It’s never hot in Indonesia! The Indonesia climate resembles the locals who are calm and predictable. The climate in Indonesia too is very much constant with least amount of changes.
The only variation in the Indonesian climate is not in the temperature or air pressure, but the rainfall. Around 81% of Indonesia’s area is covered by the warm waters from the rainfall in the land. The rainfall ensures that the land temperature of Indonesia remains stable. The archipelago of Indonesia is split by Equator thus ensuring a tropical climate all through the year. The coastal plains in the country averages an annual temperature of 28 °C while the inland and the mountain base records an average of 26 °C whereas the annual average temperature on the higher mountains is 23 °C.
The ‘land of Komodo dragon’ usually experiences a relative humidity of 70 to 90% with moderate and mostly predictable winds. The monsoon winds in Indonesia mostly blow from the south and the east in the months of June to September bringing down torrential rainfall. The monsoon changes direction during the months of December to March when it blows from the northwest direction. The land has little threat from Typhoons and huge storms. Rather the mariners face a threat from the swift currents in the channels, such as the Lombok and Sape straits.
The variations in climate in Indonesia generally come from the rainfall and the monsoons. In other words monsoon brings in the different seasons in Indonesia. There is a spell of dry season between the months of June to September which is caused generally by the Australian continental air masses.
The northern and the western part of Indonesia experiences the maximum precipitation because of the north- and westward-moving monsoon clouds which are moving into these areas and are heavy with moisture. They usually lose some amount of moisture as they reach the other parts of the country.
The rupiah (Rp) is the official currency of Indonesia. Issued and controlled by the Bank of Indonesia, the ISO 4217 currency code for the Indonesian rupiah is IDR. The symbol used on all banknotes and coins are Rp. The name derives from the Indian monetary unit rupee. Informally, Indonesians also use the word "perak" ('silver' in Indonesian) in referring to rupiah. The rupiah is subdivided into 100 sen, although inflation has rendered all coins and banknotes denominated in sen obsolete.
Indonesia consists of 17,508 islands, about 6,000 of which are inhabited. These are scattered over both sides of the equator. The five largest islands are Java, Sumatra, Kalimantan (the Indonesian part of Borneo), New Guinea (shared with Papua New Guinea), and Sulawesi. Indonesia shares land borders with Malaysia on the islands of Borneo and Sebatik, Papua New Guinea on the island of New Guinea, and East Timor on the island of Timor. Indonesia also shares borders with Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines to the north and Australia to the south across narrow straits of water. The capital, Jakarta, is on Java and is the nation's largest city, followed by Surabaya, Bandung, Medan, and Semarang.
At 1,919,440 square kilometers (741,050 sq mi), Indonesia is the world's 16th-largest country in terms of land area. Its average population density is 134 people per square kilometer (347 per sq mi), 79th in the world, although Java, the world's most populous island, has a population density of 940 people per square kilometer (2,435 per sq mi). At 4,884 meters (16,024 ft), Puncak Jaya in Papua is Indonesia's highest peak, and Lake Toba in Sumatra its largest lake, with an area of 1,145 square kilometers (442 sq mi). The country's largest rivers are in Kalimantan, and include the Mahakam and Barito; such rivers are communication and transport links between the island's river settlements.
Indonesia's location on the edges of the Pacific, Eurasian, and Australian tectonic plates makes it the site of numerous volcanoes and frequent earthquakes. Indonesia has at least 150 active volcanoes, including Krakatoa and Tambora, both famous for their devastating eruptions in the 19th century. The eruption of the Toba supervolcano, approximately 70,000 years ago, was one of the largest eruptions ever, and a global catastrophe. Recent disasters due to seismic activity include the 2004 tsunami that killed an estimated 167,736 in northern Sumatra, and the Yogyakarta earthquake in 2006. However, volcanic ash is a major contributor to the high agricultural fertility that has historically sustained the high population densities of Java and Bali.
Lying along the equator, Indonesia has a tropical climate, with two distinct monsoonal wet and dry seasons. Average annual rainfall in the lowlands varies from 1,780–3,175 millimeters (70–125 in), and up to 6,100 millimeters (240 in) in mountainous regions. Mountainous areas—particularly in the west coast of Sumatra, West Java, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, and Papua—receive the highest rainfall. Humidity is generally high, averaging about 80%. Temperatures vary little throughout the year; the average daily temperature range of Jakarta is 26–30 °C (79–86 °F).
Fossilized remains of Homo erectus, popularly known as the "Java Man", suggest that the Indonesian archipelago was inhabited two million to 500,000 years ago. Austronesian people, who form the majority of the modern population, migrated to South East Asia from Taiwan. They arrived in Indonesia around 2000 BCE, and confined the native Melanesian peoples to the far eastern regions as they expanded. Ideal agricultural conditions, and the mastering of wet-field rice cultivation as early as the eighth century BCE, allowed villages, towns, and small kingdoms to flourish by the first century CE. Indonesia's strategic sea-lane position fostered inter-island and international trade. For example, trade links with both Indian kingdoms and China were established several centuries BCE. Trade has since fundamentally shaped Indonesian history.
From the seventh century CE, the powerful Srivijaya naval kingdom flourished as a result of trade and the influences of Hinduism and Buddhism that were imported with it. Between the eighth and 10th centuries CE, the agricultural Buddhist Sailendra and Hindu Mataram dynasties thrived and declined in inland Java, leaving grand religious monuments such as Sailendra's Borobudur and Mataram's Prambanan. The Hindu Majapahit kingdom was founded in eastern Java in the late 13th century, and under Gajah Mada, its influence stretched over much of Indonesia; this period is often referred to as a "Golden Age" in Indonesian history.
Although Muslim traders first traveled through South East Asia early in the Islamic era, the earliest evidence of Islamized populations in Indonesia dates to the 13th century in northern Sumatra. Other Indonesian areas gradually adopted Islam, and it was the dominant religion in Java and Sumatra by the end of the 16th century. For the most part, Islam overlaid and mixed with existing cultural and religious influences, which shaped the predominant form of Islam in Indonesia, particularly in Java. The first Europeans arrived in Indonesia in 1512, when Portuguese traders, led by Francisco Serrão, sought to monopolize the sources of nutmeg, cloves, and cubeb pepper in Maluku. Dutch and British traders followed. In 1602 the Dutch established the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and became the dominant European power. Following bankruptcy, the VOC was formally dissolved in 1800, and the government of the Netherlands established the Dutch East Indies as a nationalized colony.
For most of the colonial period, Dutch control over these territories was tenuous; only in the early 20th century did Dutch dominance extend to what was to become Indonesia's current boundaries. The Japanese invasion and subsequent occupation during World War II ended Dutch rule, and encouraged the previously suppressed Indonesian independence movement. Two days after the surrender of Japan in August 1945, Sukarno, an influential nationalist leader, declared independence and was appointed president. The Netherlands tried to reestablish their rule, and an armed and diplomatic struggle ended in December 1949, when in the face of international pressure, the Dutch formally recognized Indonesian independence (with the exception of The Dutch territory of West New Guinea, which was incorporated following the 1962 New York Agreement, and UN—mandated Act of Free Choice).
, and maintained his power base by balancing the opposing forces of the Military, and the Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI). An attempted coup on 30 September 1965 was countered by the army, who led a violent anti-communist purge, during which the PKI was blamed for the coup and effectively destroyed. Between 500,000 and one million people were killed. The head of the military, General Suharto, out-maneuvered the politically weakened Sukarno, and was formally appointed president in March 1968. His New Order administration was supported by the US government, and encouraged foreign direct investment in Indonesia, which was a major factor in the subsequent three decades of substantial economic growth.However, the authoritarian "New Order" was widely accused of corruption and suppression of political opposition.
In 1997 and 1998, Indonesia was the country hardest hit by the Asian Financial Crisis. This increased popular discontent with the New Order[ and led to popular protests. Suharto resigned on 21 May 1998. In 1999, East Timor voted to secede from Indonesia, after a twenty-five-year military occupation that was marked by international condemnation of often brutal repression of the East Timorese. The Reformasi era following Suharto's resignation, has led to a strengthening of democratic processes, including a regional autonomy program, and the first direct presidential election in 2004. Political and economic instability, social unrest, corruption, and terrorism have slowed progress. Although relations among different religious and ethnic groups are largely harmonious, acute sectarian discontent and violence remain problems in some areas. A political settlement to an armed separatist conflict in Aceh was achieved in 2005.
1 Jan New Year's Day.
20 Jan Muharram (Islamic New Year).
26 Jan Chinese New Year.
Mar* Nyepi (Hindu New Year).
9 Mar Mouloud (Birth of the Prophet).
10 Apr Good Friday.
May* Waisak Day (Buddha's Birthday).
21 May Ascension.
17 Aug Indonesian Independence Day.
20 Jul Lailat al Miraj (Ascension of the Prophet).
21 Sep Eid al-Fitr (End of Ramadan).
28 Nov Eid al-Adha (Feast of the Sacrifice).
25/26 Dec Christmas Day/Boxing Day.
29 Dec Islamic New Year.
The land of Thousands of Island is known for its unique culture and majestic beauty. The cultural fervor of the country is reflected in its population which counts to around 201 million people. The Indonesia population makes it ranked fourth in the world only after China, India and United States of America. Out of the more than 13,000 islands of the land only a handful are inhabited that shoots up the population density of the country to a higher level. The island of Java upholds it with more than 107 million people living in that island in an area which spreads to not more than the area of New York State. The Indonesian population presents the picture of a mixed group of ethnic cultures and several linguistic groups.
After the Second World War Bahasa Indonesia, the national language which is a form of Malay, became popular in the archipelago and came up as the most accepted form of written communication in Indonesia. The language though is the basis of education, government and business. Other languages that the Indonesia population speaks are English, Dutch, local dialects like the Javanese, the most widely spoken form.
Indonesia is predominantly a Muslim dominated country with the share of 88% of the Muslims. Next on the list are the Protestant with 5% share in the total population of the country to be followed by the Roman Catholics 3%, Hindus 2%, Buddhists 1% and the scarcely populated ethnic tribes.
The literacy rate in the country is quite good. Out of the total population around 83.8% are considered literate. The definition of literacy in the country comprises of the population above the age of 15 who can read and write. Of the total literate population 89.6% are male and 78% are female population, according to an estimation of the year 1995.
Capital: JAKARTA
Population: 238,452,952
Area: 1,919,317 km2
Languages: Bahasa Indonesia, English is widespread in tourist areas
Religions: Muslim, Catholic, Hindu, Buddhist.
Currency: Indonesian Rupee.
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