Spread
across a chain of thousands of islands between Asia and Australia, Indonesia
has the world's largest Muslim population.
Ethnically it is highly diverse, with more
than 300 local languages. The people range from rural hunter-gatherers to a
modern urban elite.
Indonesia has seen great turmoil in recent
years, having faced the Asian financial crisis, the fall of President Suharto
after 32 years in office, the first free elections since the 1960s, the loss of
East Timor, independence demands from restive provinces, bloody ethnic and
religious conflict and a devastating tsunami.
OVERVIEW
After Japan's wartime occupation ended,
independence was proclaimed in 1945 by Sukarno, the independence movement's
leader. The Dutch transferred sovereignty in 1949 after an armed struggle.
Long-term leader General Suharto came to power
in the wake of an abortive coup in 1965. He imposed authoritarian rule while
allowing technocrats to run the economy with considerable success.
But his policy of allowing army involvement in
all levels of government, down to village level, fostered corruption. His
"transmigration" programmes - which moved large numbers of landless
farmers from Java to other parts of the country - fanned ethnic conflict.
Suharto fell from power after riots in 1998
and escaped efforts to bring him to justice for decades of dictatorship.
Post-Suharto Indonesia has made the transition
to democracy. Power has been devolved away from the central government and the
first direct presidential elections were held in 2004.
But the country faces demands for independence
in several provinces, where secessionists have been encouraged by East Timor's
1999 success in breaking away after a traumatic 25 years of occupation.
Militant Islamic groups have flexed their
muscles over the past few years. Some have been accused of having links with
Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaeda organisation, including the group blamed for the
2002 Bali bombings, which killed 202 people.
Lying near the intersection of shifting
tectonic plates, Indonesia is prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. A
powerful undersea quake in late 2004 sent massive waves crashing into coastal
areas of Sumatra and into coastal communities across south and East Asia. The
disaster left more than 220,000 Indonesians dead or missing.
FACTS
Full
name: Republic of Indonesia
Population: 232 million (UN, 2010)
Capital: Jakarta
Area: 1.9 million sq km (742,308 sq miles)
Major
languages: Indonesian, 300 regional languages
Major
religion: Islam
Life
expectancy: 70 years (men), 74 years (women) (UN)
Monetary
unit: 1 rupiah (Rp)
Main
exports: Oil and gas, plywood, textiles, rubber,
palm oil
GNI
per capita: US $2,230 (World Bank, 2009)
Internet
domain:.id
International
dialling code: +62
LEADERS
President: Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
He was re-elected in July 2009 in a landslide
victory on the back of improved security and strong growth in Southeast Asia's
biggest economy.
Mr Yudhoyono has cultivated an image as a
tough and dedicated corruption fighter with high moral integrity; pledges to
crack down even harder on corruption were one of the main planks of his 2009
election campaign.
However, his failure to take a firmer line
against two officials at the centre of a high-level corruption scandal that
broke towards the end of 2009 raised questions about his commitment to root out
graft in Indonesia.
He is credited with having ushered in an era
of financial and political stability, restoring economic growth as the country
slowly recovered from the devastating Asian financial crisis of 1997-98.
The global financial crisis of 2008-9 did not
hit Indonesia as badly as some of its neighbours, though millions of Indonesian
citizens still live under the poverty line.
A former security minister in the Megawati
government, Mr Yudhoyono has identified the fight against terrorism as a key
challenge. As security minister he spearheaded operations to capture the
Islamic extremists blamed for the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings.
The first year of Mr Yudhoyono's first term
brought perhaps his biggest challenge, the 2004 Asian tsunami disaster. His
administration also won international plaudits for signing a peace deal in 2005
with separatist rebels in Aceh province.
His Democratic Party emerged from the April
2009 parliamentary elections as the largest party.
Mr Yudhoyono, a fluent English speaker,
studied for his master's degree in the US. Rising through the ranks under
former President Suharto, he led his country's peacekeeping contingent in
Bosnia in the 1990s.
Mr Yudhoyono also completed several tours of
duty in the Indonesian-occupied East Timor.
Married with two sons, the president has
released several albums featuring his own love songs, some of them now covered
by Indonesian boy bands.
MEDIA
Television is Indonesia's dominant medium.
Major national commercial networks compete with public Televisi Republik
Indonesia (TVRI). Some provinces operate their own stations.
The radio dial is crowded, with scores of
stations on the air in Jakarta alone. Private stations may carry their own news
but cannot relay live news broadcasts from international stations.
Press freedom is hampered by legal and
regulatory restrictions, US-based Freedom House said in 2010. Defamation is
punishable by imprisonment. Self-censorship is commonplace. Reporters can face
violence and intimidation.
There were 39.6 million internet users by the
end of 2010 (InternetWorldStats). Facebook and Twitter are popular web
destinations. Surfers are leapfrogging traditional forms of access - including
PCs - in favour of mobile devices.
A 2011 study by Yahoo found that the internet
had become the second-largest media platform after TV in major cities,
surpassing newspapers and radio.
There has been a fierce debate over government
proposals to filter sites deemed to carry pornographic or blasphemous content.
The
press
The
Jakarta Post - English-language daily
The
Jakarta Globe - English-language daily
Kompas -
daily
Pos Kota -
daily
Indo Pos -
daily
Media
Indonesia - daily
Suara
Kary - daily
Republika -
daily
Sinar
Harapan - daily
Bisnis
Indonesia - daily
Tempo -
weekly, English-language pages
Radio
Radio Republik
Indonesia (RRI) - public, operates six national networks, regional and
local stations, external service Voice of Indonesia
Television
Televisi
Republik Indonesia (TVRI) - public, operates two networks
Surya Citra
Televisi Indonesia (SCTV) - private
Rajawali Citra
TV Indonesia (RCTI) - private
Indosiar -
private
MNCTV -
private
News
agency
Antara -
government-owned news agency, English-language pages
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