About Indonesia

Indonesia is divided into 33 provinces, each administered by a Governor. Jakarta is the capital of the Republic of Indonesia and is the center of government and economic activity. It has a population of over 8 million, although if the surrounding areas are taken into account the total would be well over 12 million.

Indonesia is a string of more than 17,000 islands that stretches 5,150 kms from west to east and 1,770 kms from north to south along the equator. It is inhabited by more than 220 million people, roughly 3 percent of the global population, from 336 ethnic groups, speaking about 250 different languages, but possesses one national language, Bahasa Indonesia. The majority of the people live in Java (nearly two-thirds of the nation’s population), Sumatra, Bali, and Madura – with the largest islands of Kalimantan (the major part of the island of Borneo), Sulawesi (formerly the Celebes), and Irian Jaya/Papua (the western part of New Guinea) being more sparsely populated. Indonesia is rural country; there is some urban overcrowding, particularly in Jakarta, which has rapidly growing population. Indonesia is a land of endless diversity and variety. It is a thousand worlds within a world.