Indonesia

 HISTORY

• ·      The oldest hominid in the world, Pithecanthropus Erectus, is found in Java Indonesia. Its origin is dated way back from 1.8 million years ago. He is known as "Java Man".
• ·      The Sangiran Early Man Site, on the World Heritage List, is estimated to have been inhabited one and a half million years ago. Half of the world's hominid fossils have been found Indonesia at Sangiran in Java.
• ·      About five thousand years ago people migrated to Indonesia from other parts of Southeast Asia. Later, people from India moved to the area. A number of important kingdoms were established: Buddhist, Hindu and Hindu-Buddhist.
• ·    In 1293 the famed traveler Marco Polo reached Sumatra. He was the first European to land on the island. In the fourteenth century, reports of his travels led to waves of Indian and Chinese adventurers travelling to Indonesia’s Maluku islands – the fabled “Spice Islands” - in search cloves and nutmeg which grew nowhere else and were worth their weight in gold. (Indonesia is still one the world's largest producers of cloves and nutmeg.)
• ·      In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, Arab traders looking for the isles where “money grows on trees” introduced Islam, which emerged as the predominant religion of the region. In the face of Islam, Javanese Hindus evacuated to neighbouring Bali and established the island as the Hindu enclave (as it remains to this day).
• ·      In the early sixteenth century the Portuguese arrived.The Portuguese took control of parts of Indonesia in the sixteenth century, but did not have enough power to hang on to their colonies there when the much wealthier Dutch decided to muscle in on the spice trade beginning in 1602.
• ·      One of the Spice islands of Indonesia (Maluku Islands aka the Mollucas) was once traded for New York. In 1667 the Treaty of Breda was signed. One of the principal conditions of that treaty was that the British gave up their interest in the island of Run Island (part of Banda, and Banda was part of Mollucas) in return for the Dutch island of Manhattan, New York.
• ·      By the late eighteenth century "Indonesia" was part of the Dutch colonial empire and was known as the Netherlands East Indies. Between 1811 and 1816 (during the Napoleonic Wars) "Indonesia" came under British rule but was returned to the Dutch.
• ·      Throughout the early 20th century, nationalism grew in the Dutch East Indies. In March of 1942, the Japanese occupied Indonesia, expelling the Dutch. Initially welcomed as liberators, the Japanese were brutal and oppressive, catalyzing nationalist sentiment in Indonesia.
• ·      After Japan's defeat in 1945, the Dutch tried to return to their most valuable colony. The people of Indonesia launched a four-year independence war, gaining full freedom in 1949 with U.N. help.
• ·      The first two president of Indonesia, Soekarno (r. 1945-1967) and Suharto (r. 1967-1998) were autocrats who relied upon the military to stay in power.
• ·      When President Soekarno declared martial law and instituted "Guided Democracy" after a period of sometimes unruly parliamentary democracy, which ended in 1957.  After an abortive coup in 1965 by alleged communist sympathizers, Soekarno was gradually eased from power.
• ·      From 1967 until 1988, President Suharto ruled Indonesia with his "New Order" government.
• ·      A Revolution in 1998 led to the resignation of President Soeharto and the establishment of free elections and democracy in Indonesia.
• ·      In 1999, East Timor (on the island of Timor), a former Portuguese region with a culture unique to the archipelago, voted for independence. After much political and military turmoil, the region gained independence in 2002.Since then,Indonesia's president have been selected through reasonably free and fair elections.
• ·      Today, Western media often paint unfair and misleading pictures of Indonesia as a “troubled spot.” Quite the opposite, current crime statistics confirm that Indonesia is a much safer place to live than most Western countries. Indeed, the peaceful nature of the Indonesian people has led to, arguably, the most rapid and least problematic transition to democracy in history.

PEACE CORPS - INDONESIA

• ·      Peace Corps initiated its first program in Indonesia in 1963 and initially sent a total of 46 Volunteers to work in sports coaching and physical education. 
• ·      The program closed in 1965 with the mutual consent of the two governments against the backdrop of political unrest and concern for the safety and security of the Volunteers.
• ·      In October 2006, the Indonesian government invited Peace Corps to send an assessment team to consider the feasibility of re-establishing a Peace Corps program. 
• ·      A comprehensive assessment was completed in February 2007, followed by an updated safety and security assessment. 
• ·      Peace Corps completed negotiations with the Indonesian government in November 2009.
• ·      A formal Memorandum of Understanding was signed on December 11, 2009. 
• ·      The Peace Corps negotiated and signed Implementing Arrangements with the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Ministry of Education and Culture on June 15, 2011.
•       My group will be the 8^th Peace Corps group to go to Indonesia.

     GEOGRAPHY

• ·      The Indonesian name for Indonesia is "Tanah Air Kita" - Our Land and Water.
• ·      Indonesia is the largest archipelago in the world, consisting of 17,508 islands, although only roughly 6,000 are inhabited. The country, separated by the equator, stretches for 3,200 miles - roughly the distance between Los Angeles and New York - 81% of the stretch being comprised of oceans and seas.  It takes over 12 hours of flying time to get from North Sumatra, which is at one end of the country, to West Papua Guinea, which is at the other end.
• ·      The land area alone is approximately one-third of Europe (excluding Russia). 238 million people live in Indonesia (4th most populous country worldwide). Indonesia's five main islands are Kalimantan, Sumatra, Irian Jaya, Sulawesi, and Java (where I will be living).  Java  is the most populous island in the world, roughly holding 70% of Indonesia's population.  
• Indonesia's capitol is Jakarta, located on Java. In terms of population, Jakarta is the largest city in South East Asia and the third most populated city in the world (after Bangkok and Mexico City). Its population is estimated at 8,489,910.
• ·      Despite family planning programs, the population of Indonesia is increasing at a faster pace than any other country and it is expected to rise to 315 million by 2035.
• ·      A government transmigration policy resettles people on the less populated islands, and Indonesians have been alerted to the importance of only two children to a family to control the birth explosion.

 CLIMATE

• ·      Java has a tropical climate. There are two seasons in Java—the rainy season and the dry season. The dry season is hot and sunny, but it still rains occasionally. Average temperatures in East Java range from 70 degrees Fahrenheit, on up. The rainy season is sometimes cooler, but still very warm. It generally rains every day, usually in the afternoons. There is a lot of discrepancy about the duration of each season and what months they fall in. 
•       If you are planning a visit to Indonesia ((hint-hint)), The rainy season is commonly from October until April, with the wettest months being December, January, and February. The dry season is from May until October or November.

 ECONOMY

• ·      Indonesia is the economic powerhouse of Southeast Asia, a member of the G20 group of economies. Although it is a market economy, the government owns significant amounts of the industrial base following the 1997 Asian financial crisis. During the 2008-2009 global financial crisis, Indonesia was one of the few nations to continue its economic growth.
• ·      Indonesia exports petroleum products, appliances, textiles and rubber. It imports chemicals, machinery and food.
• ·      20% of liquid natural gas in the world is produced in Indonesia and [Indonesia] is the largest supplier worldwide.
• ·      Indonesia is a major producer of cloves and nutmeg and ranked first in the world in terms of production.
• ·      Indonesia is the largest exporter of plywood, which makes up 80% of the supply to the world.
• ·      The per capita GDP is about $4,000 US. Unemployment is 7.7%; 47% of Indonesians work in industry, 39% in services, and 14% in agriculture. Nonetheless, almost 18% live below the poverty line. About half the population of Indonesia lives on less than US$2 per day.

 GOVERNMENT

• ·      The Republic of Indonesia is centralized (non-federal) and features a strong President who is both Head of State and Head   of Government. The first direct presidential election took place only in 2004; the president can serve up to two 5-year terms.
• ·      The tricameral legislature consists of the People's Consultative Assembly, which inaugurates and impeaches the president and amends the constitution but does not consider legislation; the   560-member House of Representatives, which creates legislation; and the 132-member House of Regional Representatives who provide input on legislation that affects their regions.
• ·      The judiciary includes not only a Supreme Court and Constitutional Court, but also a designated Anti-Corruption Court.

       NATURE

• ·      The land is mostly covered with tropical rain forests supporting the world's second highest level   of biodiversity after Brazil. Java  is the most fertile   of the islands, producing rice, rubber, coffee, tea, coconuts, and sugar as their main sources of   wealth.
• ·      Forests make up 60% of the country and includes over 600 bird species.  After Australia, Indonesia has the most number of endemic species. 36% of Indonesia's bird species and 39% of mammal species are endemic. Two famous examples are the Sumatran Tiger (smallest tiger subspecies) and the Javan rhinoceros, which are found nowhere else in the world. Other animals include the orangutan, elephant and leopard.
• ·     Indonesia is the world’s richest in term of most extensive coral reefs. It has about 18% of the total coral reefs around the world, making it the world’s greatest diversity of coral reef fish with more than 1,650 species in eastern Indonesia alone.on the 4,500 species of reef fishes existing in the oceans worldwide, around 3,500 of them have been identified in Indonesia.

• ·      Indonesia has the only living ancient dragon, Komodo, which can be located in NTT.
• ·      Indonesia has the world’s largest amount of orchid biodiversity. There  are about six thousand species of orchids, ranging from the largest (Tiger Orchid or Grammatophyllum Speciosum) to the smallest (Taeniophyllum, which has no leaves). The collection also includes the Black Orchid, which is extremely rare and can only be found in Papua.
• ·      Indonesia has the world’s largest flower called the Rafflesia Arnoldi, which has a diameter of up to 1 meter during the blossom phase.
• ·      Indonesia has the world’s smallest primate named the Tarsier Pygmy (Tarsius pumilus), also known as the Mountain Tarsier, whose length is only 10 cm. This animal looks like a monkey and lives on trees found in Sulawesi.

     CULTURE

• ·      Indonesia's national motto is Unity in Diversity. There are about 300 distinct native ethnic groups with 742 different languages and dialects. Here, you will find Indians, Singaporeans, Taiwanese, Indonesians, Australians and other local ethnic groups, living in harmony. 
• ·      The majority of Indonesians are of Malay descent. The major ethnic groups are: Javanese (45%), Sundanese (14%), Madurese (7.5%). Coastal Malays (7.5%) and others – Chinese, Indians (26%).
• ·      While Indonesia boasts the largest Muslim population in the world, significant numbers of Hindus, Buddhists, and Christians add to the diversity of the country. Nearly all of the Hindu Indonesians live on the island of Bali; most of the Buddhists are ethnic Chinese. Long a commercial hub, Indonesia acquired these faiths from traders and colonizers. Buddhism and Hinduism came from Indian merchants; Islam arrived via Arab and Gujarati traders. Later, the Portuguese introduced Catholicism, and the Dutch Protestantism. The Constitution of Indonesia guarantees freedom of worship, but the state ideology specifies a belief in only one God. Though it is actually forbidden not to have a religion in Indonesia (It doesn’t matter which one, as long as you have one).
  
• ·      The Biggest Buddhist monument (temple) in the world is a temple of Borobudur in Central Java with a height 42 meters             (10 levels) and long relief more than 1 km. It needs over 40 years to built, by a dynasties in the ancient Mataram kingdom (750-850).
• ·      Indonesians are fanatical about the game  of badminton, often winning gold medals at the Olympic games in the sport. Football (soccer) is also a popular sport in the country.
• ·      Bali has the Gamelan and the Puppet Theater or Wayang Kulit. Its culture is known for its dance, drama, and sculpture. Its Hindu roots and pristine beaches make Bali a top tourist destination. The supreme irony, however, is that its language has no word for art.
  
• ·      Indonesia although perceived by people in a different way, is generally secular. Only a minority in Indonesia consists of hard line Muslims, the rest of the people practice a moderate form of religion so the country is not as extreme as portrayed through the media paradigm.
• ·      That being said, it is required that you subscribe to a religion.
• ·      Silat is a martial art created and developed in Indonesia, specially in Sumatra and Java. This martial art was used extensively in the freedom fights held against the Dutch colonists.

  FOOD

• ·      Cuisine in Indonesia is based on a mixture of Chinese, European, Middle Eastern and Indian influences.  Rice is usually served with meals of meat or vegetables.  Spices, coconut milk, fish and chicken are common ingredients.  Popular dishes include grilled or roasted fish, sate, fried tempeh and tofu, Papeda, Sayur oyong, Rendang daging and others.  Get regional variations such as Sundanese, Javanese, Minangkabau, Balinese and many more depending on the specific place you’re visiting. Indonesia is full of tropical fruit: snake fruit, pineapples, strawberry, apples, bananas of different grades, tangerines, papaya,  wood apple,  passion fruit, jackfruit. All this can be seen practically in any fruit market.
• ·      Rendang was voted the most delicious food in the world! Nasi Goreng came in second based on The world’s 50 best foods according to CNNGo readers (September 2011), while Satay stood proud at #14. All are from Indonesia.
• ·      Alcoholic beverages include Tuak, a wine made from palm sap along with local beers including Bintang and Anker beer.
• ·      Indonesia is one of the top 5 coffee producing countries. The Dutch were the first Europeans to enter the coffee trade. They imported coffee plants from the Malabar Coast of India to their colonies in what were then called the Dutch East Indies, or present-day Indonesia.

       

     LANGUAGE

• ·      Indonesia is the only nation with no language legacy from its colonialist (Indonesian never know how to speak Dutch, Japanese, Portuguese)
• ·      The official language of Indonesia is Bahasa Indonesia (literally, “the language of Indonesia”).
• ·      Bahasa Indonesia, a standardised version of Malay, is the sixth most widely spoken language in the world (after Mandarin, English, Hindi, Spanish and Arabic).With dialect variations, Malay-Indonesian is spoken by as many as 250 million people in the modern states of Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei. It is also an important vernacular in the southern provinces of Thailand and among the Malay people of Australia's Cocos Keeling Islands in the Indian Ocean. It is understood in parts of the Sulu area of the southern Philippines and traces of it are to be found among people of Malay descent in Sri Lanka, South Africa and other places.
• ·      With anti-colonial sentiments running high in the early twentieth century, it was not easy to see what would define Indonesia as an independent nation. Given the diversity of cultures and native languages of the islands, it was difficult to find what Indonesians had in common. That common identity would eventually be found by developing a standardised version of Malay to unify the islands, and calling the language Bahasa Indonesia.
• In 1928, with the country’s nationalist movement in full swing, the Congress of Young People drafted the famous Young People’s Vow (Sumpah Pemuda) declaring Bahasa Indonesia the pre-eminent language of Indonesia as well as the language of national unity. When the Indonesian nationalists emerged from the shadow of the Japanese occupation in 1945 to declare an independent republic, the Proclamation of Independence was uttered in Bahasa Indonesia.
• ·      Today, Indonesians are overwhelmingly bilingual. In infancy, they learn the native language of their island region and, when they enter school, they learn Bahasa Indonesia – the national language and medium of instruction in educational institutions at all levels throughout the country. It is rare to meet an Indonesian who is not fluent in her or his native tongue as well as the national language.
• ·      In politics, administration and the judiciary Bahasa Indonesia is the sole official language. It is the language of legislation, political campaigning, national and local government, court proceedings and the military.
• ·      Indonesian also dominates as the language of modern business.In enterprises that involve expatriate staff or international transactions, English, Japanese, Chinese and other foreign languages are widely used, often side-by-side with Indonesian.
• ·      Unlike other Asian languages, it uses Roman or Latin script; pronunciation is generally straightforward for English speakers (as it is not a tonal language like Chinese); and its lack of complicated grammatical structures (such as verb tenses) make mastery of simple conversation relatively painless.

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DANGER

• ·      Indonesia has the largest number of shark species, which is approximately 150 species.
• ·      Indonesia has the world’s longest snake called the Python Reticulates, which can grow over 8 meters long and can be found on Sulawesi island.
• ·      Although they are now far more behaved, there are still living headhunters in Indonesia. Some have even kept their 'trophies' in storage. A new island has formed in the center of Lake Toba and is home to Batak -- former headhunters.
• ·      Globally, Indonesia is third in emitting greenhouse gases. Reasons behind this are destruction of peatlands and deforestation.
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     QUAKES

• ·      Indonesia is located on the edge of three tectonic plates: Pacific, Eurasian, and Australian. When one of the plates moves, it causes earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and tsunamis in the entire area, especially Indonesia. The seismic zone’s volcanoes are responsible for the creation of the many small islands that make up Indonesia.
• ·      Indonesia's fertile soil is consistently replenished by volcanic eruptions. With some 400 volcanoes, over 100 are still active (the most active volcanoes of any country in the world). 30 volcanoes are located in Java alone. The world's largest volcanic lake, Lake Toba, is in Sumatra.
• ·      The Mount Tambora eruption of 1815 on the island of Sumbawa is the largest observed volcanic eruption in recorded history.This eruption affected the climate of the entire globe and was known as the "year without summer".
• ·      A volcanic eruption destroyed the Krakatoa Island here in 1883. It also resulted in a tidal wave in which over thirty thousand people were killed.
• ·      On 26 December 2004, volcanic activity off the coast of Sumatera set off an undersea earthquake (between 9.1 and 9.3 on the Richter scale) in the Indian Ocean. Known as the Great Sumatera-Andaman earthquake, it is the second largest earthquake in recorded history, and its duration (between 8 and 10 minutes) is the longest ever recorded. Its vibrations spread across the entire planet, triggering other earthquakes as far away as Alaska and a series of devastating tsunamis along the coasts of most landmasses bordering the Indian Ocean. The enormous waves of the tsunamis, up to 30 metres, inundated coastal communities in eleven countries, causing untold flooding and destruction, and killing more than 225,000 people in Sumatera, Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar, Thailand, Seychelles, Sri Lanka and the east coast of Africa (Kenya and Somalia).
• ·      An earthquake measuring 8.7 on the Richter scale, off the coast of Sumatra, killed between one and two thousand people in March 2005. Many of the victims lived on the small island of Nias.
• ·      Towards the end of May 2006 an earthquake measuring 6.2 struck the Indonesian island of Java killing over three thousand people.
• ·      A tsunami, caused by an undersea earthquake (magnitude 7.7), struck the island of Java on 17 July 2006 killing over 500 people
• ·      A 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck the ocean floor near western Sumatra on October 2010, triggering a tsunami that swept away entire villages along some remote islands, killing over 150 people . Less than 24 hours after the tsunami struck western Indonesia, a volcanic eruption in central Java killed more than 30 and sent thousands of villagers fleeing from their homes. The quake shares the same fault line as the quake that triggered the massive 2004 tsunami in the Banda Aceh region that killed more than 160,000 Indonesians.
• ·      Here is a full list of volcanoes in Indonesia
• ·      A full list of earthquakes in Indonesia
• ·      And a full list of tsunamis in Indonesia

     HUH...

• ·      Indonesia is most likely the last territory on earth still not fully explored and mapped. 
• ·      The expression 'running amok' comes from the Indonesian language.
•     The highest point is located in the Mount of Jaya Wijaya, Papua where the only place with snow in the country.
  
•         Indonesia exports 3,000 tons of frogs’ legs to France each year.
•       Indonesia produces the world’s most expensive beverage, a   coffee made from having a small cat-sized mammal called the Asian palm civet.  They are fed coffee berries and their feces are collected and washed to make Civet Coffee.  The animals  stomach enzymes gives the coffee an extra richness in flavor   with none of the usual bitterness.  Prices range from $500 to $1,000 per pound, $50/cup on average.
• ·      In October 1967, Obama and his mother moved to Jakarta to rejoin his stepfather. From January 1968 to December 1969, Obama's mother taught English and was an assistant director of the U.S. government-subsidized Indonesia-America Friendship Institute, while Obama attended the Indonesian-language Santo Fransiskus Asisi (St. Francis of Assisi) Catholic School around the corner from their house for 1st, 2nd, and part of 3rd grade.
  
• ·      In 1970, Obama attended the Indonesian-language government-run Besuki School, one and half miles east in the exclusive Menteng administrative village, for part of 3rd grade and for 4th grade. By this time, he had picked up on some Indonesian in addition to his native English. In the summer of 1970, Obama returned to Hawaii for an extended visit with his maternal grandparents.