Geography

Physical geography

Indonesia is a chain of 17,000 islands stretching almost 4,000 kilometres from east to west. Indonesia’s territory includes the western-most province of Papua on the island of New Guinea. With a total area of 1,904,569 square kilometres, Indonesia is larger than Queensland, which has an area of 1,730,648 square kilometres. The large islands of Sumatra, Java, Kalimantan and Sulawesi have rugged mountain ranges as well as fertile coastal plains. The highest point is Puncak Jaya, at 5,030 metres, in Papua. Earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur frequently.

Climate

Most of Indonesia has a tropical monsoon climate. It is hot and mostly dry from April to October. From November to March, it is slightly cooler, but very humid, and torrential rain and storms are common. Along the coastal plains temperatures are higher (maximums around 32 °C to 34 °C in the dry season) than in the mountain regions.

Environment

Most of Indonesia was covered by forest until the middle of the 20th century, when expanding agriculture, urban settlement, logging and fires saw huge amounts of wood being lost. Indonesia has numerous endangered species of mammals and birds, including the Javanese rhinoceros, tigers and orangutans. Population pressure puts great demands on water resources and the cities suffer from serious air and water pollution.

Indonesia has three national parks and the tropical rainforest of Sumatra is recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Population

Half of the total population of Indonesia live in urban areas. The capital city, Jakarta, has a population of more than 10 million. The other major cities are Surabaya, Bandung and Medan.

People

Culture and identity

Indonesia’s people are extremely diverse in culture, language, ethnicity and religion. Around 300 distinct language and ethnic groups populate the archipelago. Many communities belong to the Malay family, but in Papua and the nearby islands most people are Melanesian. There are also a number of descendants from immigrants, including Chinese, Arabs, Indians and Europeans.

The Borobudur Temple and Prambanan Temple compounds are recognised World Heritage cultural sites, as is the Sangrian Early Man Site, where the discovery of 50 hominid fossils made this an important site for understanding human evolution.

Health

General health and life expectancy have improved for most Indonesians during the past few decades. The average life expectancy is 70 years, 72 for women and 68 for men. Improvements in nutrition and the availability of clean water have contributed to this. Indonesia has successfully developed a system of community health centres in towns and villages, allowing very widespread access to primary healthcare. Communicable diseases such as tuberculosis and malaria are a major cause of death. The rate of HIV/AIDs is low but increasing from 0.2% in 2007 to 0.4% in 2012.

Religion and beliefs

The majority of Indonesians are Sunni Muslims. There is a Christian minority in most provinces, and in a few regions such as East Nusa Tenggara, North Sumatra and North Sulawesi, Christians are the majority. In Bali over 85% of people are Hindus and there is a small Hindu minority in both Central and East Java. About 1.7 million Indonesians, mostly people of Chinese descent, are Buddhists. Apart from the world religions, traditional animist beliefs and practices remain important in many areas. Most Indonesians are very tolerant of different religions, and many people actually observe celebrations from more than one religious tradition.

Food and shelter

About 46% of Indonesians live in rural areas farming rice, corn and other crops as well as fishing, aquaculture and raising ducks and chickens. Plantation crops include sugar, coffee, tea, coconuts and spices. Indonesian food is very varied and every region has its specialties. Most meals are rice-based, with side dishes made mostly from vegetables and small amounts of fish, chicken, eggs or meat. Noodles and bean curd are also popular foods. As most Indonesians are Muslims, they do not eat pork. In eastern Indonesia, cassava is an important food.

Village houses are usually simple one- or two-room bamboo and wooden buildings. For those living in Indonesia’s fast-growing cities, housing styles vary widely, from new suburban housing developments and modern high-rise apartments to crowded kampung (urban villages) and makeshift shanty settlements.

Economy

Wealth and poverty

Indonesia has undergone substantial economic development since the 1970s but the country remains relatively poor: just about 16% living on less than $1.25 per day. The distribution of wealth in Indonesia is also very uneven, with the richest 10% holding almost 30% of the wealth.

Education and work

Indonesian law states that all children must attend school for nine years. Indonesia has a high literacy rate, with 93% of adults able to read and write. Almost 40% of Indonesia’s labour force works in agriculture but about 6% are unemployed.

Industries and products

Indonesia’s resource industries dominate the national economy. Major resources include oil and gas, coal, tin, rubber and forest products. Main agricultural products are rice, corn, peanuts, soybeans, coffee and sugar. The manufacturing sector has grown quickly during the past 25 years. Textiles, clothing, footwear and food processing are the biggest manufacturing industries, but car assembly, papermaking and electronics are also significant.

Trade

Indonesia exports oil and gas, electrical appliances, textiles, and rubber to Japan (16%), China (11%), Singapore (9%), South Korea (8%) and the USA (8%). The main imports, which comprise cars; machinery; chemicals and some foods, including rice, wheat and live sheep and cattle come mainly from China (15%), Singapore (13%) and Japan (12%).

Government

Indonesia is a unitary state led by a President and Vice-president. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was elected for a second five-year term as president in July 2009.

Indonesia is the third largest democracy in the world after India and the United States. A robust media and civil society, combined with direct and fair elections, are at the heart of Indonesia’s political institutions.

There are concerns among human rights groups about the freedom and rights of religious minorities. The government has also been criticised for not bringing to trial those responsible for human rights violations in Timor-Leste, Aceh and Papua.

Achievements and challenges

Indonesia’s economic development has created improvements in quality of life for many citizens, but widespread poverty persists, as the benefits have not been shared by all sections of society. Furthermore, while many live below the poverty line there are many more living only just above it, meaning they have limited resources to re-establish themselves after natural disasters such as earthquakes or economic downturns.

Strong economic growth is helping the country reduce poverty levels 

Ethnic, religious and regional tensions exist in several parts of Indonesia. The size and diversity of Indonesia means it is a challenge to balance national unity with regional autonomy.

Indonesia has made good progress on four of the eight Millennium Development Goals. It has halved the incidence of extreme poverty and hunger (MDG 1), improved the presence of women and girls in schools, universities, the workforce, and in parliament (MDG 3), reduced child mortality (MDG 4) and is expected to go beyond the targets set for universal primary education (MDG 2) and including junior secondary in the basic education standards.

Links with Australia

Indonesia is one of Australia’s largest and most important neighbours. Relations between the two countries began hundreds of years ago, when seafarers from Makassar in eastern Indonesia traded with the Aboriginal people of Australia’s north coast. Australia and Indonesia enjoy a wide-ranging relationship encompassing political, security, commercial, cultural and people-to-people links.

The 2011 census recorded 73,940 Indonesian-born persons in Australia arriving as skilled or family migrants and students and settling mostly in New South Wales and Victoria.

Australia’s aid program to Indonesia covers all aspects of Indonesia’s development. It works to promote peace and prosperity through supporting the provision of quality healthcare and education, improving infrastructure and economic development, strengthening disaster preparedness, and promoting good governance, democracy and sound judicial systems.