Indonesia

Relief, volcanoes and climate in Indonesia:

Indonesia is the country with the 4th population in the world and is a huge archipelago that is extended from west to east on a distance of more than 5.000 km being crossed by the equator. Sumatra Island is separated from Malaysia through Malacca Strait in west and in east is the island of New Guinea with the eastern side occupied by Papua New Guinea. The relief on the most islands is volcanic and Indonesia is well known in the world as the country with the most active volcanoes with more than 130 and their activity during the centuries shaped the relief. The best known volcano is Krakatau which produced in 1883 the most powerful explosion of a volcano, destroying almost the entire island of Java.

If the active volcanoes are not enough, the population is often affected by the earthquakes, some of them devastating like the ones from 1992 and 2004 and can produce high waves like tsunami. Among the highest peaks in Indonesia are Kerinci on Sumatra Island, Rantemario on Sulawesi Island and the highest peak Jaya on the Papua Island with its 5.030 m height. Due to the position at the equator, the climate in Indonesia is tropical or equatorial with temperatures relative constant during the year between 24 and 28º C and the rainfall can often pass over 2.500 to 3.000 mm annually especially because of the monsoons presence in the rainy season.

Fauna and flora and agriculture:

Due to the fact that Indonesia has the largest territories covered with tropical forests from whole Asia and on the 2nd place in the world after the Amazonian basin, fauna and flora are abundant existing a mixture between the Asiatic and Australian species. There are best known and very important species of echidnas, cockatoos, bandicoots, tigers, elephants, leopards, rhinos, orangutans, Komodo dragons (a 4 m long reptile that lives only here in Indonesia) and many other hundreds of species of birds, insects, reptiles, amphibians and thousands of species of plants.

Unfortunately this natural value, the forest, dissapear every year destroying the habitats and making some species to be on the endangered species list. The very fertile volcanic soil from Indonesia is used in agriculture which is among the main activities. (Find more journeys on blog.worldlifetimejourneys.com) The locals cultivate especially rice which is the main aliment, but also manioc, corn, soya, nuts, batata, oil palms, copra, spices, tobacco, ules (on the 3rd place in the world), coffee trees (on the 3rd place in the world) and tea trees and also grow millions of goats, cattle, pigs and chicken for food. Fishing is another important activity because the surrounding waters are full of fish species and seafood.

Resources, industry, economy, population, religion and name of Indonesia:

With a huge surface, Indonesia has important mineral resources like zinc, copper, gold, bauxite, natural gas, oil and nickel wherewith it obtain the most earnings. The most important industries are the chemical, metallurgical, oil production, wood working, textile and manuring ones, rubber, cement and glass working industries, the alimentary industry and newly the airspace and technological industries. In the last decades, Indonesian economy developed in a fast way. The majority of the population is Javanese (approximately a half) with the main religion Islam, but there are more than 300 of other nationalities.

Indonesia was surprisingly conquered by Netherlands in the past and obtained the independency at 17 August 1945. The name comes from the Greek words Indos and Nanos meaning The great lands at the east of India.  The tourism suffered in the last century, but today is going on increasing due to the climate, to the beauty of the landscapes, to the rich fauna and flora and to the quiet islands. Visit Indonesia!

Ulun Danu temple on the island of Bali, Indonesia