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Indonesia is a large country with a great diversity. Here are some key figures to help you understand the specificities of the archipelago.
Indonesia is composed of more than 17,500 islands scattered on both sides of the equator. The archipelago is 5,120 km long from East to West (twice the distance between Paris and Moscow) and 1,760 km long from North to South. Considering these figures, Indonesia is the biggest country in the world. It is located on the ring of fire and there are about 150 volcanoes scattered all over Indonesian islands, 127 of those are active! With 70% of its territory covered by forest, Indonesia is a dream destination for nature lovers. This environment hosts an extraordinary fauna and flora, it is the second country with the more endemic species in the world. For example, off Sulawesi island, the diversity of corals is the greatest in the world (more than 1650 species).
The most impressive figures come when you think of the population of Indonesia. With over 267 million inhabitants, the archipelago is the 4th most populous country in the world (UK population is about 67 million). Java is the most populous island in the world, almost half of the country’s population live there. The second most populous city of the archipelago is Jakarta, the capital city of Indonesia. There are more than 34 million inhabitants.
ndonesian population is quite young as the median age is 30.
A few key figures about religion in the country. Indonesia is known as the largest Muslim country in the world with 227 million devotees. Islam is the State religion but government recognizes 5 other religions: Protestantism, Catholicism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Confucianism.
There are more impressive figures when you look at Indonesian culture. 10 traditions listed as part of the UNESCO World Heritage, a proof of the great cultural diversity of Indonesia. There are more than 1110 ethnicities and at least 700 different dialects on the archipelago. This cultural diversity can be seen everywhere in Indonesia, when you taste local food, when you explore temples or meet with Indonesians.
