20 Fascinating Facts About Indonesia
1. Archaeology suggests that humans inhabited the island of Java for approximately 1.3 to 1.7 million years.
2. Indonesia is a transcontinental country as it is positioned across the two continents of Oceania and Asia.
3. At one point, the archipelago of Indonesia was all linked by land bridges. Then, around 6,000 years ago, a quick rise in sea level submerged these bridges.
4. Indonesia is made up of over 17,000 islands. The exact number is unclear with one survey suggesting there are as many as 18,307. Only Canada, Norway, Sweden, and Finland have more.
5. As such, Indonesia is the largest archipelagic state – island nation – in the world. An island nation is a country whose primary territory consists of one or more islands or parts of islands.
6. Indonesia is the world’s fourth most populous country after China, India, and the USA.
7. Indonesia is the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation with over 219 million Muslims living there.
8. After Papua New Guinea, Indonesia is the world’s second most linguistically diverse country with over 700 native languages spoken.
9. The largest species of lizard alive, the Komodo dragon, is endemic to Indonesia. The Komodo dragon can grow to over 3m (10ft) long and weigh 150kg.
10. Indonesia is one of 17 megadiverse countries in the world. Megadiverse countries are the world’s most biodiversity-rich countries.
11. The 1,500 remote islands of Raja Ampat in Indonesia are considered biological hot spots. It is thought that the reef systems there replenish the reef systems throughout the South Pacific and Indian Oceans.
12. Discounting continental landmasses such as Australia, Indonesia is home to three of the world’s ten largest islands. After Greenland, New Guinea (shared with Papua New Guinea) is the world’s second-largest island; Borneo (shared with Brunei and Malaysia) is the world’s third-largest island; Sumatra (entirely within Indonesia) is the world’s sixth-largest island.
13. The world’s most populous island is the Indonesian island of Java. In 2010 it had a population of 136 million. Estimates now suggest it is over 141 million.
14. From 1670 to 1900, the Netherlands colonized the region and brought the whole of what is now Indonesia under one colony known as the Dutch East Indies.
15. Indonesia has a simple horizontally divided red and white national flag. The red represents courage and the white represents honesty.
16. Indonesia proclaimed independence in 1945. However, it was not until 1949 that the Netherlands recognized Indonesia’s sovereignty following four years of guerrilla warfare between the two sides.
17. With 139 volcanoes, Indonesia has the third-highest number of volcanoes in the world, after the USA and Russia.
18. In 1883, Krakatoa – one of the most catastrophic volcanic eruptions in history – took place in Indonesia. The island of Krakatoa and its surrounding archipelago were largely destroyed as it collapsed into a caldera. In all, at least 36,000 people died from the eruption and the resulting tsunamis.
19. The eruption led to the creation of a new island called “Anak Krakatau” which means “Child of Krakatau”. This also erupted in 2018, killing over 400 people and injuring over 7,000 displacing nearly 47,000.
20. Critically endangered orangutans can be found in Indonesia. The two islands of Sumatra and Borneo are the only places left in the world where they can be found in the wild.
