Indonesia, Land with 17'000 islands

Country Profile           

Formal Name                   

Republic of Indonesia

The word Indonesia was coined from the Greek “indos” for India and “nesos” for island.

Date of Independence

On August 17, 1945

Sukarno and Hatta proclaimed the independence Republic of Indonesia with Sukarno as president and Hatta as vice president.

Flag

Two equal horizontal bands of red and white.

Red for courage and white for purity.                                   

Coat of Arms

Garuda is bearing in its talons a ribbon, inseribed with words, the national motto of Indonesia, "Bhineka Tunggal Ika". Taken from old Javanese language, it literally means "although differ but yet one". It is often translated as "unity in diveristy".

The shield’s 5emblems represent Panca-Sila-Doktrin, the five principles of Indonesian national philosophy.

The feathers on Indonesian cat-of-arms Garuda of the  are arranged so that they invoke the date of 17 August 1945, the officially recognized Indonesian  day of independence. There are 17 feathers on each wing, 8 on the tail, 19 on the base of the tail (below the shield), and 45 on the neck.

Location

Indonesia is located in Southeast Asia with a total land area of 2 million km².

Indonesia is the largest archipelago nation in the world and is the worlds fourth largest population. More then 230 millions individuals (2004).

It encompasses more than 17`000 islands. About 6`000 of these islands are named, and about 1`000 are permanently settled.

There are two major archipelagos, Nusa Tenggara and Maluku, and about sixty similar archipelagos.

The five main islands are, Java, Kalimantan, Papua (formerly Irian Jaya), Sumatra and Sulawesi.

Indonesia has more than 30 provinces. consistos “kabupaten” (Regenzy), “kecamatan” (distriet) and “desa” (Village).

The country measures about 5`000 kilometres at its greatest east- west extent, and about 1`800 kilometres at is greatest expanse north to south.

That means “dari Sabang ke Merauke”, from “Sabang”, a little small island near” Banda Aceh” in the north of “Sumatra”, to “Merauke” in the north of “Irian Jaya”, on the border to “Papua New Guinea”.

Petroleum and natural gas are among Indonesia’s most important natural resources. Other significant minerals are bauxite, copper, gold, iron, manganese, nickel and tin.

Dominant food production are rice, but cassava, corn, fruits, cocoa, coffee, copra, palm oil, sugar, tea, clove, nutmeg, coconut palms and sago palms.

Capital

Jakarta, located on the north coast of Java.

Languages

The national language is Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian).

As many as 725 other languages and dialects are spoken.

English is the business circles language.