The world's largest archipelago, and the world's largest Muslim population, Indonesia archieved independence from the Netherlands in 1945. This cast polyglot nation - composed of 27 provinces, 2 special regions (Aceh and Yogyakarta), and 1 special capital city district (Jakarta) - recently began the transition to a popularly elected government after four decades of authoritarianism.

The government is in the process of implementing IMF-mandate reforms of the banking sector, that has been ended by Indonesia Government by around end year 2005, that is hopes will bring new stability to the national economy. Keys to future growth include internal reform, international donor and investor convidence, and a strong comeback in the global economy.

Indonsia's top industries include petroleum and natural gas production, textiles, apparel and footwear; mining, cement, chemical fertilizers, plywood and tourism mainly for Bali and Yogyakarta. Agriculture is still the top employer, utilizing 45% of the country's workforce to produce rice, cassava, peanuts, rubber, cocoa, coffee, palm oil, copra; poultry, beef, pork and eggs, while leading export commodities include oil and gas, electrical appliances, plywood, textiles and rubber.

Fast Fact Sheet:

Geographic Coordinates
6°08S, 106°45E (Jakarta)

Border
54,716km of coastline, with 2,830km of shared borders with East Timor (228km), Malaysia (1,782km) and Papua New Guinea (820km).

Climate
Tropical; hot, humid: more moderate in highlands.

Population
Estimate 231,328,092).

Religion
88% Muslim, 5% Protestan, 3% Roman Catholic, 2% Hindu, 1% Buddhist, 1% Other (1998).

Ethnic Group
Javanese 45%, Sundanese 14%, Maduranese 7.5%, Coastal Malays 7.5%, other 26%.

Language
Bahasa Indonesia, English, Dutch, local dialects of which Javanese is the most widely spoken.

Currency
Indonesian Rupiah (IDR).