Emigrating to Indonesia because of love and lies. The Indonesia Guide E-Book

Heinz Duthel

• Herausgeber: epubli
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 395

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2025

Beschreibung

Emigrating to Indonesia because of love and lies. The Indonesia Guide Beremigrasi ke Indonesia karena cinta dan kebohongan dedication: Titi Aminah, West Java province Culture Books This article was published in thejakartapost.com with the title:. Click to read: https://www.thejakartapost.com/culture/books. Download The Jakarta Post app for easier and faster news access: Android: http://bit.ly/tjp-android iOS: http://bit.ly/tjp-ios It's easy to see what's going on, so it's all right. Copyright © 2025 Dr. Phil. Heinz Duthel Emigrating to Indonesia because of love and lies Emigrating to Indonesia Republic of Indonesia The Republic of Indonesia (Indonesian: Indonesia) is the largest island state and the fourth largest country in the world by population (as of 2010). It borders Malaysia on the island of Borneo and Papua New Guinea on the island of New Guinea. It was proclaimed on August 17, 1945 and became independent from the Netherlands on December 27, 1949. The capital Jakarta has 9.58 million inhabitants (2010) and is located on the island of Java, where more than half of the country's population lives. The name Indonesia is a word creation based on Greek and is composed of Indo- for India and nesos for island.

Leseprobe

Emigrating to Indonesia because of love and lies.The Indonesia Guide

Beremigrasi ke Indonesia karena cinta dan kebohongan

Heinz Duthel

Culture Books

This article was published in thejakartapost.com with the title:. Click to read: https://www.thejakartapost.com/culture/books.

Download The Jakarta Post app for easier and faster news access:

Android: http://bit.ly/tjp-android

iOS: http://bit.ly/tjp-ios

It's easy to see what's going on, so it's all right.

Copyright © 2025 Dr. Phil. Heinz Duthel

All rights reserved.

dedication

Titi Aminah, West Java province

Contents

Emigrating to Indonesia because of love and lies.

Emigrating to Indonesia because of love and lies

Indonesia

island state

Jakarta

presidential system of government

Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono

List of cities in Indonesia

List of Indonesian islands

List of mountains or elevations in Indonesia

Demographics of Indonesia

Islam in Indonesia

Christianity in Indonesia

History of the Jews in Indonesia

History of Indonesia

List of Presidents of Indonesia

Indonesian Armed Forces

administrative divisions of Indonesia

Indonesia Raya

Wage Rudolf Soepratman

microfinance

Internet in Indonesia

United Nations Environmental Programme

shifting cultivation

Sumatra

Borneo

orangutans

rainforest

Coral Triangle

Indonesian cuisine

Banten

West Java

Central Java

Jawa Timur

Yogyakarta

Bali

Denpasar

Lesser Sunda Islands

bathing

Bangli

Gianyar

Klungkung

dry forest

cloud forest

humid savanna

mangrove (ecosystem)

Hinduism

Singaraja

Ubud

Kerobokan

Kuta

Nusa Dua

Padang Bai

Tenganan

Pemuteran

Jimbaran

Tulamben

Arabica coffee

Denpasar Airport

Besakih

Pura Tanah Lot

Batur (volcano)

Adam Massinger

Airfast Indonesia

Air Paradise

Astra Agro Lestari

Bank Bukopin

Bank Internasional Indonesia

Bank Mandiri

Merpati Nusantara Airlines

Mandala Airlines

Lion Air

The Jakarta Post

Antara News

Aceh

Bangka-Belitung

Nusa Tenggara West

East Nusa Tenggara

Emigrating to Indonesia because of love and lies

Emigrating to Indonesia

Republic of Indonesia

The Republic of Indonesia (Indonesian: Indonesia) is the largest island state and the fourth largest country in the world by population (as of 2010). It borders Malaysia on the island of Borneo and Papua New Guinea on the island of New Guinea. It was proclaimed on August 17, 1945 and became independent from the Netherlands on December 27, 1949. The capital Jakarta has 9.58 million inhabitants (2010) and is located on the island of Java, where more than half of the country's population lives. The name Indonesia is a word creation based on Greek and is composed of Indo- for India and nesos for island.

geography

Position

The equatorial island chain is the largest state in Southeast Asia in terms of area and population, the world's largest island state and, with around 239.9 million inhabitants, the fourth largest nation in the world. Indonesia's land area is spread over 17,508 islands, of which 6,044 are inhabited. The main islands are Sumatra, Java, Borneo, Sulawesi and New Guinea. Indonesia stretches 1,882 km north-south from 5°54'08" north latitude to 11°08'20" south latitude, and 5,114 km west-east from 95°00'38" to 141°01'12" east longitude.

To the north of Indonesia lie Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines and Palau, to the east Papua New Guinea and East Timor, to the south Australia and to the west and south the Indian Ocean. Indonesia is separated from the Malay Peninsula with western Malaysia and Singapore by the Strait of Malacca and towards the Philippine islands the border runs through the Celebes Sea.

The Indonesian archipelago is crossed by a large number of straits, shallow marginal seas and sea basins. In the north, one of the most important waterways, the Strait of Malacca, runs from the Andaman Sea into the Karimata Strait, which leads north into the South China Sea and south into the Java Sea.

The Java Sea is centrally located and is connected to the Indian Ocean in the south via straits such as the Sunda or Lombok Strait. From the Celebes Sea, the Makassar Strait flows into the eastern Java Sea and the Flores Sea, which borders the Banda Sea with the Spice Islands. Other smaller sea areas lie to the south. Above the Indonesian part of the island of New Guinea lies the Pacific Ocean in the north, and south towards Australia lies the Arafura Sea and further west the Timor Sea.

Indonesia includes the Greater Sunda Islands (except the northern part of Borneo) and the Lesser Sunda Islands (except East Timor), as well as the Moluccas, and thus most of the Malay Archipelago. The western half of New Guinea (West Papua, formerly Irian Jaya) also belongs to Indonesia. This means that Indonesia is not only in Asia, but also has a part of Oceania.

The largest and most important city in Indonesia is the capital Jakarta, which is the commercial and financial center. Other important cities are Surabaya, Medan and Bandung.

climate

Indonesia is one of the largest rainforest areas in the world. Borneo, Sumatra, West Java, Papua, the Moluccas and Sulawesi have a humid tropical climate. Temperatures hardly fluctuate throughout the year and average between 25 °C and 27 °C. With a relative humidity of 95% and a prevailing calm, it is also referred to as tropical humidity. The amount of precipitation in a year is between 2000 mm and 4000 mm.

In the rest of Java, the Lesser Sunda Islands and the Aru Islands, the monsoon determines the climate. It ensures consistently high temperatures, which can, however, fluctuate between 6 °C and 12 °C within 24 hours. The northeast monsoon brings predominantly dry air and thus triggers a dry season (called the winter monsoon).

During this period of low rainfall, the trees shed their leaves and go through a kind of dormancy phase, during which the so-called monsoon forests (light, green forests with a pronounced herbaceous layer) develop. The southwest monsoon absorbs moisture from the warm sea and leads to heavy rainfall over the mainland, which can reach up to 50 mm per day and often leads to flooding.

flora and fauna

Due to its geographical location on both sides of the equator, Indonesia has a distinctly tropical climate with monsoon winds that bring a dry climate with little rain from June to September and humid air masses and a lot of rainfall from December to March.

The Wallace Line, which describes a biogeographical dividing line between Asian (western) and Australian (eastern) flora and fauna, runs in the northern part of the archipelago between Kalimantan (Borneo) and Sulawesi, south between Bali and Lombok. This line was named after the English naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace, who discovered during his travels between 1854 and 1862 that certain Asian mammals such as elephants, tigers, tapirs and orangutans do occur on Borneo, Java and Bali (or at least did occur in historical times), but not on Sulawesi, the Moluccas and the Lesser Sunda Islands.

According to WWF, around 75 percent of all known coral species and more than 3,000 species of fish, turtles, many dolphins and whales, as well as large sharks and rays live in Indonesia and the so-called Coral Triangle, between Malaysia, East Timor, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.

geology

The landscape of modern Indonesia developed from the Pleistocene, when the present-day island region was still connected to the Asian mainland. The archipelago was formed during the thaw period after the first ice age. The country is volcanic and therefore very mountainous. An offshoot of the Pacific Ring of Fire only touches northeastern Indonesia. Most earthquakes and volcanoes are caused by the subduction of the eastern plate of the Indian Ocean under the Sunda Shelf. Despite the threats posed by earthquakes and tsunamis and the frequently active volcanoes (June 2004: Mount Bromo and Mount Awu eruptions; Merapi in central Java has been threatening activities since the beginning of 2006), some islands, particularly Java, are densely populated because the soil is very fertile and, in conjunction with the tropical climate, allows intensive agricultural use.

See: List of mountains or elevations in Indonesia

natural events

The largest earthquake disaster in Indonesia's recent history was the Indian Ocean seaquake on December 26, 2004. When the earth shook off the northwest coast of Sumatra at around 7:58 a.m. local time, many places were severely damaged. Measuring 9.1 on the Richter scale, it was the third strongest earthquake ever recorded (the most severe earthquake was on May 22, 1960 in Chile with a magnitude of 9.5; the second strongest was the Good Friday earthquake in 1964 in Alaska (9.2)). Just 15 minutes later, people, especially on the west coast of Sumatra in the region around Banda Aceh and Meulaboh, were surprised by a tsunami up to 15 meters high. Whole coastal areas were devastated in just a few minutes. Over 170,000 people died in Indonesia alone.

An earthquake measuring 6.2 on the Richter scale with catastrophic consequences occurred on May 27, 2006 in Central Java near Yogyakarta. According to government figures, almost 5,800 people died, up to 57,800 were injured, more than 130,000 houses were destroyed or severely damaged, and up to 650,000 people were left homeless. It also led to a further increase in the activity of the Merapi volcano.

Since May 29, 2006, a mud volcano has been forming near Sidoarjo on Java. 100 °C hot mud is gushing out of the earth and thousands of people have been evacuated.

On July 17, 2006, an earthquake occurred off the coast of Java, followed by a tsunami. 525 people died and 38,000 were left homeless. The city of Pangandaran on the Indonesian island of Java was particularly affected. The tsunami warning was not passed on. An earthquake measuring 6.2 on the Richter scale occurred again on July 19, 2006 off the Indonesian coast, the earthquake warning center in Jakarta said, and this time it passed on the warning.

On March 6, 2007, an earthquake measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale struck West Sumatra, killing over 70 people and injuring several hundred (as of March 6). The quake and one of several lighter aftershocks were felt in Singapore, over 400 km away, so that several high-rise buildings there were evacuated.

On November 16, 2008, another earthquake measuring 7.7 on the magnitude 7.7 was recorded on the central Indonesian island of Sulawesi.

On January 4, 2009, at 2:43 a.m., an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.2 struck West Papua, followed by 18 aftershocks, the strongest of which was recorded at 5:33 a.m., measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale. At least four people were killed in the quakes (as of January 4, 2009, 6:28 p.m.).

Population

population density

The population density varies greatly on the Indonesian islands. There are also major differences between the regions of individual islands. While in the provinces of Papua, Maluku and Maluku Utara a maximum of 30 people live on average per square kilometer, the population density on the Indonesian part of the island of Borneo is between 10 and 100 inhabitants/km² and on Sumatra between 30 and 300 inhabitants/km². On Java it is highest with almost 1000 inhabitants/km² (comparison: city state of Hamburg: 2324/km²). The most densely populated provinces of Jakarta and Yogyakarta are also located there.

Java is very densely populated due to its fertile soil and its capital, which has led to a large gap in the level of development between the island groups. As part of the Transmigration Project, the government has been relocating families from Java to less populated islands since 1969, which has led to many conflicts and problems. This can also be seen as a form of colonization.

ethnic groups

According to the Indonesian census of 2001, there are almost 360 different peoples living in Indonesia, most of whom are of Malay origin. It was only towards the end of the Dutch colonial period that the term Indonesian was preferred over the previously common tribal term. However, there are strong regional autonomy and secessionist aspirations. The individual peoples are distributed as follows:

Javanese (41.7%), Sundanese (15.4%), Malays (3.4%), Madurese (3.3%), Batak (3.0%), Minangkabau (2.7%), Betawi (2.5%), Bugis (2.5%), Bantenese (2.1%), Banjarese (1.7%), Balinese (1.5%), Sasak (1.3%), Makassarese (1.0%), Cirebon (0.9%), Chinese (0.9%), Gorontalo (0.8%), Achinese (0.4%) (although due to the war only about half of the population of the state of Aceh was recorded), Torajas (0.4%)

The largest part of the population, with a share of around two thirds, are the Young Malays, who include the Javanese, Sundanese and Madurese. Around 5% of the population are Old Malays, including the Dayak on Borneo, the Batak on Sumatra and the Toraja on Celebes.

Malay peoples make up the majority in Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, Bali and, due to immigration, now also in Kalimantan. In contrast, the east is predominantly inhabited by peoples who have come from the mixing of Malay immigrants and the original Melanesian population. In West New Guinea, the original population consists exclusively of Melanesians (Papuans), but their proportion has fallen to about half the population due to Malay immigration.

In addition, there are the Achinese, Torajas, Bajau, Bauzi, Lampung, Tengger, Osing, Badui, Gorontalo and many other groups, but these usually make up less than one percent of the total population, and mixed groups such as the Wewewa living on Sumba, who are half Malay and half Melanesian. There are also a few Polynesian peoples living in the island state.

Minorities are the remaining groups of peoples who lived on the islands before the arrival of the Malays, including Kubu, Lubu, Ulu and Sakai, who can only be found in refugee areas.

As the largest group in terms of numbers, the Javanese are the politically dominant group in Indonesia. The controversial Transmigrasi program attempted to solve the problem of population concentration on the island of Java (approx. 1,000 inhabitants per km²), which led to bloody clashes with the local population, especially on Borneo and Sulawesi.

Chinese minority

A total of 7.89 million overseas Chinese live in Indonesia, most of them on the main island of Java. But Chinese are also native to Sumatra and Kalimantan. Most Chinese came to the country when Indonesia was still a Dutch colony.

After Indonesia gained independence in 1949, many Chinese were forced out of the country. The government banished Chinese without Indonesian citizenship from small towns and deprived tens of thousands of their livelihoods. President Sukarno wanted to give the pribumi (indigenous Indonesians) control over trade in the villages. After Suharto seized power and incited and murdered suspected communists (the Chinese were accused of being communists) between 1965 and 1967, Suharto issued a presidential decree on "The Policy for Resolving the Chinese Problem" and another on religion, beliefs and Chinese customs.

Chinese-language schools were closed, cultural associations were dissolved, the sale of Chinese-language books and magazines, and even the use of Chinese characters in calendars, company logos or shops was banned. A single state-controlled Chinese-language daily newspaper was permitted. The Indonesianization of Chinese names was massively promoted. Features of cultural identity such as the celebration of the Chinese New Year were banned or relegated to private households. The ID cards of many ethnic Chinese are distinguished from those of the Pribumi by a special code. In February 1998, a representative of the Indonesian Ministry of Defense even admitted that ethnic Chinese faced difficulties if they wanted to pursue careers as civil servants or in the military, and were also disadvantaged when it came to gaining access to state universities.

The revision of the discriminatory laws was ordered by then-President Habibie in a decree on September 16, 1998.

religion

See also: Islam in Indonesia and Christianity in Indonesia

See also: History of the Jews in Indonesia

With around 200 million Muslims, Indonesia has the largest Muslim population in the world. However, Islam is not the state religion. However, all citizens of the island state must profess one of five world religions. This is strictly prescribed by the state ideology Pancasila. Citizens can therefore follow the teachings of Islam, Christianity (Catholic and Protestant), Buddhism, Hinduism or Confucianism. Some ethnic groups declare an official religion but practice an animistic belief.

88% of Indonesians are Muslims (approximately 200 million). Most of them are Sunni Muslims. There are only about 100,000 Shiites living in Indonesia. Many Indonesians practice a syncretic form of Islam. Followers of this form were called Abangan by the ethnologist (cultural and social anthropologist) Clifford Geertz, in contrast to the Santri, who are oriented towards dogmatic Islam.

23 million Indonesians, or nine percent of the population, are Christians (around six percent are Protestant and three percent are followers of the Roman Catholic Church of Indonesia). Here too, some ethnic groups state Christianity as their religion, but practice animism. Christianity reached the islands in isolated cases in the 15th century. Many peoples who had not previously been Islamized, such as the Torajas in South Sulawesi or the Batak in North Sumatra, were not converted to Christianity until the 19th and 20th centuries. German missionaries played a decisive role in the conversion of the Batak. The inhabitants of what is now Nusa Tenggara Timur and those of the Moluccas (Spice Islands) converted in the 16th and 17th centuries (territories occupied by Portugal at the time). In some areas of Indonesia, Christians are in the majority, but this has begun to change due to transmigration and the different birth rates. The eastern part of Indonesia (Flores, West Timor) is predominantly Catholic. Apart from that, many Christians also live in the big cities of Java and Sumatra. Clashes between Muslims and Christians have cost more than 10,000 lives since 1999. In West New Guinea, the wave of violence against the animist Christian Papuan population continues to this day.

1.8 percent of the population are Hindus (particularly common on Bali and Lombok) and one percent are Buddhists (mostly members of the Chinese minority). There is also a very small Jewish minority.

Ancestor worship and belief in spirits still have great importance for many Indonesians, even if they are Muslims, Christians, Hindus or Buddhists.

Social Structures

Over 27% of the 241 million Indonesians live in poverty, although there are strong regional differences. While in Java, the main island of the country, about 23% live in poverty, there are some provinces, especially in the east, where the proportion of the poor population is as high as 44%.

There are extensive slums, especially in large cities like Jakarta. There are around 1.7 million street children on Java. The slums, where many people have to live in miserable conditions, are centers of radical Islamists who have been able to win over part of the local population to their ideas, which occasionally manifests itself in anti-American demonstrations. Street children (mainly boys) are sometimes picked up by radical Islamist groups and end up in illegal Islamic schools.

human rights

Although previously the judiciary rarely prosecuted human rights violations, Indonesia ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in 2005. In 2006 and 2007, various provisions of the penal code that had previously been used to prosecute opposition members were declared unconstitutional. However, according to Amnesty International, serious human rights violations continue to occur: at least 117 people were imprisoned as prisoners of conscience in 2008. The death penalty is imposed in Indonesia for various crimes and, according to AI, has been used more frequently since 2004.

Since the resignation of President Suharto in 1998, many restrictions on freedom of expression for political parties, trade unions and the rest of civil society have been lifted. However, flags symbolising the independence of individual regions of Indonesia are still banned. In 2006, the Constitutional Court declared three articles of the penal code unconstitutional, which criminalised "insulting the president". The articles had been used to restrict freedom of expression. In July 2007, two further articles were declared unconstitutional, which also led to persecution for critical statements about government institutions and, according to Amnesty International, had been misused to persecute opposition members.

While the majority of people in Indonesia have followed a moderate form of Islam, the province of Aceh has been governed by Sharia law since 2001. As part of a peace agreement with the central government to end the separatist fighting in the province, Aceh was granted semi-autonomous status in 2005. The police there are taking massive action against behavior that is declared "un-Islamic": anyone who violates dress codes is punished. Other deviant behavior in everyday life can be punished with "re-education measures" staged as a deterrent, as a group of punks found out in December 2011.

Story

History of Indonesia

The Indonesian population originally descended from Austronesian peoples who came to the country in several waves of immigration before the beginning of our era. The discovery of Java Man proves that the island was already inhabited around 1.8 million years ago.

In the first millennium AD, Buddhism and Hinduism gained influence in Indonesia and merged with the beliefs of the original farming culture. Due to the favorable location on the sea trade route from China to India, trade flourished and several trading empires emerged.

The most influential and well-known kingdom of Srivijaya on Sumatra existed from around 500 and by around 700 had taken control of all of Sumatra and Java, parts of Borneo and the Malay Peninsula. From the 11th century onwards, the kingdom began to disintegrate, partly due to attacks by the Chola kings who wanted to eliminate unwanted trade competition. Between 1275 and 1290 the King of Singhasari finally took control of most of Indonesia. From 1293 onwards, the kingdom of Majapahit gained importance on Java and soon ruled over the former territories of Srivijaya.

From the 15th century onwards, more and more Arab traders visited Indonesia and the conversion to Islam began. Hinduism and Buddhism survive to this day only on the islands of Bali (see, for example, Besakih) and Lombok, where an indigenous (but predominantly Hindu) mixed culture has developed.

In 1487, the Portuguese Bartolomeu Diaz circumnavigated the Cape of Good Hope for the first time, paving the way for Vasco da Gama to discover the sea route to India. The Europeans then advanced into Indonesia to take over the spice trade, which had previously been run by Orientals. After almost 100 years of Portuguese dominance, the Dutch became the colonial rulers around 1600. As the Dutch East Indies, Indonesia was one of the first Dutch colonies. From 1908, the Netherlands expanded its sphere of influence, starting from Java, to the entire Indonesian archipelago. Only the province of Aceh (Atjeh) in the north of Sumatra was able to resist, but was also subjugated after a war lasting over thirty years.

In the spring of 1942, the Japanese army began to occupy the Dutch East Indies. They were interested in raw material reserves that were important for the war effort and in improving their strategic position. In March 1942, the Dutch surrendered. The almost 350-year period of their colonial rule was over. While still under Japanese occupation, Indonesia declared itself independent from the Netherlands in March 1943. Japanese rule ended on August 15, 1945 with their surrender.

On August 17, 1945, Sukarno and Mohammed Hatta proclaimed Indonesia's independence. The influence of the Republic of Indonesia initially extended to the islands of Java, Sumatra and Madura. The remaining islands were mostly controlled by the Dutch. In the Dutch-Indonesian War (1947/48), the Netherlands conquered almost the entire area, but continued to fight against Indonesian guerrillas and lost the sympathy of the world public, not least because of the massacre on December 9, 1947 in the village of Rawagede (West Java), which left 431 dead and only ten men survived. Under American pressure, the Netherlands had to (again) begin negotiations with the Republic of Indonesia in August 1949. On December 27, 1949, the transfer of sovereignty was signed in Amsterdam, but the Dutch part of New Guinea West Papua remained under Dutch administration for the time being.

The formation of the neighboring state of Malaysia in 1963 was rejected by Indonesia, which led to the conflict between the two states known as Konfrontasi.

On September 30/October 1, 1965, there was an attempted coup by parts of the military. The right-wing General Suharto crushed the uprising and blamed the Communist Party PKI, which had no part in the attempted coup. He banned it and subsequently ordered a military massacre of real and alleged communists, which Amnesty International estimates claimed the lives of almost a million people in the following months. The Chinese minority was also a victim of the uprising. The USA was behind Suharto.

Suharto forced Sukarno to resign from office. Three years later, West Papua was incorporated. In 1975, Indonesian troops began to occupy Portuguese Timor after the Portuguese colonial power had left the country as a result of internal unrest. The first protests occurred after the economic crisis in 1998. The violence reached its peak in Jakarta from May 12 to 14, 1998. President Suharto finally agreed to resign and Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie assumed power for the time being. In October 1999, Abdurrahman Wahid became the country's first freely elected president, followed two years later by Megawati Sukarnoputri, daughter of the country's founder, Sukarno.

On October 12, 2002, the terrorist attack on the tourist island of Bali took place, leaving 202 dead and more than 300 injured. In the summer of 2004, direct presidential elections were held for the first time, but no candidate was able to win a majority. In a runoff election on September 20, challenger and former general Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono won.

In recent years, Indonesia has been repeatedly hit by natural disasters. On December 26, 2004, the tsunami destroyed large parts of the province of Aceh on Sumatra and claimed many lives. In 2006, there was an earthquake measuring 6 on the Richter scale in Yogyakarta, which also caused severe damage to the Prambanan World Heritage Site. In 2007, the volcano "Anak Krakatau" was very active.

policy

The former Dutch colony is now a presidential republic. The 1945 constitution provides for the separation of powers. After the fall of Suharto in 1998, extensive reforms were implemented. The lower house (House of Representatives) has 500 representatives elected for five years (until 2004, 38 of them were military officers appointed by the president). The advisory people's assembly, which previously elected the president and discussed overarching political issues, consists of the House of Representatives, 135 representatives of the provinces and 65 representatives of professional organizations, making it a total of 700 members.

Since a constitutional amendment in 2004, the Majelis Permusyawaratan Rakyat (MPR) has been a bicameral parliament. This highest legislative body consists of the 550 DPR (Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat) MPs and 128 regional representatives (DPD). The DPD (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah) is thus a second chamber newly created as part of the decentralization policy.

Since the 2004 elections, Indonesia has been recognized by the world public as a democratic state.

president

Since 2004, the president has been elected directly by the people. The first directly elected president was former General Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. The former security minister received almost 61 percent of the votes in the runoff election on September 20, 2004. He replaces the previous head of state Megawati Sukarnoputri, who only received a good 39 percent. In the first round of voting on July 5, 2004, the ex-general had already received the most votes, but failed to gain an absolute majority. This meant that a runoff election against second-placed Megawati was necessary. The daughter of the founder of the republic, Sukarno, had become head of state in the summer of 2001 after her predecessor Abdurrahman Wahid was forced out of office.

See also: List of presidents of Indonesia

parties

Indonesia has a multi-party system with a large number of parties. The dominant party under Suharto was Golkar. Its influence is still great, but no longer dominant. The current President Yudhoyono ran for the newly founded Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, while his predecessor and opponent Megawati ran for the PDI-P.

membership in international organizations

Indonesia was a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) for many years. However , as its own oil reserves are almost exhausted, it has become a net importer of oil. This is one of the reasons why the country announced its withdrawal from OPEC on May 28, 2008.

Indonesia is a member of the United Nations. The country withdrew from the organization in 1965 but rejoined in 1966.

Indonesia is also a member of the International Monetary Fund, the World Trade Organization and ASEAN.

Military

The armed forces of Indonesia are called Tentara Nasional Indonesia (TNI) and consist of around 250,000 soldiers. They are divided into the army, navy and air force. The army has by far the largest capacity with around 196,000 soldiers. For a long time, the Indonesian national police were also part of the armed forces. In April 1999, the separation of the national police began, and this process was formally completed in July 2000. With 150,000 employees, the police force is far smaller than in most other countries. In addition, there are around 120,000 members of the local police, so that the total strength can be estimated at around 270,000 people.

Administrative structure

Indonesia is currently divided into 33 administrative parts, including 30 provinces, two special regions and the capital district (Daerah Khusus Ibukota) of Jakarta. Recently, some new provinces have been separated from existing ones (Irian Jaya Barat in 2003 and Sulawesi Barat in 2004). The Indonesian government plans to establish more new provinces.

One level below the provinces, there are 357 government or administrative districts, which have had great administrative importance since the administrative reform in 2001.

culture

The national anthem Indonesia Raya was composed by Wage Rudolf Soepratman. Typical Indonesian musical instruments are the gamelan and angklung. A traditional pastime is the Indonesian shadow play Wayang. Indonesian culture (music, literature, painting) was first influenced by Buddhism in the 9th and 10th centuries, and from the 13th century onwards increasingly by Hinduism. Another highly developed art is batik, which has been native to Indonesia for centuries. Rich patterns with flower and bird motifs, spirals and imaginative structures are developed using complex techniques. Today batik is an export product of Indonesia. Rice is a staple food that is eaten up to three times a day. Rice terraces crisscross the country. Many myths say that rice is a gift from heaven.

However, due to the large number of peoples in Indonesia, there are great differences between the cultures of the individual regions. Information on the InternetHolidays in Indonesia.

Business

General

The economy of the next-eleven state of Indonesia is based on the principle of a market economy, but is influenced by the government in many areas. Some large companies are state-owned. In 1997/1998, an economic crisis shook various countries in East and Southeast Asia, which also had a major impact on Indonesia (Asian crisis). The currency lost 75% of its value and many companies went bankrupt. However, the Indonesian economy is currently fairly stable and has a growth rate of around 5%. The currency is the Indonesian rupiah.

The gross domestic product was USD 4,300 per capita in 2010, but a quarter of the population lives below the poverty line. Almost half of the workforce is employed in agriculture. Many multinational companies exploit the country's wealth of natural resources and have branches there. For example, the Daewoo Logistics Group from South Korea operates large-scale plantations where crops such as corn and palm oil are grown. The palm oil is processed directly in Indonesia.

The gold and copper producer PT Freeport Indonesia is the state's largest taxpayer and operates the world's largest gold mine in West Papua.

agriculture

The main products of food agriculture in Indonesia are rice (60,279,897 t), cassava (20,834,241 t), corn (15,860,299 t), cane sugar (2,266,812 t) and sweet potatoes (1,824,40 t). Other crops harvested include palm oil (10,869,365 t), tea (114,332 t) and rubber (450,526 t). This makes Indonesia the main palm oil producing country, alongside Malaysia. In 2004, palm oil exports generated revenues of around four billion US dollars. The area under cultivation rose from 120,000 ha in 1968 to 5.5 million ha in 2004. It is considered critical that much of the harvested land is being cleared of the rainforest. This endangers the habitat of elephants and tigers, among others.

74% of the cassava harvest is used directly for human consumption. Some of the cassava (approximately one million tons per year) is processed into starch. 43.9% of the starch is used to make bread, other baked goods and shrimp chips, 41% for other food industries and 14.6% is used to make sweeteners.

export

Some export products are gold, copper, coal, wood products, agricultural products (palm oil, rice, peanuts, cocoa, coffee), textiles and minerals. Indonesia is the world's largest exporter of liquefied natural gas, with 23 million tons per year (2002). The main buyers are Japan and China.

The majority of internationally traded tropical Merbau wood comes from West Papua, where 90% of it is illegally harvested. In all other countries, the natural locations of Merbau have long been exhausted due to excessive mining.

tourism

Tourism is an important source of income for the country. Bali alone is visited by around four million tourists every year, mainly from Australia, the USA and Europe. However, tourism in Indonesia has suffered significant losses in recent years due to the bombings on Bali (2002 and 2005) and repeated terror warnings, particularly by Australian authorities.

Java attracts tourists with the world heritage sites of Borobudur (Buddhist) and Prambanan (Hindu) and the city of Yogyakarta, known for batik. The tourist-developed volcanoes Bromo, Tankubanbrahu and Kawah Putih (both near Bandung), seaside resorts such as Pangandaran and others on the west coast, as well as culturally interesting places such as Bandung and Cirebon and the Dieng Plateau, which is characterized by Hindu temples, also attract tourists. The capital city of Jakarta, located on Java, is also a tourist destination despite its unmanageable size and uncertain reputation.

Sumatra has a lot to offer in terms of landscape and culture. In addition, the species-rich national parks are popular tourist destinations. The Komodo National Park includes the islands of Komodo, Rinca and Padar, where the Komodo dragon is native. North Sulawesi, especially the area around Manado (especially Bunaken and the Lembeh Strait) and the Togian Islands are known as a diving paradise, while the Toraja highlands in the southwest of Sulawesi are known primarily for their death cult.

For West Papua, known for its large number of ethnic groups, some of which are still very isolated and live traditionally, a special police permit (Surat Jalan) is required to visit destinations in the interior of the country. All travel locations must be entered precisely. Travelers are required to report to the local police at their destination using this form. Journalists have not been granted entry permits for West Papua since 2003.

banking

The former state-owned microfinance bank Bank Rakyat Indonesia has now been partially privatized.

economic indicators

The key economic indicators of gross domestic product, inflation, budget balance and foreign trade have developed as follows in recent years. The massive economic slump during the Asian crisis in 1998 is noteworthy.

Change in gross domestic product (GDP), real

in % compared to the previous year

Year 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Change 4.7 -23.2 0.9 4.8 3.8 4.3 5.0 5.1 5.6 5.5 6.3 6.1 4.5 ~6.1 ~6.3

development of GDP (nominal)

absolute (in billion US$) per capita (in US$)

Year 2003 2004 Year 2003 2004

GDP 205 248 GDP 952 1146

Source: bfai

Creation and Use of GDP (2005)

Origin of GDP (in %) Use of GDP (in %)

Industry 28 public consumption 8

Trade and tourism 16 private consumption 60

Agriculture 13 Gross fixed capital formation 23

Mining 10 Foreign Contribution 7

Oil and gas production 11 statistical difference 2

Transport and Communication 7

Construction Industry 6

other 9

Source: bfai

Development of the inflation rate Development of the budget balance

in % compared to the previous year in % of GDP

("minus" means deficit in the state budget)

Year 2004 2005 2006 Year 2003 2004 2005

Inflation rate 6.4 7.1 ~ 7 Budget balance -1.7 -1.1 -0.5

development of foreign trade

in billion US$ and its change compared to the previous year in %

2008 2009 2010

billion US$ % yoy billion US$ % yoy billion US$ % yoy

Import 125.9 36.6 96.8 -23.1 135.7 40.2

Export 138.1 17.6 116.5 -15.6 157.8 35.5

Balance 12.2 19.7 22.1

Source: gtai

Indonesian feature film production

Year Number

1975 73

1985 62

1995 30

2005 50

state budget

In 2009, the national budget included expenditures of the equivalent of 97.24 billion US dollars, compared to revenues of the equivalent of 83.77 billion US dollars. This results in a budget deficit of 2.6% of GDP.

In 2009, public debt amounted to 153.4 billion US dollars, or 29.8% of GDP.

In 2006, the share of government expenditure (in % of GDP) in the following areas was:

Health: 2.5%

Education: 3.6%

Military: 3.0% (2005)

The military runs a number of companies and foundations, so its budget is actually larger than stated here.

Internet

: Internet in Indonesia

Like most other information media in Indonesia, the Internet is also widely used communally. Just as a newspaper is read by an average of six people, Internet access, computers or places in Internet cafes are shared. Compared to other Southeast Asian countries, the number of users in relation to the population is relatively small. Most users use the Internet in warnets (Internet cafes), and only 1.1 percent have their own computer. According to estimates by the Indonesian Internet service provider APJII (Asosiasi Peyelenggara Jasa Internet Indonesia), the number of Internet users in 2007 was 25 million.

More important than the sheer number of users, however, is their geographical distribution. Indonesia's immense geographical extent has always brought with it political and infrastructural problems. Exacerbated by the aggressive Java-centric development policy of the New Order, the outer islands (i.e. everything outside Java and Bali, which are provided with the appropriate infrastructure primarily because of their tourist potential) are lagging massively behind in terms of schools, roads, telephone lines, etc. The geographical distribution of Internet cafés and Internet users is no exception. While in the capital Jakarta there is one Internet café for every 20,000 people, in Sumatra, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), Sulawesi and Maluku there is one Internet café for every million people. The telephone density, a basic prerequisite for private Internet use, also shows a similar picture. On average there are three telephones for every 100 people. Considering the concentration on the islands of Java and Bali, the situation is not yet modern enough for NTB and the provinces further east. On the other hand, access is also tied to a form of technical knowledge that is not familiar to everyone.

Environment

Forest

Indonesia's rainforest is considered to be the most species-rich in the world. Nevertheless, large areas of forest are being destroyed. According to forecasts by the United Nations Environmental Programme, 98% of the forests will have degraded or disappeared by 2022. This is partly due to the (legal) conversion of primary forests. Illegal logging is also a cause of the current deforestation of up to almost two million hectares per year. Around 88% of the wood comes from illegal logging. This trend is also reflected in the state of the species population: Indonesia currently has the longest list of species threatened with extinction. The best-known representative of this list is probably the orangutan, which is still found on Sumatra and Borneo.

In economic calculations, primary forests are often considered unproductive because the rainforest hardly produces any products for sale on the national or world market. For the indigenous local population, however, the rainforest and its traditional uses such as hunting, fishing, gathering forest products and shifting cultivation are the basis of life. Large industries in the agricultural and forestry sectors clear or burn the rainforest to create plantations. The main products produced are wood for processing in paper production and palm oil for energy production. Rainforests are also cut down in the search for mineral resources. When forests are burned, especially in areas with a lot of peat, enormous amounts of the carbon bound in the vegetation are released. The resulting emissions of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide accelerate global warming. In addition, heavy smoke is produced, which at times spreads to the neighboring countries of Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei, causing health and economic damage and leading to political conflicts. The smoke was particularly strong and lasted for months in 1983/84, 1997/98 and 2006.

The soils are often too poor in nutrients to be used for long-term agricultural purposes. The indigenous population therefore practices shifting cultivation on small plots of land cleared in the rainforest. Larger areas are cleared by immigrant settlers (transmigrasi). The land cleared in the formerly species-rich rainforest is often only cultivated for a few years and then abandoned. The stubborn elephant grass (Saccharum ravennae) usually takes root there. 80% of Indonesia's CO2 emissions are attributable to deforestation.

waters

Freeport's destructive river disposal of over 250 km² of mine waste from the Grasberg mine in West Papua can be clearly seen from the aircraft and even from satellite images. River disposal is prohibited in the USA and other industrialized mining countries because of the long-term environmental damage it causes. Indonesia also issued such a ban in 2001. Thanks to good relations with the Indonesian government, Freeport is subject to the clauses of the unpublished concession contract, which do not contain any environmental requirements. In addition to the waste, acid mine drainage is the main environmental problem that also threatens the neighboring Lorentz National Park.

The phenomenon of coral bleaching occurs on the coast of Sulawesi. Attempts are being made to counteract the destruction by creating artificial coral reefs. Steel structures are subjected to a weak direct current, which results in mineral accretion and colonization by corals. This Biorock technology was developed by the architect Wolf Hilbertz.

Cyanide and dynamite fishing are now banned. Nevertheless, cyanide fishing in particular is still commonplace in many places.

Together with five other countries bordering the Coral Triangle, Indonesia has decided to protect the Coral Triangle. At a conference in Mando (Indonesia), it was decided to declare a fifth of the coastal waters, where corals, mangroves and seagrass are found, as a protected zone. 300 million dollars are available for this purpose. This money is intended to help protect a third of all coral reefs worldwide and thousands of fish species.

information on the Internet

Portal:Indonesia

List of cities in Indonesia

literature

non-fiction books

Steven Drakeley: The history of Indonesia. Greenwood, Westport Co 2005. ISBN 0-313-33114-6

Genia Findeisen: Women in Indonesia Gender equality through democratization? An analysis of the democratization process from a woman's perspective. Johannes Herrmann Verlag, Wettenberg 2008. ISBN 978-3-937983-11-0

Johannes Herrmann: Regional Conflicts in Indonesia. Abera, Hamburg 2004. ISBN 978-3-934376-36-6

Jacqueline Knörr: Creoleness and postcolonial society. Integration and differentiation in Jakarta. Campus Verlag, Frankfurt/New York 2007. ISBN 978-3-593-38344-6 (The author is an ethnologist and associate professor at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology.)

Matti Justus Schindehütte: Civil religion as a responsibility of society. Religion as a political factor within the development of Pancasila in Indonesia. Abera, Hamburg 2006. ISBN 978-3-934376-80-9

Ingrid Wessel and Georgia Wimhöfer (eds.): Violence in Indonesia. Abera, Hamburg 2001. ISBN 978-3-934376-16-8

Country profile Indonesia. Democratic awakening, social change and the consequences of globalization. Düsseldorf 2007 North-South Network of the DGB Bildungswerk

The million-strong move in a race against time. In: GEO Magazin. Hamburg 1986 ISSN 0342-8311 (On the transmigration problem)

fiction

Max Dauthendey: Experiences on Java. From diaries. Albert Langen, Munich 1924.

Mochtar Lubis: Twilight in Jakarta. Unionsverlag, Zurich 1997. ISBN 3-293-20098-2 (The author spent the years 1956 to 1965 in prison or under house arrest. After his rehabilitation, he provides a glimpse behind the political and social scenes and the marginal conditions of the various social classes)

Ida Pfeiffer: Adventure Island World. Promedia, Vienna 1993. ISBN 3-900478-70-8 (Four-year journey of the Austrian travel writer in 1851 through Borneo, Sumatra and Java)

Inge Schubart: Doctor in the jungle of Sumatra. Stieglitz-Verlag, Mühlacker 1995. ISBN 3-7987-0327-2 (Eventful life of the doctor in the jungle 1950-60)

Pramoedya Ananta Toer: Bumi Manusia. Garden of Humanity. Rowohlt, Reinbek 1997

information on the Internet

Website of the Indonesian Embassy in Berlin

Information from the Federal Statistical Office on Indonesia

Indonesia country profile on BBC News

Indonesia Dossier from the CIA World Factbook

individual references

Coordinates: 2° S, 118° E

island state

An island state is a state that consists of one or more islands or parts of islands and does not belong to any part of the land area of a continent. This distinguishes island states from landlocked and coastal states.

Of the 193 sovereign states currently recognized by the United Nations, 47, or about a quarter, are island states.

The largest island state in terms of area is Indonesia; other large island states are (in order of size) Madagascar, Papua New Guinea, Japan, the Philippines, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

If Denmark's European core lands were not taken into account, it would be the largest island state in terms of area, including the politically associated island of Greenland alone, because Greenland alone is larger in area than Indonesia.

information on the Internet

List of island states

Small Island Developing States

List of countries in the world

Jakarta

Coordinates: unknown operator: u','000_region:ID-JK_type:city(9588198) 6° 11′ S, 106° 50′ E

Jakarta

basic data

state

IndonesiaGeographical unit JavaCapital District

JakartaHöhe

8 m

Area

661.52

metropolitan area 7315 km²

Resident

9588198 (2010 )

metropolitan region 28019545 (2010 )

density

metropolitan region 3830.4 inhabitants/km² ISO 3166-2

ID-JK website

www.jakarta.go.idOther

governor

Fauzi Bowo (2007)

city structure 5 city districts

telephone area code

021

Postal code

10110-14540, 19110-19130

license plate

B

skyline of Jakarta

Jakarta /dʒa-/ (also Djakarta, formerly Batavia) is the capital of the Republic of Indonesia. With 9.58 million inhabitants (2010) in the city proper (i.e. without the suburban belt), it is the largest city in Southeast Asia and, with around 28 million inhabitants (2010) in the metropolitan area, the largest urban area in the country. The capital has the status of a province and is governed by a governor.

It is the political, economic and cultural centre of the country and a transport hub with universities, colleges, theatres and museums. The city's population is of diverse origins. People of Malay, Arab, Indian, Dutch and Chinese descent live in Jakarta.

geography

Geographical location

The city is located in the Bay of Jakarta (Indonesian Teluk Jakarta) on the northwest coast of the island of Java, at the mouth of the Ciliwung, an average of eight meters above sea level. The urban area is flat and has an area of 661.52 square kilometers. The area surrounding Jakarta is used for agriculture. Tropical rainforest can be found in favorable locations.

The Kepulauan Seribu (Thousand Islands) archipelago, which belongs to the city, is located in Jakarta Bay. The 105 islands, located 45 kilometers north of the city, have an area of 11.8 square kilometers. The marine national park there serves as a recreational area for the population.

The Jabotabek metropolitan area has an area of 7,315 square kilometers and includes the capital Jakarta, the cities of Bekasi, Bogor, Depok and Tangerang as well as three regencies (Bekasi, Bogor and Tangerang).

geology

The geological structure of the island of Java, on which Jakarta is located, is mainly determined by volcanic material. Only a small part of the area consists of older rocks, more than two thirds are covered by volcanic deposits: ash, tuff and lava from recent and older eruptions. The rest consists of tertiary sediments.

The island lies at the point in the Sunda Arc where the earth's crust was most intensively broken up, the old subsoil was most destroyed and is now largely submerged below the sea level of the Java Sea. Numerous volcanoes are still active today. Their ashes are blown far across the land and form a constantly effective mineral fertilizer. Either ash falls directly, or the volcanic loose masses are transported and deposited by the rivers.

city structure