Indonesia & Borneo

About Indonesia

Geography

Arguably Indonesia is the most diverse and interesting country you will ever visit. Spread over three time zones it is as large as Europe and with over 17,000 islands, about 6,000 of which are inhabited which are scattered over both sides of the equator. The largest are Java, Sumatra, Borneo (shared with Brunei and Malaysia), New Guinea (shared with Papua New Guinea), and Sulawesi. Indonesia shares land borders with Malaysia on Borneo, Papua New Guinea on the island of New Guinea, and East Timor on the island of Timor.
The capital, Jakarta, is on Java and is the nation’s largest city.
The population is around 238 million.

Politics

Indonesia is a republic with a presidential system. Power is concentrated in the central government.

Economy & Tourism

Indonesia has the largest economy in South East Asia and in 2010 was the 27th biggest exporting country in the world. The industry sector is the economys largest followed by the service sector and agriculture.

Language

Indonesian (Bahasa Indonesia) is the official language of Indonesia.

Religion

Indonesia is the world’s most populous Muslim majority country. Approximately 85% are Muslims consisting of Shias and Sunnis, 12% Christians (9% Protestant and 3% Catholic), 1.8% Hindu, 0.4% Buddhist and other.