Location: Southeastern Asia, archipelago between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean

Country Name: conventional long form: Republic of Indonesia
conventional short form: Indonesia
local long form: Republik Indonesia
former: Netherlands East Indies; Dutch East Indies
local short form: Indonesia

Nationality: noun: Indonesian(s)
adjective: Indonesian

Capital: Jakarta
Flag Description: The Indonesian national flag is called "Sang Saka Merah Putih" (meaning "lofty bicolor red and white"). It is made up of two colors, red on top of white. Red represents the human blood, standing for the corporeal or concrete, white represents the spiritual. The red symbolizes human blood and the white represents the human spirit. The design of this flag is based on the 13th century Javan Majapahit Empire flag that had nine red and white stripes.
(http://www.enchantedlearning.com/asia/indonesia/flag/)
Government Type: Republic

Administrative Divisions: 27 provinces (propinsi-propinsi, singular - propinsi), 2 special
regions* (daerah-daerah istimewa, singular - daerah istimewa), and 1 special capital city
district** (daerah khusus ibukota); Aceh*, Bali, Banten, Bengkulu, Gorontalo, Jakarta Raya**,
Jambi, Jawa Barat, Jawa Tengah, Jawa Timur, Kalimantan Barat, Kalimantan Selatan,
Kalimantan Tengah, Kalimantan Timur, Kepulauan Bangka Belitung, Lampung, Maluku,
Maluku Utara, Nusa Tenggara Barat, Nusa Tenggara Timur, Papua, Riau, Sulawesi Selatan,
Sulawesi Tengah, Sulawesi Tenggara, Sulawesi Utara, Sumatera Barat, Sumatera Selatan,
Sumatera Utara, Yogyakarta*; note - with the implementation of decentralization on 1 January
2001, the 357 districts (regencies) have become the key administrative units responsible for
providing most government services

Note: following the 30 August 1999 provincial referendum for independence which was
overwhelmingly approved by the people of Timor Timur and the October 1999 concurrence of
Indonesia's national legislature, the name East Timor was adopted as a provisional name for the
political entity formerly known as Propinsi Timor Timur; East Timor gained its formal
independence on 20 May 2002

Independence: August 17, 1945 (proclaimed independence; on December 27 1949,
Indonesia became legally independent from the Netherlands)

Language: Bahasa Indonesia (official, modified form of Malay), English, Dutch,
local dialects, the most widely spoken of which is Javanese

Ethnic Groups: Javanese 45%, Sundanese 14%, Madurese 7.5%, coastal Malays 7.5%, other 26%

Religion: Muslim 88%, Protestant 5%, Roman Catholic 3%, Hindu 2%, Buddhist 1%, other 1%
Population: 231,328,092 (July 2002 est.)
Population Growth Rate: 1.54% (2002 est.)
Age Structure: 0-14 years: NA
15-64 years: NA
65 years and over: NA
Life Expectancy: male: 66 years; female: 71 years (2002 est.)

Literacy rate: definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 83.8%; male: 89.6%; female: 78% (1995 est.)

Gross Domestic Product (GDP): $687 billion (2001 est.)

Currency: Indonesian rupiah (IDR; 10,377IDR=1USD)

Area: 741,100 sq. miles (about 3 times the size of Texas)

Climate: tropical; hot, humid; more moderate in highlands

Terrain: mostly coastal lowlands; larger islands have interior mountains

Natural Resources: petroleum, tin, natural gas, nickel, timber, bauxite, copper, fertile soils,
coal, gold, silver