Indonesia is in Southeastern Asia, and lies between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean
Area is 1,919,440 sq km
Cliamte is tropical; hot, humid; more moderate in highlands
population is 245,452,739 (July 2006)
Ethnic groups include Javanese 45%, Sundanese 14%, Madurese 7.5%, coastal Malays 7.5%, other 26%
Languages Bahasa Indonesia (official, modified form of Malay), English, Dutch, local dialects, the most widely spoken of which is Javanese
Capital is Jakarta
Indonesia is an archipelago in Southeast Asia consisting of 17,000 islands
(6,000 inhabited) and straddling the equator. The largest islands are Sumatra,
Java (the most populous), Bali, Kalimantan (Indonesia's part of Borneo),
Sulawesi (Celebes), the Nusa Tenggara islands, the Moluccas Islands, and Irian
Jaya (also called West Papua), the western part of New Guinea. Its neighbor to
the north is Malaysia and to the east is Papua New Guinea.
Indonesia has the largest number of active volcanoes in the world. Earthquakes are frequent. Wallace's line, a zoological demarcation between Asian and Australian flora and fauna, divides Indonesia.