The Dutch began to colonize Indonesia in the early 17th century; the islands were occupied by Japan from 1942 to 1945. Indonesia declared its independence after Japan's surrender, but it required four years of intermittent negotiations, recurring hostilities, and UN mediation before the Netherlands agreed to relinquish its colony. Indonesia is the world's largest archipelagic state and home to the world's largest Muslim population. Current issues include: alleviating poverty, preventing terrorism, consolidating democracy after four decades of authoritarianism, implementing financial sector reforms, stemming corruption, holding the military and police accountable for human rights violations, and controlling avian influenza. In 2005, Indonesia reached a historic peace agreement with armed separatists in Aceh, which led to democratic elections in December 2006. Indonesia continues to face a low intensity separatist guerilla movement in Papua.
total: 26.9 years male: 26.4 years female: 27.4 years (2007 est.)
Population growth rate:
1.213% (2007 est.)
Birth rate:
19.65 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Death rate:
6.25 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Net migration rate:
-1.27 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.035 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.005 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.803 male(s)/female total population: 1.001 male(s)/female (2007 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
total: 32.14 deaths/1,000 live births male: 37.39 deaths/1,000 live births female: 26.63 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 70.16 years male: 67.69 years female: 72.76 years (2007 est.)
Total fertility rate:
2.38 children born/woman (2007 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
0.1% (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
110,000 (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths:
2,400 (2003 est.)
Major infectious diseases:
degree of risk: high food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A and E, and typhoid fever vectorborne diseases: dengue fever, malaria, and chikungunya are high risks in some locations note: highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza has been identified among birds in this country or surrounding region; it poses a negligible risk with extremely rare cases possible among US citizens who have close contact with birds (2007)
conventional long form: Republic of Indonesia conventional short form: Indonesia local long form: Republik Indonesia local short form: Indonesia former: Netherlands East Indies; Dutch East Indies
Government type:
republic
Capital:
name: Jakarta geographic coordinates: 6 10 S, 106 48 E time difference: UTC+7 (12 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) note: Indonesia is divided into three time zones
Administrative divisions:
30 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, Banten, Bengkulu, Gorontalo, Irian Jaya Barat, Jakarta Raya**, Jambi, Jawa Barat, Jawa Tengah, Jawa Timur, Kalimantan Barat, Kalimantan Selatan, Kalimantan Tengah, Kalimantan Timur, Kepulauan Bangka Belitung, Kepulauan Riau, Lampung, Maluku, Maluku Utara, Nusa Tenggara Barat, Nusa Tenggara Timur, Papua, Riau, Sulawesi Barat, Sulawesi Selatan, Sulawesi Tengah, Sulawesi Tenggara, Sulawesi Utara, Sumatera Barat, Sumatera Selatan, Sumatera Utara, Yogyakarta* note: following the implementation of decentralization beginning on 1 January 2001, the 440 districts or regencies have become the key administrative units responsible for providing most government services
Independence:
17 August 1945 (declared); 27 December 1949 (recognized by the Netherlands)
National holiday:
Independence Day, 17 August (1945)
Constitution:
August 1945; abrogated by Federal Constitution of 1949 and Provisional Constitution of 1950, restored 5 July 1959; series of amendments concluded in 2002
Legal system:
based on Roman-Dutch law, substantially modified by indigenous concepts and by new criminal procedures and election codes; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage:
17 years of age; universal and married persons regardless of age
Executive branch:
chief of state: President Susilo Bambang YUDHOYONO (since 20 October 2004); Vice President Muhammad Yusuf KALLA (since 20 October 2004); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government head of government: President Susilo Bambang YUDHOYONO (since 20 October 2004); Vice President Muhammad Yusuf KALLA (since 20 October 2004) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president elections: president and vice president were elected for five-year terms (eligible for a second term) by direct vote of the citizenry; last held 20 September 2004 (next to be held in 2009) election results: Susilo Bambang YUDHOYONO elected president receiving 60.6% of vote; MEGAWATI Sukarnoputri received 39.4%
Legislative branch:
House of Representatives or Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat (DPR) (550 seats; members elected to serve five-year terms); House of Regional Representatives (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah or DPD), constitutionally mandated role includes providing legislative input to DPR on issues affecting regions; People's Consultative Assembly (Majelis Permusyawaratan Rakyat or MPR) has role in inaugurating and impeaching president and in amending constitution; consists of popularly-elected members in DPR and DPD; MPR does not formulate national policy elections: last held 5 April 2004 (next to be held in 2009) election results: percent of vote by party - Golkar 21.6%, PDI-P 18.5%, PKB 10.6%, PPP 8.2%, PD 7.5%, PKS 7.3%, PAN 6.4%, others 19.9%; seats by party - Golkar 128, PDI-P 109, PPP 58, PD 55, PAN 53, PKB 52, PKS 45, others 50 note: because of election rules, the number of seats won does not always follow the percentage of votes received by parties
Judicial branch:
Supreme Court or Mahkamah Agung (justices appointed by the president from a list of candidates approved by the legislature); a separate Constitutional Court or Mahkamah Konstitusi was invested by the president on 16 August 2003; in March 2004 the Supreme Court assumed administrative and financial responsibility for the lower court system from the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights; Labor Court under supervision of Supreme Court began functioning in January 2006
Political parties and leaders:
Crescent Moon and Star Party or PBB [MS KABAN]; Democratic Party or PD [Hadi UTOMO]; Functional Groups Party or Golkar [Yusuf KALLA]; Indonesia Democratic Party-Struggle or PDI-P [MEGAWATI Sukarnoputri]; National Awakening Party or PKB [MUHAIMIN Iskander]; National Mandate Party or PAN [Sutrisno BACHIR]; Prosperous Justice Party or PKS [Tifatul SEMBIRING]; United Development Party or PPP [Suryadharma ALI]
chief of mission: Ambassador SUDJADNAN Parnohadiningrat chancery: 2020 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20036 telephone: [1] (202) 775-5200 FAX: [1] (202) 775-5365 consulate(s) general: Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco
Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador B. Lynn PASCOE embassy: Jalan 1 Medan Merdeka Selatan 4-5, Jakarta 10110 mailing address: Unit 8129, Box 1, FPO AP 96520 telephone: [62] (21) 3435-9000 FAX: [62] (21) 3435-9922 consulate(s) general: Surabaya consulate(s): Medan; Denpasar (consular agency)
Flag description:
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
general assessment: domestic service fair, international service good domestic: interisland microwave system and HF radio police net; domestic satellite communications system international: country code - 62; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Indian Ocean and 1 Pacific Ocean)
Radio broadcast stations:
AM 678, FM 43, shortwave 82 (1998)
Radios:
31.5 million (1997)
Television broadcast stations:
54 local TV stations (11 national TV networks; each with their own group of local transmitters) (2006)
Indonesia Armed Forces (Tentara Nasional Indonesia, TNI): Army (TNI-AD), Navy (TNI-AL, includes marines, naval air arm), Air Force (TNI-AU) note: the TNI is directly subordinate to the president but the government is making efforts to incorporate it into the Department of Defense
Military service age and obligation:
18 years of age for compulsory and voluntary military service; conscript service obligation - 2 years (2002)
Manpower available for military service:
males age 18-49: 60,543,028 females age 18-49: 59,981,730 (2005 est.)
Manpower fit for military service:
males age 18-49: 48,687,234 females age 18-49: 50,252,911 (2005 est.)
Manpower reaching military service age annually:
males age 18-49: 2,201,047 females age 18-49: 2,139,573 (2005 est.)
Indonesia has a stated foreign policy objective of establishing stable fixed land and maritime boundaries with all of its neighbors; East Timor-Indonesia Boundary Committee has resolved all but a small portion of the land boundary, but discussions on maritime boundaries are stalemated over sovereignty of the uninhabited coral island of Pulau Batek/Fatu Sinai in the north and alignment with Australian claims in the south; many East Timorese refugees who left in 2003 still reside in Indonesia and refuse repatriation; a 1997 treaty between Indonesia and Australia settled some parts of their maritime boundary but outstanding issues remain; ICJ's award of Sipadan and Ligitan islands to Malaysia in 2002 left the sovereignty of Unarang rock and the maritime boundary in the Ambalat oil block in the Celebes Sea in dispute; the ICJ decision has prompted Indonesia to assert claims to and to establish a presence on its smaller outer islands; Indonesia and Singapore continue to work on finalization of their 1973 maritime boundary agreement by defining unresolved areas north of Indonesia's Batam Island; Indonesian secessionists, squatters, and illegal migrants create repatriation problems for Papua New Guinea; piracy remains a problem in the Malacca Strait; maritime delimitation talks continue with Palau; Indonesian groups challenge Australia's claim to Ashmore Reef; Australia has closed parts of the Ashmore and Cartier Reserve to Indonesian traditional fishing and placed restrictions on certain catches
Refugees and internally displaced persons:
IDPs: 200,000-350,000 (government offensives against rebels in Aceh; most IDPs in Aceh, Central Kalimantan, Central Sulawesi Provinces, and Maluku), 300,000 (December 2006 floods in Aceh regions) (2006)
Trafficking in persons:
current situation: Indonesia is a source, transit, and destination country for women, children and men trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation and forced labor; Indonesian victims are trafficked to Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore; a significant number of Indonesian women who go overseas each year to work as domestic servants or "cultural performers" are subjected to conditions of involuntary servitude and commercial sexual exploitation; to a minimal extent, Indonesia is a destination for women from East Asia, Europe, and South America who are trafficked for sexual exploitation; there is extensive trafficking within Indonesia from rural to urban metropolitan areas particularly for sexual exploitation and involuntary domestic servitude tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Indonesia is placed on the Tier 2 Watch List for its failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts to combat trafficking
Illicit drugs:
illicit producer of cannabis largely for domestic use; producer of methamphetamine and ecstasy
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