Indonesia

Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in <a href="/facts/Southeast_Asia/VafwT517">Southeast Asia</a> and <a href="/facts/Oceania/vzTEvsfV">Oceania</a>, between the <a href="/facts/Indian_Ocean/Kv0crwKG">Indian</a> and <a href="/facts/Pacific_Ocean/bdxgXRVM">Pacific</a> oceans. Comprising over <a href="/facts/List_of_islands_of_Indonesia/X6UTGc9M">17,000 islands</a>, including <a href="/facts/Sumatra/Fo192kJb">Sumatra</a>, <a href="/facts/Java/2MNA2rLm">Java</a>, <a href="/facts/Sulawesi/BKg2WNej">Sulawesi</a>, and parts of <a href="/facts/Borneo/1aIGfyvV">Borneo</a> and <a href="/facts/New_Guinea/qB0bzfSH">New Guinea</a>, Indonesia is the world's largest <a href="/facts/Archipelagic_state/QRYsuE11">archipelagic state</a> and the <a href="/facts/List_of_countries_and_dependencies_by_area/XQWaBfYo">14th-largest country by area</a>, at 1,904,569 square kilometres (735,358 square miles). With over 280 million people, Indonesia is the world's <a href="/facts/List_of_countries_and_dependencies_by_population/N1Fq63C2">fourth-most-populous country</a> and the most populous <a href="/facts/Islam_by_country/8Qs2Hcm7">Muslim-majority country</a>. Java, the world's <a href="/facts/List_of_islands_by_population/xPMPDjlM">most populous island</a>, is home to more than half of the country's population.
Indonesia operates as a <a href="/facts/Presidential_system/lFFCrzpv">presidential republic</a> with an elected <a href="/facts/People%2527s_Consultative_Assembly/TTUuN3AY">legislature</a> and consists of <a href="/facts/Provinces_of_Indonesia/lb96z9A8">38 provinces</a>, nine of which have <a href="/facts/Autonomous_administrative_division/JnUkBUJc">special autonomous status</a>. <a href="/facts/Jakarta/HwQk9xHT">Jakarta</a>, the largest city, is the world's <a href="/facts/List_of_largest_cities/5eVR5sk2">second-most-populous urban area</a>. Indonesia shares land borders with <a href="/facts/Papua_New_Guinea/RLaVlhFC">Papua New Guinea</a>, <a href="/facts/Timor-Leste/IBQ69BRj">Timor-Leste</a>, and the <a href="/facts/East_Malaysia/bU7TkkdE">eastern part of Malaysia</a>, as well as <a href="/facts/Maritime_border/1369gqHz">maritime borders</a> with <a href="/facts/Singapore/CQDkhUvD">Singapore</a>, <a href="/facts/Peninsular_Malaysia/88WtYx31">Peninsular Malaysia</a>, <a href="/facts/Vietnam/0ulfA8Eq">Vietnam</a>, <a href="/facts/Thailand/GCUnN4JK">Thailand</a>, the <a href="/facts/Philippines/ARpmxXQV">Philippines</a>, <a href="/facts/Australia/qLHpbppq">Australia</a>, <a href="/facts/Palau/sYXMGPbX">Palau</a>, and <a href="/facts/India/QW4TV4sy">India</a>. Despite its large population and densely populated regions, Indonesia has vast areas of wilderness that support one of the <a href="/facts/Megadiverse_countries/BE8PrlT7">world's highest levels of biodiversity</a>.
The <a href="/facts/Nusantara_(term)/4L3a3XPN">Indonesian archipelago</a> has been a valuable region for <a href="/facts/Trade/S13U8JKr">trade</a> since at least the seventh century, when Sumatra's <a href="/facts/Srivijaya/SruwFBQu">Srivijaya</a> and later Java's <a href="/facts/Majapahit/28e5Eydc">Majapahit</a> kingdoms engaged in <a href="/facts/Commerce/SL9xueYJ">commerce</a> with entities from <a href="/facts/Mainland_China/HFXJcUky">mainland China</a> and the <a href="/facts/Indian_subcontinent/0XUWGXpx">Indian subcontinent</a>. Over the centuries, local rulers assimilated foreign influences, leading to the flourishing of <a href="/facts/Hinduism_in_Indonesia/Af6sTvjC">Hindu</a> and <a href="/facts/Buddhism_in_Indonesia/sDfAtuYl">Buddhist</a> kingdoms. <a href="/facts/Sunni_Islam/WYo0zeq0">Sunni</a> traders and <a href="/facts/Sufism/NFcCu5gP">Sufi</a> scholars later brought <a href="/facts/Islam_in_Indonesia/RJyy1px2">Islam</a>, and European powers fought one another to monopolise trade in the Spice Islands of <a href="/facts/Maluku_Islands/Bwucm34R">Maluku</a> during the <a href="/facts/Age_of_Discovery/Hy29CbgV">Age of Discovery</a>. Following three and a half centuries of <a href="/facts/Dutch_East_Indies/1vl6kw8p">Dutch colonialism</a>, Indonesia secured <a href="/facts/Proclamation_of_Indonesian_Independence/GnDn7wjp">its independence</a> after <a href="/facts/World_War_II/2efV5L1U">World War II</a> and has since faced challenges such as separatism, corruption, and natural disasters, alongside <a href="/facts/Post-Suharto_era_in_Indonesia/jECgTRRW">democratisation</a> and rapid economic growth.
Indonesian society comprises hundreds of <a href="/facts/Ethnic_groups_in_Indonesia/xJQrpgTz">ethnic</a> and <a href="/facts/Languages_of_Indonesia/ovMhWzPp">linguistic</a> groups, with <a href="/facts/Javanese_people/35mcwIsB">Javanese</a> being the largest. The nation's identity is unified under the motto <a href="/facts/Bhinneka_Tunggal_Ika/AEoqK5z6">Bhinneka Tunggal Ika</a>, defined by a <a href="/facts/Indonesian_language/J8Q78Ywb">national language</a>, cultural and religious pluralism, a history of <a href="/facts/Colonialism/kvqx2DaV">colonialism</a>, and rebellion against it. A <a href="/facts/Newly_industrialised_country/FoGN9n5F">newly industrialised country</a>, Indonesia's <a href="/facts/Economy_of_Indonesia/WqcYHLtf">economy</a> ranks as the world's <a href="/facts/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nominal)/k3Lf3RIL">16th-largest by nominal GDP</a> and the <a href="/facts/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(PPP)/fDw3Ibeo">7th-largest by PPP</a>. As the world's third-largest democracy and a <a href="/facts/Middle_power/ku44qNYY">middle power</a> in global affairs, the country is a member of several multilateral organisations, including the <a href="/facts/United_Nations/fgXLnmgT">United Nations</a>, <a href="/facts/World_Trade_Organization/p7hgb1lP">World Trade Organization</a>, <a href="/facts/G20/pFut6kJQ">G20</a>, <a href="/facts/MIKTA/JfCDmRRk">MIKTA</a>, <a href="/facts/BRICS/FzdNoxGQ">BRICS</a> and a founding member of the <a href="/facts/Non-Aligned_Movement/PIdnjRvD">Non-Aligned Movement</a>, <a href="/facts/ASEAN/77wDkXmL">Association of Southeast Asian Nations</a>, <a href="/facts/East_Asia_Summit/bKJuuBla">East Asia Summit</a>, <a href="/facts/Asia-Pacific_Economic_Cooperation/Y9uLYe1C">APEC</a> and the <a href="/facts/Organisation_of_Islamic_Cooperation/wWSQSzfF">Organisation of Islamic Cooperation</a>.

Indonesia open-in-new

Indonesia