Indonesia Is the Fourth Most Populous Country in the

World
Indonesia facts reveal that with over 250,000,000 inhabitants (approximately 3.5% of
the world population), Indonesia is currently the fourth most populous country in the
world, after China with 1.4 billion inhabitants (19% of the world population), India
with 1.3 billion inhabitants (18% of the world population) and the USA with over
300,000 inhabitants (4% of the world population). But the high population growth in
Indonesia will likely cause the country to overtake the US in population in only a few
decades, meaning it will soon become the third most populous country in the world.

More Than 700 Languages Are Spoken in Indonesia

Although Indonesia recognizes only one official language – Indonesian (a variant of
Malay, locally known as Bahasa Indonesia) – there are more than 700 other languages
spoken in the country. The official Indonesian language is used in commerce,
administration, education, media and in most printed books, but many Indonesians
speak a different language as their first language.

Indonesian is the most widely spoken language, with roughly 210 million speakers,
followed by Javanese with 84 million speakers, Sundanese with 34 million speakers
and Madurese with 14 million speakers. Since Javanese is not an official language of
its homeland Indonesia, it is considered to be the most widely spoken language
without any official status in the world.

Indonesia Is the Largest Archipelago in the World

The largest archipelago in the world consists of around 18,000 islands, of which
around 6,000 are inhabited. Most of the islands are completely Indonesian, while
some (Borneo, Sebatik, Timor and New Guinea) are shared with neighboring
countries. The five major islands are Sumatra, Java, Borneo, Sulawesi and New
Guinea, and these are accompanied by two major archipelagos (the Maluku Islands
and Nusa Tenggara) and 60 smaller archipelagos. In total, these islands span more
than 3,000 miles from east to west and thus fall into 3 different time zones.

Only Brazil and Congo Have More Tropical Forests than

Indonesia
This makes Indonesia third in the list of countries with the biggest tropical forest area.
Even 340,000 square miles of Indonesian tropical forests of course cannot compete
with Brazil’s 1.8 million square miles, but Indonesia’s forests are still very important.
They are a major oxygen producer on Earth and are home to thousands of animal and
plant species.

The existence of the Indonesian tropical forests is threatened in a similar way to that
of the Amazon rainforest in South America – the forests are gradually disappearing
due to human presence and suffered a 24% decrease in overall area between 1990 and
2005.

Indonesia Has the Largest Muslim Population in the World

Indonesia facts show that this large Asian country is very diverse when it comes to the
religion of its population. Despite the presence of four great (in terms of number of
worldwide followers) religions – Protestantism, Buddhism, Hinduism and Catholicism
-, the majority of Indonesians follow another major religion of the world – Islam.
Some 87% of Indonesians are Muslim (almost 210,000,000 people), and this
constitutes the largest Muslim population in any single country in the world.

The government of Indonesia officially recognizes a sixth religion too –

Confucianism, which is only (“only” for a country as large as Indonesia…) practiced
by around 120,000 people -, but does not recognize atheism or agnosticism, while
blasphemy is illegal. All Indonesians hold an identity card on which their religion is
stated, although they have the right to leave that field blank if they choose to.

The Name of the Country Means Indian Island

Indonesia facts reveal that the country got its name from the combined Greek
terms Indós and nèsos, meaning the “Indian island”. The origins of the name go back
to the 18th century, long before Indonesia became a country, and long before the
population of the region started using the name. The 19th century brought the first
scientific use of the term Indonesia when talking about the region, but it was not until
the early 20th century that it became widely used in international academic circles
(excluding in the Netherlands, of course, where they preferred the terms the Malay
Archipelago or the Netherlands East Indies). Indonesians started to use the term
widely only after World War I.

Indonesia Is Divided into 7 Regions

Indonesia is so big that it is first divided into seven regions, and these regions are then
further divided into 34 official Indonesian provinces. Every single one of these
provinces has at least 1 million inhabitants, and some of them have over 10 million
inhabitants. But most tourists still know Indonesia only by its seven regions: Sumatra,
Java, Lesser Sunda Islands, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Maluku Islands and Western New
Guinea.

Sumatra (the sixth largest island in the world), Java (the most populous island in the
world) and Bali (nicknamed the Island of Peace, the Island of Gods and the Morning
of the World) are the islands most visited by tourists – who mostly come from other
Asian countries, such as Singapore, Malaysia, China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan,
and the country’s southern neighbor, Australia.

Indonesia Lies on the Equator

This is the reason for its lack of usual seasons, its stable hot climate and consequently
also the country’s tourist popularity. Indonesia lies between latitudes 11°S and 6°N,
which makes its location in line (according to the equator) with the African countries
of Kenya, Congo, DR Congo, Uganda and Gabon, and South American Ecuador.

Its location directly on the equator does not only bring stable tropical weather with
high temperatures and a lot of rainfall, but also a stable duration of day and night – the
length of day (or night) changes by only 48 minutes throughout the year.

Indonesia Has Only 2 Seasons

When talking about Indonesia, forget about summer, spring, autumn and winter –
Indonesia facts reveal that this huge country only has two seasons: the wet season and
the dry season, both monsoon-driven. And even the dry season is not really dry – it
just has less rain than the wet season. The dry season typically lasts from May to
September and the wet season lasts from October to April. Temperatures are quite
stable in each part of the country throughout the year, but regional climates sometimes
vary greatly. If you like high temperatures and lots of rain, Indonesia is definitely the
place for you…

Indonesia has over 150 Volcanoes

Indonesia facts also reveal that this archipelago country has over 150 volcanoes – and
that 127 of them are still active! The reason why Indonesia has so many of these fire-
breathing monsters is its location on the edges of the Pacific, Eurasian and Australian
tectonic plates, which create volcanoes as they converge. Indonesian volcanoes are
part of the infamous Ring of Fire – the area where most volcanoes are located (75% of
all volcanoes on Earth) and where most earthquakes occur (90% of all earthquakes on
Earth and over 80% of the Earth’s largest earthquakes).

The two most active volcanoes in Indonesia are Merapi and Kelut, whose eruptions
have killed thousands of people in the last decades. Merapi is also responsible for the
last major volcano eruption in Indonesia – it erupted in November 2010, claiming
nearly 150 lives. But neither eruptions from Merapi nor eruptions from Kelut are
anything compared to the super-eruption that occurred in Indonesia about 75,000
years ago, when super-volcano Toba erupted (and kept erupting for two weeks),
causing the near-extinction of the human race.

Indonesia Is Home to the World’s Largest Flower

Many people have heard of the corpse flower, and some might know that it is
considered to be the largest flower in the world and that it grows in Indonesia; but
what you probably didn’t know is one of the most confusing Indonesia facts – that the
corpse flower actually applies to flowers of two completely different families, both of
which grow in Indonesia.

The first one is the Rafflesia family of flowers, which includes Rafflesia arnoldii – the
flowering plant with the largest single flower (in terms of weight) in the world. The
second is Araceae family, which includes Amorphophallus titanium (titan arum) – the
proud owner of the world’s largest unbranched inflorescence.

And why do these flowers even carry the name corpse flower ( bunga bangkai in
Indonesian)? Because of their odor, which is similar to the odor of decomposing
mammals…

Indonesia Produces One of the Most Expensive Coffees in

the World
Kopi Luwak
Kopi luwak (also known as civet coffee) is one of the most expensive coffees in the
world nowadays. Its price? Around $700 dollars per 1 kilogram ($315 per 1 lb.). But –
believe it or not – the price is not the most interesting thing about the kupi
luwak coffee; its method of production is far more interesting and, for many, also
disgusting.

The cherries (inside which the coffee beans are found) of this special Indonesian
coffee are first partially digested by an Asian palm civet (also known as toddy cat),
defecated and then collected by local farmers. Who would have thought that one of
the most expensive coffees in the world would come in the form of animal
droppings…?