Indonesia

Indonesia is a transcontinental country, part of South East Asia and Oceania. Its 17,508 islands make it the biggest archipelago in the world. The four biggest islands are Java, Sumatra, Kalimantan (Indonesian part of Borneo) and New Guinea (shared with Papua New Guinea).

With a population estimated at more than 253 million, it is the fourth most populated country in the world. Most Indonesians descend from populations of Austronesian languages, originating in Taiwan. The other major origin of the Indonesian population is Melanesia, to the east of Indonesia. There are around 300 different ethnicities in Indonesia and 742 different languages and dialects. Indonesia is a democratic republic and is secular, the capital is Jakarta.

Indonesia, its tropical climate, and the fact that it is an archipelago gives it the title of the second top biodiversity zone of the world (after Brazil). Its flora and fauna mix Asian and Australasian species. Formerly part of Asia, the islands of the Sunda shelf (Sumatra, Java, Borneo and Bali) have a rich Asian wildlife. They have large species like tigers, rhinos, orangutans, elephants and leopards, which were abundant up to Bali in the east of the country, but the number and the spread of these species has been largely reduced. Today, Indonesia has close to 320 national parks.

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