Geography

Indonesia is the largest archipelago in the world. It consists of five major islands and about 30 smaller groups. The figure for the total number of islands is 17,508 according to the Indonesian Naval Hydro-Oceanographic office. The archipelagos on a crossroads between two oceans, the Pacific and the Indian, and bridges two continents, Asia and Australia. This strategic position has always influenced he cultural, social, political and economic life of the country.

The territory of the Republic of Indonesia stretches from 6008' north latitude to 11015' south latitude, and from 94045' east longitude. The Indonesian sea area is four times greater than its land area, which is about 1,9 millions sq. km. The sea area is about 7,9 million sq. km; (including an exclusive economic zone) and constitutes about 81% of the total area of the country.

The five main islands are: Sumatra, which is about 473,606 sq. km. In size; the most fertile and densely populated islands, Java/Madura, 132,107 sq. km; Kalimantan, which comprises two-thirds of the island of Borneo and measures 539,460 sq. km; Sulawesi, 189,216 sq. km; and Irian Jaya, 421,981 sq. km, which is part of the world's second larges island, New Guinea. Indonesia's other islands are smaller in size.

The archipelago is divided into three groups. The island of Java, Sumatra and Kalimantan, and the small islands in-between, lie on the Sunda Shelf which begin on the coasts of Malaysia and Indo China, where the sea depth does not exceed 700 feet, Irian Jaya which is part of the island of New Guinea, and the Aru Islands le on the Sahul Shelf, which stretches northwards from the Australian coast. Here the sea depth is similar to that of the Sunda Shelf.

Located between these two shelves is the island group of Nusatenggara, Maluku and Sulawesi, where the sea depth reaches 15.000 feet. Coastal plains have been developed around the islands of Sumatra, Java, Kalimantan and Irian Jaya.

The land area is generally covered by thick tropical rain forests, where fertile soils are continuously replenished by volcanic eruptions like those on the island of Java.

The country is predominantly mountainous with some 400 volcanoes, of which 100 are active. Mountains higher than 9.000 feet are found on the islands of Sumatra (Mt. Leuser and Mt. Kerinci), Java (Mt. Gede, Mt. Tangkubanperahu, Mt. Ciremai, Mt. Kawi, Mt. Kelud, Mt. Semeru and Mt. Raung), Sulawesi ((Mt. Lompobatang and Mt. Rantekombala), Bali (M. Batur and Mt. Agung), Lombok (Mt. Rinjani), and Sumbawa (Mt. Tambora). The highest mountain is the perpetually snow-capped Mandala Top (15.300 feet) in the Jaya Wijaya mountain range of Irian Jaya.

Many rives flow throughout the country. They serve as useful transportation routes on certain islands, for example, the Musi, Batanghari, Indragiri and Kampar rives in Sumatra; the Kapuas, Barito, Mahakam and Rejang rives in Kalimantan; and the Memberamo and Digul rives in Irian Jaya. On Java rivers are important for irrigation purposes, i.e., the Bengawan Solo, Citarum and Brantas rives.

A number of islands are dotted with scenic lakes, like the Toba, Maninjau and Singkarak lakes on Sumatra; the Tempe, Towuti, Sidenreng, Poso, Limboto, Tondano, and Matana lakes on Sulawesi; and the Paniai and Sentani lakes on Irian Jaya.

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People

Indonesia has a population of 222.6 million (est). Nationals of Indonesia are known as Indonesian(s). The primary ethnic group is Javanese (45%) and Sundanese (14%). The predominant religion is Muslim (87%). Languages spoken include Bahasa Indonesia (official), and English.

 

 

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Government

The country is known officially as Republic of Indonesia and in short, Indonesia. Indonesia is a republic. The capital is Jakarta. The national holiday is on 17 August (1945).

 

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Indonesian Economy at Glance

After the financial crisis hit the Southeast Asian region in 1997, Indonesia, one of the worst casualties, has started to regain composure. The administrations of presidents Abdurrahman Wahid and Megawati Sukarnoputri were successful in bringing the economy back to recovery. Currently, under President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, important efforts have been made to further strengthen the recovery process through more balanced and focused policies. The Indonesian economy is largely and increasingly contributed by the industry and services sectors, both of which accounting for 85 percent of the economy. Economic growth was recorded at 5.1 percent for 2004 and has been forecasted to average 6.2 percent for the period of 2004-2008. Although the GDP is currently dominated by private consumption, efforts have been made to improve the performance of especially non-oil exports and to attract more foreign investments. Indonesia’s main exports are manufactured products, fuel and rubber, while the main imports are food, fuel and energy products and capital goods. While Japan has been the primary destination for exports, Australia has increasingly become an important trading partner for Indonesia. To encourage more foreign investments, the government has also produced policies to fight corruption, simplify the investment licensing process and improve law enforcement. A new investment law has been passed by the Parliament in April 2007, improving the competitiveness of Indonesia as a destination for foreign investors. Current and future challenges that President Yudhoyono must deal with include job creation, greater competition from the neighboring countries – particularly China, poverty alleviation and the rise of global oil prices.

ITEM	2003	2004	2005	2006
REAL SECTOR Gross Domestic Product (GDP) GDP (Bn IDR at current prices) GDP Growth (% annual change) Per capita GDP (‘000 IDR)	2,013,675 4.8 9,399	2,295,826 5.0 10,576	2,784,960 5.7 12,665	3,338,196 5.5 15,033
Structure of Output (% of GDP) Agriculture Industry Services	15.2 43.7 41.1	14.3 44.6 41.0	13.1 46.8 40.2	12.9 47.0 40.1
Structure of Demand (% of GDP) ·         Private Consumption ·         Government Consumption ·         Gross Domestic Capital Formation ·         Exports (goods and services) ·         Imports (goods and services)	68.1 8.1 25.6 30.5 22.7	66.8 8.3 24.1 32.2 27.4	64.1 8.1 24.6 33.6 29.2	62.7 8.6 24.6 30.9 26.1
Price Indices (% annual change) Consumer Price Index GDP Deflator	5.1 5.5	6.1 8.6	10.9 14.8	12.7 13.6
Monetary Sector Money Supply M1 (Bn IDR) M2 (Bn IDR) M2 growth (% annual change) M2 (% of GDP)	223,799 955,692 8.1 47.5	253,818 1,033,527 8.1 45.0	281,905 1,203,215 16.4 43.2	361,073 1,382,073 14.9 41.4
Interest Rates (per cent per annum) Savings Time Deposit	5.1 10.4	4.4 7.1	4.9 11.0	4.4 11.6
Fiscal Sector Government Revenue (Bn IDR) Taxes Non-taxes	248,470 94,002	280,559 122,546	347,031 146,888	409,021 226,906
Government Expenditure (Bn IDR) Current Expenditure Capital Expenditure	191,788 185,460	365,727 61,450	476,744 32,889	610,275 59,605
Government Finance (% of GDP) Total Revenue Total Expenditure Surplus/Deficit	17.0 18.7 -1.7	17.6 18.6 -1.0	17.7 18.3 -0.5	19.1 20.1 -1.0
External Sector External Trade (Mn USD) Exports Imports	62,527 33,086	69,714 46,180	85,660 57,701	100,690 61,078
External Trade Growth (% annual change) Exports Imports	9.4 5.9	11.5 39.6	22.9 24.9	17.5 5.9
Directions of Trade (Mn USD) Exports: 1.       Japan 2.       USA 3.       Singapore 4.       Republic of Korea 5.       People’s Republic of China Imports: 1.       Singapore 2.       Japan 3.       People’s Republic of China 4.       USA 5.       Thailand	13,604 7,386 5,400 4,324 3,803 4,155 4,228 2,957 2,702 1,702	15,962 8,707 6,001 4,830 4,605 6,083 6,082 4,101 3,236 2,772	18,049 9,889 7,837 7,086 6,662 9,471 6,906 5,843 3,886 4,447	21,972 13,038 13,415 8,908 8,746 27,391 7,971 10,403 3,386 3,671
Balance of Payments (Mn USD) ·         Merchandise Exports ·         Merchandise Imports ·         Current Account Balance	64,109 39,546 8,106	70,767 50,615 1,564	86,995 69,462 278	102,728 73,010 9,628
Balance of Payments (% of GDP) ·         Exports ·         Imports ·         Current Account Balance	27.3 16.8 3.5	27.6 19.7 0.6	30.3 24.2 0.1	28.2 20.0 2.6
International Reserves (Mn USD, end-of-year)	36,253	36,303	34,579	42,893
Exchange Rates (IDR per USD) ·         End of period ·         Average of period	8,465 8,577	9,290 8,939	9,830 9,705	9,020 9,159
Exchange Rates (IDR per AUD) ·         End of period ·         Average of period	6,344 5,597	7,270 6,587	7,186 7,413	7,098 7,044
External Debt (Mn USD, end-of-year) ·         Long-term debt ·         Short-term debt ·         Use of IMF credit	103,777 22,903 10,276	105,537 24,500 9,686	105,993 24,500 7,807	… … …
Source: Asian Development Bank, Key Indicators of Developing Asian and Pacific Countries, 2007

 

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Communications

Indonesia has 6,964 km of railroads, 119,500 km of highways and 21,579 km of inland waterways. The ports are in Cilacap, Cirebon, Jakarta, Kupang, Palembang, Ujungpandang, Semarang and Surabaya. There are 435 (mostly small) airports, 119 with permanent surface runways.

The telecommunications infrastructure includes an inter-island microwave system. Domestic service is fair; international

 

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Flora And Fauna

FAUNA

 

Indonesia contains one of the world's most remarkable geographical boundaries in its distribution of animals. This dates back to the glacial period when sea level fell all over the world. During this period the islands of Java, Sumatra, Kalimantan and Bali on the Sunda Shelf were joined together with one another and with the Asian mainland, but Irian Jaya, Aru and the Australian continent of the Sahul Shelf were separated. This early geographical separation explains why the tropical animal species of Java, Sumatra and Kalimantan do not exist in Irian Jaya. For the same reason, the kangaroo of Irian Jaya is missing in the other region.

Maluku, Sulawesi and the Lesser Sunda Islands, which lie between the Sunda and Sahul shelves, have a strikingly different fauna. Most of the eastern fauna do not exist in Sulawesi even though this island is close to Kalimantan, being just across the Makassar Strait. Similarly, the animal species of Irian Jaya are not found on Seram and Halmahera, Irian Jaya's closest neighbors. One possible reason for this is that Kalimantan and Sulawesi might have been separated by a deep straight at one point, while the great depth of the Banda Sea kept them apart during the glacial period. Some scientists have attributed the phenomenon to three faunal lines. ALFRED RUSSEL WALLACE (1823-1913) wrote in his book, "The Malay Archipelago," that Nusantara was separated into an Oriental ecological area (west side) and an Australian ecological area (east side) by a Wallace Line that runs from South to North, passing the Lombok and Makassar Straits and ending in the south eastern part of the Philippines. The Weber line which passes the sea between Maluku and Sulawesi, and the Lydekker line which starts at the edge of the Sahul Shelf. Sulawesi Island is in a transition zone known as the Wallace Area. The other two faunal lines are the Weber Line, which passes the sea between Maluku and Sulawesi, and the Lydekker Line, which starts at the Sahul Shelf and skirts the western border of Irian Jaya and the Australian continent. Other scientists, however, prefer to call the area a "subtraction transition zone".

The Directorate General has adopted a national strategy on natural conservation whereby the entire ecosystem is conserved. This is necessary because it is often impossible to preserve wildlife outside its natural habitat. For example, the orangutan, which literally means "jungleman" (Pongo pygmaeus) and only lives in the jungles of Sumatra and Kalimantan, is very dependent on a primary forest habitat. For this purpose, the Directorate General, in cooperation with the World Wide Fund for Nature (W.W.F.), established "orangutan rehabilitation centers" to prepare illegally-captured orangutan for return to life in the wilderness.

The Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis), the world's largest lizard, can grow to 3 meters long. Its home is on the Komodo group of reserves, which are composed of Komodo, Padar and Rinca islands, off the coast of Flores in the eastern part of the country.

The "babi rusa", a deer-like pig (Babyrousa, babirusa), and the "anoa." A forest-dwelling dwarf buffalo, are among the interesting indigenous animals of Sulawesi. Other indigenous mammals of Sulawesi are the big civet cat called "musang" (Macrogalidia musshenbroeki); a species of the tersier called "binatang hantu," which literally means "spooky animals" (Tarsius spectrum), and several species of the black monkey or "monyet hitam" (Macacanigra). Among the vast variety of birds in Sulawesi, the Maleo fowl and the shrubhen are two notable species of the megapode family. Irian Jaya and Maluku are rich in colorful birds, varying from the big and unable-to-fly cassowaries (Casuarius) and the brilliantly-plumaged birds of paradise that belong to the family of Paradiseidae and Ptilinorynhidae and number more than 40 species, to a large variety of birds from the parrot family. Other members of Indonesia's fauna include the hornbill bird, or "rangkong/enggang" of the Bucerotidal family, which is noted for its enormous horn-tipped beak. There are also the Sumatran tiger (Panthera Tigris Sumatrenesis) and the almost-extinct Java tiger (Panthera Tigris sondaica).

The Mentawai Islands off the west coast of Sumatra are home to the "beruk," a relatively large monkey often trained to pick coconuts; and the "lutung," or black monkey, which lives on leaves.

The "Badak Jawa" or one-horned rhino (Rhinoceros sondaicus) lives in Ujung Kulon National Park in West Java, but the smaller badak sumatra or twoo-horned rhino (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) has its habitat in the Mt. Leuser National Park (the larges park in the country) located around the valley of the Alas river in Aceh, Indonesia's northern-most province. Other notable animals are the "banteng" or wild bull of Java (Bos javanicus): the tree kangaroo (Dorcopsis muelleri) of Irian Jaya; the fresh water dolphin (Orcacella brevirostris) of the Mahakam river in East Kalimantan" and the proboscis monkey or "bekantan," also of Kalimantan.

In addition, there is a great variety of birds, including egrets, herons, kingfishers, hawks, eagles and many others. There are also thousands of species of insects and a large variety of lizards and snakes. Tortoises and turtles, as well as exotic species of fish, crabs, mollusks ad other aquatic animals, living both in salt and fresh water, are also found in great abundance.

Indonesia is known worldwide for her ornamental fish species which are exported to the United States, Japan and Germany. The species most noted for their beautiful colors and shapes include the clownfish (Amphiprion), damselfish (Dascyllus), wrasse (Coris gaimardi) and the Coris aygula, which abound in the Bali Strait.

The most common species is the green wrasse (Thalasoma lunare). The butterflyfish (Chaetodontidae) has a small snout, but long-snouted butterflyfish are also found and include the Forcipiger longirostris and Chelmon rostratus. Another species, the bannerfish (Heniochus acuminatus) has backfins longer than its body length; and the Moorish idol or Zanclus canescens can measure 20 cm.

Angelfish (Pomacanthus imperator), Pomancanthus semicirculatus; Pygoplitesdiacanthus, and Auxiphipops navarchus, which belongs to Pomancanthidae family, are all collected for their beautiful colors. Surgeonfish (Acanthuridae) and Paracanthurus hepatus are very popular because of their distinguished bluish color. Other beautiful species are the Acanthurus leucosternon, Zebrazoma veliferum and Naso literatus. Living a solitary life is the tiger fish or Balistidae.

Sea horses, or Hippocampus coronatus, of the syngnathidae family are also among the ornamental fish sough. Peacock fish, so named because of their long fins, include the pterois zebra, brachiopterus, volitans, ruselli, miles and radiata varieties. They all belong to the Scorpanidae family. There are many more species of ornamental fish in Indonesia, far too many to mention all.

Pearl oysters found in the country include the Pinctada maxima, the P. margaritifera and the Pteria penguin. These species grow in the waters around Halmahera Island, the Maluku and the Aru Islands in eastern Indonesia. The pearls are in great demand because of their large size and high quality. In Maluku pearl shells are collected and made into beatutiful ornaments.

 

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FLORA

The rich flora of Indonesia includes many unique varieties of tropical plant life in various forms. Rafflesia arnoldi, which is found only in certainparts of Sumatra, is the largest flower in the world. This parasitic plant grows on certain lianas but does not produce leaves. From the same area in Sumatra comes another giant, Amorphophallus tatinum, the larges inflorescence of its kind.

The insect trapping pitcher plant (Nepenthea spp) is represented by different species in many areas of western Indonesia. The myriad of orchids is rich in species, varying in size from the largest of all orchids, the tiger orchid or Grammatophyllum Speciosum, to the tiny and leafless species of Taeniophyllum which is edible and taken by the local people as a medicine and is also used in handicrafts. The forest soil is rich ini humus which enables the luxuriant growth of a multitude of fungi, including the horse hair blight, the luminescent species, the sooty mold and the black mildew. Indonesia's flora also abounds in timber species. The dipterocarp family is renowned for its timber (meranti), resin, vegetable oil and tengkawang or illipc nuts. Ramin, a good-quality timber for furniture, is produced by the Gonystylus tree. Sandalwood, ebony, ulin and Palembang timber are other valuable forest products. Teakwood is a product of man-made forest in Java.

Because the flora is so rich many people in Indonesia have made a good living of this natural resource. About 6.000 species of plants are know to be used directly or indirectly by the people. A striking example in this modern time is the use of plants in the production of traditional herbal medicine or "Jamu". Flowers are indispensable in ceremonial, customary and traditional rites.

To care for animals and plants in the country, the fifth o November ws designated as the national Flora and Fauna Day. To foster the society's love for its fauna and flora, the Komodo reptile (Varanus komodoensis) has been designated as Indonsia National Anima, the red freshwater Liluk/arwana (Seleropage formosus) as the Fascinating Animal and the flying Elang Jawa (Javan Hawk Eagle, Spizaetus bartelsi) as the Rare (endangered) species. These decisions complement the previous designation of Indonesia's national flowers.

 

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Indonesia Standard Time

As of January 1, 1988, Indonesia's three time zones have been changed as below:

1. Western Indonesia Standard Time equals GMT plus 7 hours (meridian 1050E), covering all provinces in Sumatra and Java, and the provinces of West and Central Kalimantan.
2. Central Indonesia Standard Time equals GMT plus 8 hours (meridian 1200E), covering the provinces of East and South Kalimantan, all provinces in Sulawesi, and the provinces of Bali, West and East Nusatenggara and East Timor.
3. Eastern Indonesia Standard Time equals GMT plus 9 hours (meridian 1350E, covering the provinces of Maluku and Irian Jaya.

 

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Territorial Waters And Exclusive Economic Zone

When independence was proclaimed and sovereignty gained, Indonesia had to enact laws to govern the seas in accordance with the geographic structure of an archipelagic state. This, however, did not mean that the country would bar international passage. The laws were necessary instruments for the unity and national resilience of the country, with a territory that embraces all the islands, the islets and the seas in between.

In view of the country's susceptibility to foreign intervention from the sea and for domestic security reasons, on December 13, 1957, the Indonesian Government issued a declaration on the territorial waters of the Republic. It stated that all the waters surrounding and between the islands in the territory came within Indonesia's sovereighty. It also determined that the country's territorial water limit was 12 miles, measured from a straight baseline drawn from the outermost points of the islands.

In the past, archipelagic sates like Indonesia have unilaterally determined their 200-mile-Exclusive Economic Zones. Today such economic zones are confirmed by the International Convention on the Law of the Sea, which was ratified by the Indonesian Government on October 18, 1983, by Act No. 5 of the same year. This is the legal basis of the Indonesian-Exclusive Economic Zone.