FACT SHEET: Republic of Indonesia at a Glance

The world's largest archipelago, Indonesia achieved independence from the Netherlands in 1949. The archipelago consists of 17,000 islands (6,000 inhabited); straddles the Equator; and is a strategic location astride or along major sea-lanes from Indian Ocean to Pacific Ocean.

Current issues include: implementing International Monetary Fund mandated reforms of the banking sector, effecting a transition to a popularly-elected government after four decades of authoritarianism, addressing charges of cronyism and corruption, holding the military accountable for human rights violations, and resolving growing separatist pressures in Aceh and Irian Jaya.

Indonesia's social and geographical environments are one of the most complex and varied in the world. The extent of this diversity is unknown, however, since Indonesian censuses do not collect data on ethnicity. By one count, at least 669 distinct languages and well over 1,100 different dialects are spoken in the archipelago.

A wide variety of economic patterns also can be found within Indonesia's borders, from rudimentary slash-and- burn agriculture to highly sophisticated computer microchip assembly plants. Some Indonesian communities rely on traditional feasting systems and marriage exchange for economic distribution, while others act as sophisticated brokers in international trading networks operating throughout the South China Sea. Indonesians also have a wide variety of living arrangements. Some go home at night to extended families living in isolated bamboo longhouses, others return to hamlets of tiny houses clustered around a mosque, whereas others go home to nuclear families in urban high-rise apartment complexes.

Indonesia, a vast polyglot nation, faces severe economic development problems, stemming from secessionist movements and the low level of security in the regions, the lack of reliable legal recourse in contract disputes, corruption, weaknesses in the banking system, and strained relations with the International Monetary Fund. Investor confidence remains low and few new jobs are going to be created under these circumstances. In November 2001, Indonesia agreed with the International Monetary Fund on a series of economic reforms in 2002, thus enabling further disbursements. Keys to future growth are; remain internal reform, the build-up of the confidence of international donors and investors, and a strong comeback in the global economy.

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

Capital: Jakarta

Area: 1,919,440 sq km; Slightly less than three times the size of Texas

Population: 34,893,453 (July 2003 est.)

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

Religion: Muslim 88 percent, Protestant 5 percent, Roman Catholic 3 percent, Hindu 2 percent, Buddhist 1 percent, other 1 percent (1998)

Industries: Petroleum and natural gas; textiles, apparel, and footwear; mining, cement, chemical fertilizers, plywood; rubber; food; tourism

Aid to Indonesia: External Aid - $43 billion from International Monetary Fund and other official external financing (1997-2000); External Debt - $131 billion (2002 est.)

Environmental Issues: Deforestation; water pollution from industrial wastes, sewage; air pollution in urban areas; smoke and haze from forest fires

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

Natural Hazards: Occasional floods, severe droughts, tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanoes, forest fires

The general level of sanitation and health care in Indonesia is far below U.S. standards. Some level of routine medical care is available in all major cities. In 2003, the life expectancy is 68.94 years.

Traditional healers, referred to as duken, continued to play an important role in the health care of the population during the early 1990s. Often, dukun were used in conjunction with Westernstyle medicine. In some rural areas, these healers represented a treatment option of first resort, when there was no community health center nearby, or if the only Western health care facility was expensive. The manner of healing differed greatly among the hundreds of ethnic groups, but often these healers used extensive knowledge of herbal medicines and invoked supernatural legitimacy for their practice.

Outbreaks of avian influenza, H5N1, have been detected in the poultry populations of Thailand. At this time, CDC recommends that travelers avoid areas with live poultry, such as live animal markets and poultry farms. Large amounts of the virus are excreted in the droppings from infected birds.

CDC Recommended Vaccines: Hepatitis A and B; Rabies; Typhoid; as needed boosters for tetanus-diphtheria, measles, and one-time dose of polio. There is a risk in all areas of Irian Jaya (western half of island of New Guinea) and at the temple complex of Borobudur on Java for malaria. There is only a risk in rural areas for the remainder of the islands. There is no risk of malaria in cities on Java and Sumatra and no risk in the main resort areas of Java and Bali. Travelers to malaria-risk areas in Indonesia, should take atovaquone/proguanil, doxycycline, mefloquine, or primaquine (in special circumstances).

Illicit Drugs: Illicit producer of cannabis largely for domestic use; possible growing role as transshipment point for Golden Triangle heroin.