​Indonesia

 See regional map IX

Geography

Total area: 1,919,440 km²; land area: 1,826,440km²

Comparative area: slightly less than three times the size of Texas

Land boundaries: 2,602 km total; Malaysia 1,782 km, Papua New Guinea 820 km

Coastline: 54,716 km

Maritime claims: (measured from claimed archipelagic baselines)

Continental shelf: to depth of exploitation

Extended economic zone: 200 nm

Territorial sea: 12 nm

Disputes: East Timor question with Portugal

Climate: tropical; hot, humid; more moderate in highlands

Terrain: mostly coastal lowlands; larger islands have interior mountains

Natural resources: crude oil, tin, natural gas, nickel, timber, bauxite, copper, fertile soils, coal, gold, silver

Land use: 8% arable land; 3% permanent crops; 7% meadows and pastures; 67% forest and woodland; 15% other; includes 3% irrigated

Environment: archipelago of 13,500 islands (6,000 inhabited); occasional floods, severe droughts, and tsunamis; deforestation

Note: straddles Equator; strategic location astride or along major sea lanes from Indian Ocean to Pacific Ocean

People

Population: 190,136,221 (July 1990), growth rate 1.8% (1990)

Birth rate: 27 births/1,000 population (1990)

Death rate: 9 deaths/1,000 population (1990)

Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1990)

Infant mortality rate: 75 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)

Life expectancy at birth: 58 years male, 63 years female (1990)

Total fertility rate: 3.1 children born/woman (1990)

Nationality: noun—Indonesian(s); adjective—Indonesian

Ethnic divisions: majority of Malay stock comprising 45.0% Javanese, 14.0% Sundanese, 7.5% Madurese, 7.5% coastal Malays, 26.0% other

Religion: 88% Muslim, 6% Protestant, 3% Roman Catholic, 2% Hindu, 1% other

Language: Bahasa Indonesia (modified form of Malay; official); English and Dutch leading foreign languages; local dialects, the most widely spoken of which is Javanese

Literacy: 62%

Labor force: 67,000,000; 55% agriculture, 10% manufacturing, 4% construction, 3% transport and communications (1985 est.)

Organized labor: 3,000,000 members (claimed); about 5% of labor force

Government

Long-form name: Republic of Indonesia

Type: republic

Capital: Jakarta

Administrative divisions: 24 provinces (propinsi-propinsi, singular—propinsi), 2 special regions* (daerah-daerah istimewa, singular—daerah istimewa), and 1 special capital city district** (daerah khusus ibukota); Aceh*, Bali, Bengkulu, Irian Jaya, Jakarta Raya**, Jambi, Jawa Barat, Jawa Tengah, Jawa Timur, Kalimantan Barat, Kalimantan Selatan, Kalimantan Tengah, Kalimantan Timur, Lampung, Maluku, Nusa Tenggara Barat, Nusa Tenggara Timur, Riau, Sulawesi Selatan, Sulawesi Tengah, Sulawesi Tenggara, Sulawesi Utara, Sumatera Barat, Sumatera Selatan, Sumatera Utara, Timor Timur, Yogyakarta*

Independence: 17 August 1945 (from Netherlands; formerly Netherlands or Dutch East Indies)

Constitution: August 1945, abrogated by Federal Constitution of 1949 and Provisional Constitution of 1950, restored 5 July 1959

Legal system: based on Roman-Dutch law, substantially modified by indigenous concepts and by new criminal procedures code; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

National holiday: Independence Day, 17 August (1945)

Executive branch: president, vice president. Cabinet

Legislative branch: unicameral House of Representatives (Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat or DPR); note—the People's Consultative Assembly (Majelis Permusyawaratan Rakyat or MPR) includes the DPR plus 500 indirectly elected members who meet every five years to elect the president and vice president and, theoretically, to determine national policy

Judicial branch: Supreme Court (Mahkamah Agung)

Leaders: Chief of State and Head of Government—President Gen. (Ret.) SOEHARTO (since 27 March 1968); Vice President Lt. Gen. (Ret.) SUDHARMONO (since 11 March 1983)

Political parties and leaders: GOLKAR (quasi-official party based on functional groups), Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Wahono, general chairman; Indonesia Democracy Party (PDI federation of former Nationalist and Christian Parties), Soeryadi, chairman; Development Unity Party (PPP, federation of former Islamic parties), Ismail Hasan Metareum, chairman

Suffrage: universal at age 17 and married persons regardless of age

Elections: House of Representatives—last held on 23 April 1987 (next to be held 23 April 1992); results—Golkar 73%, UDP 16%, PDI 11%; seats—(500 total—400 elected, 100 appointed) Golkar 299, UDP 61, PDI 40

Communists: Communist Party (PKI) was officially banned in March 1966; current strength about 1,000-3,000, with less than 10% engaged in organized activity; pre-October 1965 hardcore membership about 1.5 million

Member of: ADB, ANRPC, ASEAN, Association of Tin Producing Countries, CCC, CIPEC, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, GATT, IAEA, IBA, IBRD, ICAO, ICO, IDA, IDB—Islamic Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IPU, IRC, ISO, ITC, ITU, NAM, OIC, OPEC, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Abdul Rachman RAMLY; Chancery at 2020 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington DC 20036; telephone (202) 775-5200; there are Indonesian Consulates General in Houston, New York, and Los Angeles, and Consulates in Chicago and San Francisco; US—Ambassador John C. MONJO; Embassy at Medan Merdeka Selatan 5, Jakarta (mailing address is APO San Francisco 96356); telephone [62](21) 360-360; there are US Consulates in Medan and Surabaya

Flag: two equal horizontal bands of red (top) and white; similar to the flag of Monaco which is shorter; also similar to the flag of Poland which is white (top) and red

Economy

Overview: Indonesia is a mixed economy with many socialist institutions and central planning but with a recent emphasis on deregulation and private enterprise. Indonesia has extensive natural wealth but, with a large and rapidly increasing population, it remains a poor country. GNP growth in 1985-89 averaged about 4%, somewhat short of the 5% rate needed to absorb the 2.3 million workers annually entering the labor force. Agriculture, including forestry and fishing, is the most important sector, accounting for 21% of GDP and over 50% of the labor force. The staple crop is rice. Once the world's largest rice importer, Indonesia is now nearly self-sufficient. Plantation crops rubber and palm oil are being encouraged for both export and job generation. The diverse natural resources include crude oil, natural gas, timber, metals, and coal. Of these, the oil sector dominates the external economy, generating more than 20% of the government's revenues and 40% of export earnings in 1989. Japan is Indonesia's most important customer and supplier of aid.

GNP: $80 billion, per capita $430; real growth rate 5.7% (1989 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 5.5% (1989)

Unemployment rate: 3.1% (1989 est.)

Budget: revenues $20.9 billion; expenditures $20.9 billion, including capital expenditures of $7.5 billion (FY89)

Exports: $21.0 billion (f.o.b., 1989 est.); commodities—petroleum and liquefied natural gas 40%, timber 15%, textiles 7%, rubber 5%, coffee 3%; partners—Japan 42%, US 16%, Singapore 9%, EC 11% (1988)

Imports: $13.2 billion (f.o.b., 1989 est.); commodities—machinery 39%, chemical products 19%, manufactured goods 16%; partners—Japan 26%, EC 19%, US 13%, Singapore 7% (1988)

External debt: $55.0 billion, medium and long-term (1989 est.)

Industrial production: growth rate 4.8% (1988 est.)

Electricity: 11,600,000 kW capacity; 38,000 million kWh produced, 200 kWh per capita (1989)

Industries: petroleum, textiles, mining, cement, chemical fertilizer production, timber, food, rubber

Agriculture: subsistence food production; small-holder and plantation production for export; rice, cassava, peanuts, rubber, cocoa, coffee, copra, other tropical products

Illicit drugs: illicit producer of cannabis for the international drug trade, but not a major player; government actively eradicating plantings and prosecuting traffickers

Aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-88), $4.2 billion; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-87), $19.8 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $213 million; Communist countries (1970-88), $175 million

Currency: Indonesian rupiah (plural—rupiahs); 1 Indonesian rupiah (Rp) = 100 sen (sen no longer used)

Exchange rates: Indonesian rupiahs (Rp) per US$1—1,804.9 (January 1990), 1,770.1 (1989), 1,685.7 (1988), 1,643.8 (1987), 1,282.6 (1986), 1,110.6 (1985)

Fiscal year: 1 April- 31 March

Communications

Railroads: 6,964 km total; 6,389 km 1.067-meter gauge, 497 km 0.750-meter gauge, 78 km 0.600-meter gauge; 211 km double track; 101 km electrified; all government owned

Highways: 119,500 km total; 11,812 km state, 34,180 km provincial, and 73,508 km district roads

Inland waterways: 21,579 km total; Sumatra 5,471 km, Java and Madura 820 km, Kalimantan 10,460 km, Celebes 241 km, Irian Jaya 4,587 km

Pipelines: crude oil, 2,505 km; refined products, 456 km; natural gas, 1,703 km (1989)

Ports: Cilacap, Cirebon, Jakarta, Kupang, Palembang, Ujungpandang, Semarang, Surabaya

Merchant marine: 313 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,480,912 GRT/2,245,233 DWT; includes 5 short-sea passenger, 13 passenger-cargo, 173 cargo, 6 container, 3 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 2 vehicle carrier, 77 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 1 chemical tanker, 2 liquefied gas, 6 specialized tanker, 1 livestock carrier, 24 bulk

Civil air: about 216 commercial transport aircraft

Airports: 468 total, 435 usable; 106 with permanent-surface runways; 1 with runways over 3,659 m; 12 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 62 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Telecommunications: interisland microwave system and HF police net; domestic service fair, international service good; radiobroadcast coverage good; 763,000 telephones (1986); stations—618 AM, 38 FM, 9 TV; satellite earth stations—1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT earth station and 1 Pacific Ocean INTELSAT earth station; and 1 domestic satellite communications system

Defense Forces

Branches: Army, Navy, Air Force, National Police

Military manpower: males 15-49, 49,283,496; 29,137,291 fit for military service; 2,098,169 reach military age (18) annually

Defense expenditures: 2.1% of GNP (1987)