nize Indonesia in the early 17th century; the
islands were occupied by Japan from 1942 to 1945. Indonesia declared
its independence after Japan's surrender, but it required four years
of intermittent negotiations, recurring hostilities, and UN
mediation before the Netherlands agreed to relinquish its colony.
Indonesia is the world's largest archipelagic state and home to the
world's largest Muslim population. Current issues include:
alleviating poverty, preventing terrorism, consolidating democracy
after four decades of authoritarianism, implementing financial
sector reforms, stemming corruption, holding the military and police
accountable for human rights violations, and controlling avian
influenza. In 2005, Indonesia reached a historic peace agreement
with armed separatists in Aceh, which led to democratic elections in
December 2006. Indonesia continues to face a low intensity
separatist movement in Papua.

Geography
Indonesia

Location:

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

Geographic coordinates:

5 00 S, 120 00 E

Map references:

Southeast Asia

Area:

total: 1,919,440 sq km
land: 1,826,440 sq km
water: 93,000 sq km

Area - comparative:

slightly less than three times the size of Texas

Land boundaries:

total: 2,830 km
border countries: Timor-Leste 228 km, Malaysia 1,782 km, Papua New
Guinea 820 km

Coastline:

54,716 km

Maritime claims:

measured from claimed archipelagic straight baselines
territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm

Climate:

tropical; hot, humid; more moderate in highlands

Terrain:

mostly coastal lowlands; larger islands have interior mountains

Elevation extremes:

lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
highest point: Puncak Jaya 5,030 m

Natural resources:

petroleum, tin, natural gas, nickel, timber, bauxite, copper,
fertile soils, coal, gold, silver

Land use:

arable land: 11.03%
permanent crops: 7.04%
other: 81.93% (2005)

Irrigated land:

45,000 sq km (2003)

Total renewable water resources:

2,838 cu km (1999)

Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):

total: 82.78 cu km/yr (8%/1%/91%)
per capita: 372 cu m/yr (2000)

Natural hazards:

occasional floods, severe droughts, tsunamis, earthquakes,
volcanoes, forest fires

Environment - current issues:

deforestation; water pollution from industrial wastes, sewage; air
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