INDONESIA OVERVIEW
Indonesia's political and economic conditions are important to the stability in the Southeast Asia region. |
Indonesia is a country in Southeast Asia that consists entirely of islands, more than 17,500 of them. The islands of Indonesia stretch across more than 5.150 kilometers (3.200 miles) of tropical ocean along the equator. Indonesia are the fourth largest population in the world. Indonesia occupies a strategic position in Southeast Asia, and its political and economic conditions are important to the stability of the region. Indonesia has an extremely diverse population. Its people belong to about 300 different ethnic groups and speak more than 250 languages. They had no common language until the late 1920's, when Indonesian nationalist provided one by creating a new language, called Bahasa Indonesia. Bahasa Indonesia, which means language of Indonesia, became a force for national unity.
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" . . . I’ve come to more greatly appreciate our strength, which is our diversity, our tolerance for differences, our openness to new things. We're a culture of winners. We’re a very diverse society full of tolerance for each other so our economic and trade policy should be like that . . . "
-Thomas Lembong, Indonesia's Minister of Trade (Nov, 2015)
The President of Indonesia is chief of state, head of the government, and commander of the armed forces. Joko Widodo -known more as Jokowi- is the current President of Indonesia since 2014. The president appoints a Cabinet to assist in running the government. As a democratic country, the president is directly elected by the people to a five year term and is limited to... [Read more]
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Indonesia's economy is a mixed one, with both privately owned firms and state-owned enterprises. The private sector accounts for most of the total national output. About two-fifths of Indonesians work in agriculture and fishing, but diversified manufacturing has become a mainstay of the economy. The Indonesia's gross domestic product (GDP) was about... [Read more]
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Indonesia has one of the most ethnically diverse populations in the world, with people from about 300 ethnic groups. The largest ethnic group is the Javanese, who live mostly on the island of Java and make up about 41 percent of Indonesia's population. The second largest group is the Sundanese, who live in western Java and make up about... [Read more]
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