Official name	Republic of Indonesia
Capital city	Jakarta
Official language	Bahasa Indonesia
Type of govemment	Republic
Head of state	President
Head of government	President
Population	197 million
Main ethnic groups	Javanese, Sundanese, Indonesian (Malay), Maduresa
Main religions	Islam (more than 80%), Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism
Area	1 919 443 square kilometres
Currency	Rupiah (1 rupiah (Rp) is divided into 100 sen)
Highest mountain	Puncak Jaya (5029 metres) on Irian Jaya (also called West Papua)
Largest island	Java (126 700 square kilometres)
Longest river	Mamberamo (navigable for 160 km), on Irian Jaya (also called West Papua)
Main agricultural products	rice, coconuts, soy beans, bananas, coffee, tea, palm, rubber, sugar cane
Industries	fishing, petroleum, timber, paper products, cotton cloth, tourism, mining of petroleum, natural gas, bauxite, coal and tin
Time difference from Australian Eastern Standard Time	Jakarta is three hours behind

Indonesia consists of five main islands in a group of more than 13 000. It stretches almost 5000 kilometres from the Asian mainland into the Pacific Ocean. Less than 6000 of these islands are inhabited.

Climate and rainfall
The climate of Indonesia is tropical: hot, wet and humid. The temperature range on the coasts is between 24ºC and 28º C for most of the year. Strong winds called monsoons bring heavy rain in the wet season, December to March. There is less rain June to September.

Physical features
Indonesia has many high mountains, the highest of which are over 4000 metres. Many of them are active volcanoes. There are tropical rainforests and jungles, as well as swampy mangrove areas. Indonesia's most fertile land is on the island of Java.

Go here for general information about Indonesia
http://www.indonesiatravel.org.uk

If you use any part of this in your own work, acknowledge this source in your bibliography like this:
Thomas, R. & Sydenham, S. A Trip to Indonesia [Online] www.kidcyber.com.au (2001)

Updated December 2008 ©kidcyber

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Map courtesy of ITA's Flags of All Countries used with permission.