007 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 28.7% (male 34,309,176; female 33,148,341), 15-64 years: 65.6% (male 77,132,708; female 76,731,481), 65 years and over: 5.7% (male 5,956,471; female 7,415,820) (2007 est.)
Median age: total: 26.9 years, male: 26.4 years, female: 27.4 years (2007 est.)
Population Growth Rate: 1.213% (2007 est.)
Birth rate: 19.65 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Death rate: 6.25 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 32.14 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)
Life expectancy at birth: total population: 70.16 years, male: 67.69 years, female: 72.76 years (2007 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 0.1% (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 110,000 (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths: 2,400 (2003 est.)
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)
Languages: Bahasa Indonesia (official, modified form of Malay), English, Dutch, local dialects (the most widely spoken of which is Javanese)
Literacy (definition: age 15 and over can read and write): total population: 90.4%, male: 94%, female: 86.8% (2004 est.)
Government
Official Name: Republic of Indonesia
Government type: Republic
Capital: Jakarta
Independence (declared): August 17, 1945
Economy
Overview: Indonesia, a vast polyglot nation, has struggled to overcome the Asian financial crisis, and still grapples with persistent poverty and unemployment, inadequate infrastructure, endemic corruption, a fragile banking sector, a poor investment climate, and unequal resource distribution among regions. The country continues the slow work of rebuilding from the devastating December 2004 tsunami and from an earthquake in central Java in May 2006 that caused over $3 billion in damage and losses. Declining oil production and lack of new exploration investment turned Indonesia into a net oil importer in 2004. The cost of subsidizing domestic fuel placed increasing strain on the budget in 2005, and combined with indecisive monetary policy, contributed to a run on the currency in August, prompting the government to enact a 126% average fuel price hike in October. The resulting inflation and interest rate hikes dampened growth through mid-2006, while large increases in rice prices pushed millions more people under the national poverty line. Economic reformers introduced three policy packages in 2006 to improve the investment climate, infrastructure, and the financial sector, but translating them into reality has not been easy. Keys to future growth remain internal reform, building up the confidence of international and domestic investors, and strong global economic growth. Significant progress has been made in rebuilding Aceh after the devastating December 2004 tsunami, and the province now shows more economic activity than before the disaster. Unfortunately, Indonesia suffered new disasters in 2006 and early 2007 including: a major earthquake near Yogyakarta, an industrial accident in Sidoarjo, East Java that created a "mud volcano," a tsunami in South Java, and major flooding in Jakarta, all of which caused additional damages in the billions of dollars. Donors are assisting Indonesia with its disaster mitigation and early warning efforts.
Annual GDP: $948.3 billion (2006 est.)
GDP - per capita: $3,900 (2006 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 13%, industry: 46%, services: 41 % (2006 est.)
Population below poverty line: 17.8% (2006 est.)
Labor force: 108.2 million (2006 est.)
Labor force - by occupation: services 38.7%, agriculture 43.3%, industry 18% (2003 est.)
Industries: petroleum and natural gas, textiles, apparel, footwear, mining, cement, chemical fertilizers, plywood, rubber, food, tourism
Agriculture - products: rice, cassava (tapioca), peanuts, rubber, cocoa, coffee, palm oil, copra; poultry, beef, pork, eggs
Exports - commodities: oil and gas, electrical appliances, plywood, textiles, rubber
Communications
Telephone Lines in use: 14.821 million (2006)
Cellular Phones: 63.803 million (2006)
Television Broadcast Stations: 54 local TV stations (11 national TV networks; each with their own group of local transmitters) (2006)
Internet Users: 16 million (2005)
Transportation
Railways: 6,458 km
Highways: total: 368,360 km, paved: 213,649 km, unpaved: 154,711 km (2002)
Airports - with paved runways: 159 (2006)
Airports - with unpaved runways: 503 (2006)
Transnational Issues
Disputes - International: Indonesia has a stated foreign policy objective of establishing stable fixed land and maritime boundaries with all of its neighbors; East Timor-Indonesia Boundary Committee has resolved all but a small portion of the land boundary, but discussions on maritime boundaries are stalemated over sovereignty of the uninhabited coral island of Pulau Batek/Fatu Sinai in the north and alignment with Australian claims in the south; many East Timorese refugees who left in 2003 still reside in Indonesia and refuse repatriation; a 1997 treaty between Indonesia and Australia settled some parts of their maritime boundary but outstanding issues remain; ICJ's award of Sipadan and Ligitan islands to Malaysia in 2002 left the sovereignty of Unarang rock and the maritime boundary in the Ambalat oil block in the Celebes Sea in dispute; the ICJ decision has prompted Indonesia to assert claims to and to establish a presence on its smaller outer islands; Indonesia and Singapore continue to work on finalization of their 1973 maritime boundary agreement by defining unresolved areas north of Indonesia's Batam Island; Indonesian secessionists, squatters, and illegal migrants create repatriation problems for Papua New Guinea; piracy remains a problem in the Malacca Strait; maritime delimitation talks continue with Palau; Indonesian groups challenge Australia's claim to Ashmore Reef; Australia has closed parts of the Ashmore and Cartier Reserve to Indonesian traditional fishing and placed restrictions on certain catches.
Refugees & Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs): IDPs: 200,000-350,000 (government offensives against rebels in Aceh; most IDPs in Aceh, Central Kalimantan, Central Sulawesi Provinces, and Maluku), 300,000 (December 2006 floods in Aceh regions) (2006)
Information from the CIA World Factbook 2007
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/id.html
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