Indonesia
The world's largest archipelago, spanning two oceans
Indonesia is a nation of more than seventeen thousand islands strung along the equator between the Indian and Pacific oceans, the fourth most populous country on Earth and the largest Muslim-majority one. From the rice terraces of Bali to the rainforests of Sumatra and the snowfields of Papua, it sprawls across three time zones and hundreds of ethnic groups bound by a single national language. Sitting astride the Pacific Ring of Fire, it has more active volcanoes than any other country.
The archipelago straddles the meeting of tectonic plates, giving it towering volcanoes, deep ocean trenches, and frequent earthquakes. Major islands include Sumatra, Java, Borneo (Kalimantan), Sulawesi, and New Guinea, where the glacier-capped Puncak Jaya is the highest point between the Himalayas and the Andes. The climate is tropical, the biodiversity immense, Java alone holds more than half the population. Palm oil, coal, nickel, and a vast domestic market drive the economy.
Maritime trade and the spice islands drew Indian, Chinese, Arab, and finally European traders, with the Dutch consolidating control over centuries. Indonesia declared independence in 1945 and won it after a four-year struggle. The unifying creed of Pancasila and the motto Bhinneka Tunggal Ika, unity in diversity, hold together a famously plural society. The capital, Jakarta, is a sinking megacity, prompting plans for a new capital, Nusantara, in Kalimantan.