INDONESIA

Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia
(Indonesian: Republik Indonesia), is a nation of
islands that consists of 18,110 islands in the
South East Asian Archipelago. The capital is
Jakarta, formerly known as Batavia. Indonesia
(from Greek: indus = India nesos = islands) is
the world's largest archipelagic nation, and it
is bordered by the nations of Papua New
Guinea, Timor Leste, and Malaysia. With a
population of over 200 million, it is the world's
fourth most populous country and most
populous Muslim-majority nation. The region
was an important trade route to China, thriving
in trade of spices. Regional Hindu kingdoms
expanded religious and cultural influences of
Hinduism as well as Buddhism, and in the Middle
Ages, the islands came under the influence of
Islam. The region was colonized by the
Netherlands as the Dutch East Indies. The
people across many islands rebelled in the early
20th century against Dutch control. After a
brief occupation by Imperial Japan during World
War II, nationalists declared independence in
1945, and a united and independent Indonesia
was recognized in 1949. It was also recognized
by the United Nations in 1950. Indonesia is a
unitary state, and for most of its post-
independence history, was first governed by
Sukarno, leader of the national independence
struggle, and then under controversial and
authoritarian Suharto. Democracy was restored
following the revolution of 1998. Although the
national language is Indonesian and the
population is overwhelmingly Muslim, there are
several hundred diverse linguistic and ethnic
groups across the country, as well as other
religious communities. Although Indonesia's
economy is progressive and regionally
important, the problems of widespread
corruption, poverty, illiteracy, political
instability and regional separatism remain
major issues hindering national development.