About Indonesia

Indonesia is one of the most beautiful, fascinating and culturally absorbing nations in the world. There are over 13.517 islands in Indonesia and 108.000 kilometres of beaches in Indonesia.

One of the islands is the beautiful island of Bali. The distance between Aceh and Papua is more than 4 000 kilometres (2500 miles), comparable to the distance between France and Iran or between New York and San Fransisco. it takes more than 8 hours on a Boeing 747 jet flight to cross from the west to the east passing 3 different time zones.There are more than 400 volcanoes in Indonesia. Only 130 volcanoes are considered active volcanoes. There are many undersea volcanoes in Indonesia. Papua is the second largest island in the world.

Provinces are usually grouped under main big islands and their surroundings, as listed below:

Sumatra (and the Riau Islands, Bangka and Belitung) Wild and rugged, the 6th largest island in the world has a great natural wealth.

Kalimantan (Borneo) Uncharted jungles, mighty rivers, home of the orangutan, a paradise for the adventurer.

Java (and Madura) The country's heartland, big cities including the capital Jakarta, and a lot of people packed on a not-so-big island. Also features the cultural treasures of Yogyakarta, Borobudur and Prambanan.

Sulawesi (Celebes) Strangely shaped, this island houses a diversity of societies and some spectacular scenery.

Nusa Tenggara (Bali, Lombok, Sumbawa, Flores, Komodo and West Timor) Also known as the Lesser Sunda Islands, the "Southeast Islands" contain scores of ethnic groups, languages and religions.

Maluku (Moluccas) The historic Spice Islands, largely unexplored and almost unknown to the outside world.

Irian Jaya (Papua) The western half of the island of New Guinea, with mountains, forests, swamps, an almost impenetrable wilderness in one of the remotest places on earth.

Indonesia has a population of 220 million making it the world's 4th largest populated country out of 235 after China, India and the US. The population is made up of over 200 ethnic groups, many of which have there own cultures and languages.


It is the world's largest tropical paradise with an average temperature of 21 - 34 Celsius (70 - 93 Fahrenheit).