AREA:
1,919,317 sq km (741,053 sq miles).
POPULATION: 198,342,900 (official estimate 1996, including East
Timor).
POPULATION DENSITY: 103.3 per
sq km.
CAPITAL: Jakarta (Java). Population:
9,341,400 (1996).
GEOGRAPHY: Indonesia lies between
the mainland of South-East Asia and Australia and is made
up of six main islands, Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, Bali, Kalimantan
(part of the island of Borneo) and Irian Jaya (the western
half of New Guinea), and 30 smaller archipelagos, in total
13,677 islands. 6000 of these islands are inhabited and stretch
over 4828km (3000 miles), most lying in a volcanic belt with
more than 300 volcanoes, the great majority of which are extinct.
The landscape varies from island to island, ranging from high
mountains and plateaux to coastal lowlands and alluvial belts.
LANGUAGE: Bahasa Indonesian
(a variant of Malay) is the national language, but each ethnic
group has its own language, and altogether more than 583 other
languages and dialects are spoken including Javanese, Sundanese,
Arabic and Chinese. The older generation still speak Dutch
as a second language, but a large number of younger people
now speak some English.
RELIGION: There is a Muslim
majority of about 87%, with Christian, Hindu (mainly in Bali)
and Buddhist minorities. Animist beliefs are held in remote
areas.
TIME: Indonesia spans three
time zones:
Bangka, Billiton, Java, West and Central
Kalimantan, Madura and Sumatra: GMT + 7 (West), GMT + 8 (Central),
GMT + 9 (East).
Bali, Flores, South and East Kalimantan, Lombok, Sulawesi,
Sumba, Sumbawa and Timor: GMT + 8.
Aru, Irian Jaya, Kai, Moluccas and Tanimbar: GMT + 9.
ELECTRICITY: Generally 220 volts AC, 50Hz, but 110
volts AC, 50Hz, in some areas.
COMMUNICATIONS:
Telephone: IDD is available to main
cities. Country code: 62 (followed by 22 for Bandung, 21 for
Jakarta, 61 for Medan and 31 for Surabaya). Outgoing international
code: 00.
Telegram: These can be sent from any telegraphic office; in
Jakarta facilities are available 24 hours a day, but services
outside Jakarta are less efficient.
Post: Airmail to Western Europe takes up to ten days. Internal
mail is fast and generally reliable by the express service
(Pos KILAT), but mail to the outer islands can be subject
to considerable delays.
Press: There are several English-language newspapers in Jakarta
and on the other islands, notably The Indonesian Times, Indonesian
Observer, The Bali Post, Economic News and The Jakarta Post.
BBC World Service and Voice of America
frequencies: From time to time these change.
BBC:
MHz 15.36 11.95 9.740 3.915
Voice of America:
MHz 15.42 11.72 9.770 6.110
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