Republic of Indonesia
South-Eastern Asia
Tropical · Vast · Mystical
Indonesia (officially Republic of Indonesia) is a country located in South-Eastern Asia. Its capital city is Jakarta, with other major cities including Surabaya and Bandung. With a population of approximately 275M, the main language spoken is Indonesian. The country covers an area of 1,904,569 km². The official currency is the Indonesian rupiah (Rp). Traffic drives on the left side.
Indonesia is the world's largest archipelago with over 17,000 islands — about 6,000 of which are inhabited.
Jakarta serves as the political, cultural and economic heart of Indonesia, positioned in South-Eastern Asia. As the seat of government and often the most populous city, it concentrates the country's main institutions, universities and cultural landmarks. Beyond the capital, major cities include Surabaya, Bandung, Medan — each a hub of regional culture, economy and history. Jakarta was sinking into the Java Sea at up to 25 centimetres per year due to groundwater extraction, forcing the government to announce in 2019 that the capital would be relocated to Nusantara in Borneo — a decision that makes Indonesia the first country to relocate its capital entirely due to climate change, though the move's timeline has been repeatedly delayed.
With a population of approximately 275M, Indonesia is a vibrant society with a rich mix of traditions and communities. The official language is Indonesian, which reflects the country's cultural heritage and connects it with a wide international community. Internationally, Indonesia is reached via the dialling code +62. Indonesia's 275 million people spread across 17,508 islands speak 700 distinct languages under the national motto 'Bhinneka Tunggal Ika' (Unity in Diversity) — a philosophical project of national integration that the Javanese-dominated political culture, Bahasa Indonesia as the unifying language, and a shared Islamic identity simultaneously reinforce and contest.
Indonesia spans 1,904,569 km², in the South-Eastern Asia subregion of Asia. Geographically centred around 5.0°S, 120.0°E, the country offers a diverse range of landscapes shaped by its location, climate and geology. Road traffic follows the left-hand rule, in line with surrounding Asia convention.
The official currency is the Indonesian rupiah (Rp), used for everyday transactions and commerce throughout the country. Indonesia's economy is shaped by its geography, natural resources and trade relationships. Business and daily life operate under UTC+07:00, aligning the country with its regional neighbours.
The emblematic dish of Indonesia is Nasi Goreng. Nasi goreng — fried rice with shrimp paste, sweet soy sauce, chilli, and egg — is described in polls as the world's most popular dish and as Indonesia's national dish, its appeal universal across the archipelago's extraordinary regional variation, consumed identically from the Papua highlands to the Sumatra coast even when surrounded by wildly different local cuisines.
Badminton holds a special place in the heart of Indonesia's national identity. Badminton is Indonesia's dominant competitive sport, with the country winning Olympic gold at every Games since the sport was introduced in 1992 — a dominance rooted in the Pelatnas training system that selects talented children from a young age and has produced champions like Susi Susanti, Taufik Hidayat, and Marcus Gideon who are among Indonesia's most celebrated national heroes.
The highest point in Indonesia is Puncak Jaya, rising to 4,884 metres above sea level. Krakatau erupted in 1883 with a force equivalent to 13,000 nuclear bombs, triggering tsunamis that killed 36,000 people and producing a sonic boom heard 4,800 kilometres away — its child volcano, Anak Krakatau, has erupted repeatedly since 1927 and remains one of the world's most closely monitored active volcanoes, visible from the Java-Sumatra sea lane.