Indonesia or , officially the Republic of Indonesia (Indonesian: Republik Indonesia),
is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia comprises 17,508
islands and thirty three provinces. With over 238 million people, it
is the world's fourth most populous country,
and has the world's
largest population of Muslims. 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, and
Malaysia.
Other neighboring countries include Singapore, Philippines,
Australia, 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 eighteenth largest
economy 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 Buddhist kingdoms 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 distinct ethnic,
linguistic, and religious groups.
The Javanese are the largest—and the
politically dominant—ethnic group.
Indonesia has developed a shared
identity defined by a national language, ethnic diversity, religious
pluralism within a majority Muslim population, and a history of
colonialism including 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 is richly endowed with natural
resources, yet poverty remains widespread in contemporary Indonesia.
Indonesian Map |
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