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Travel to Indonesia
Indonesia is a truly vast and beautifully diverse
country of more than 17,000 islands spread across 5,000 kilometers
of tropical equatorial ocean. Spanning the seas between Asia
and Australia, Indonesia is the world's largest archipelago.
The major islands of Indonesia are Sumatra, Jawa, Bali, Kalimantan,
Sulawesi and Irian Jaya.
Superimposed on the map of the Europe, Indonesia
impressively stretches from London all the way to Moscow,
a distance as far as Ireland to the Caspian Sea. Within this
stretch of lands and sea are hundreds of smoldering volcanoes
that gave birth to the rich agricultural lands of the archipelago.
Verdant rice terraces clothe the loaming mountains and dazzling
white beaches line the deep azure seas. Vast rain forests
and dense mangroves provide refuge for the country's impressive
fauna and flora.
Today, Indonesia is the fourth most populous
country in the world. Within this vast archipelago live over
200 million people, scattered across the country's thousands
of islands. More than 300 distinct ethnic groups have found
and made their homes here, speaking hundreds of different
languages and dialects. The nation's diversity owes much ta
history and geographic position. Located on major international
trade routes for more than two millennia, all of the world's
major religions and cultures have brought their influences
into the archipelago.
Records show remains of man's earliest relatives,
suggesting that Indonesia was not the "backwaters",
but possibly a cradle of mankind.
Over the years, the archipelaga feit the compelling influences
of Indianization, followed by the spread of Islam, the arrival
of European colonialism and the dawn of a modern and eventually
independent Indonesia in the 20th century. Indonesia has freely
nurtured its diversity, today choosing a befitting national
motto of Bhinneka Tunggal Ika, meaning "Unity in Diversity".
Source: Department of Culture and Tourism - Republic
of Indonesia |