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In contrast to Sukarno's anti-imperialistic antipathy to western powers and tensions with Malaysia, Indonesia's foreign relations since the Suharto "New Order" have been based on economic and political cooperation with Western nations.[73] Indonesia maintains close relationships with its neighbors in Asia, and is a founding member of ASEAN and the East Asia Summit.[68] The nation restored relations with the People's Republic of China in 1990 following a freeze in place since anti-communist purges early in the Suharto era.[71] Indonesia has been a member of the United Nations since 1950,[74] and was a founder of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC, now the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation).[68] Indonesia is signatory to the ASEAN Free Trade Area agreement, the Cairns Group, and the WTO, and has historically been a member of OPEC, although it withdrew in 2008 as it was no longer a net exporter of oil. Indonesia has received humanitarian and development aid since 1966, in particular from the United States, western Europe, Australia, and Japan.[68] The Indonesian Government has worked with other countries to apprehend and prosecute perpetrators of major bombings linked to militant Islamism and Al-Qaeda.[75] The deadliest bombing killed 202 people (including 164 international tourists) in the Bali resort town of Kuta in 2002.[76] The attacks, and subsequent travel warnings issued by other countries, severely damaged Indonesia's tourism industry and foreign investment prospects.[77] Indonesia's armed forces (TNI) include the Army (TNI–AD), Navy (TNI–AL, which includes marines), and Air Force (TNI–AU).[78] The army has about 400,000 active-duty personnel. Defense spending in the national budget was 4% of GDP in 2006, and is controversially supplemented by revenue from military commercial interests and foundations.[79] One of the reforms following the 1998 resignation of Suharto was the removal of formal TNI representation in parliament; nevertheless, its political influence remains extensive.[80] Separatist movements in the provinces of Aceh and Papua have led to armed conflict, and subsequent allegations of human rights abuses and brutality from all sides.[81][82] Following a sporadic thirty-year guerrilla war between the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and the Indonesian military, a ceasefire agreement was reached in 2005.[83] In Papua, there has been a significant, albeit imperfect, implementation of regional autonomy laws, and a reported decline in the levels of violence and human rights abuses, since the presidency of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.[84] Administrative divisions Main articles: Provinces of Indonesia and Subdivisions of Indonesia Administratively, Indonesia consists of 34 provinces, five of which have special status. Each province has its own legislature and governor. The provinces are subdivided into regencies (kabupaten) and cities (kota), which are further subdivided into districts (kecamatan or distrik in Papua and West Papua), and again into administrative villages (either desa, kelurahan, kampung, nagari in West Sumatra, or gampong in Aceh). Village is the lowest level of government administration in Indonesia. Furthermore, a village is divided into several community groups (Rukun-Warga (RW)) which are further divided into neighbourhood groups (Rukun-Tetangga (RT)). In Java the desa (village) is divided further into smaller units called dusun or dukuh (hamlets), these units are the same as Rukun-Warga. Following the implementation of regional autonomy measures in 2001, the regencies and cities have become the key administrative units, responsible for providing most government services. The village administration level is the most influential on a citizen's daily life and handles matters of a village or neighborhood through an elected lurah or kepala desa (village chief). The provinces of Aceh, Jakarta, Yogyakarta, Papua, and West Papua have greater legislative privileges and a higher degree of autonomy from the central government than the other provinces. The Acehnese government, for example, has the right to create certain elements of an independent legal system; in 2003, it instituted a form of Sharia Law (Islamic law).[85] Yogyakarta was granted the status of Special Region in recognition of its pivotal role in supporting Indonesian Republicans during the Indonesian Revolution and its willingness to join Indonesia as a republic.[86] Papua, formerly known as Irian Jaya, was granted special autonomy status in 2001 and was split into Papua and West Papua in February 2003.[87][88] Jakarta is the country's special capital region. Aceh North Sumatra West Sumatra Riau Riau Islands Bangka– Belitung Jambi South Sumatra Bengkulu Lampung Banten Jakarta West Java Central Java Yogyakarta East Java Bali West Nusa Tenggara East Nusa Tenggara West Kalimantan Central Kalimantan North Kalimantan East Kalimantan South Kalimantan North Sulawesi North Maluku Central Sulawesi Gorontalo West Sulawesi South Sulawesi Southeast Sulawesi Maluku West Papua Papua Indonesian provinces and their capitals, listed by region Indonesian name is in parentheses if different from English. * indicates provinces with Special Status Sumatra Aceh (Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam) * – Banda Aceh North Sumatra (Sumatera Utara) – Medan West Sumatra (Sumatera Barat) – Padang Riau – Pekanbaru Riau Islands (Kepulauan Riau) – Tanjung Pinang Jambi – Jambi (city) South Sumatra (Sumatera Selatan) – Palembang Bangka-Belitung (Kepulauan Bangka-Belitung) – Pangkal Pinang Bengkulu – Bengkulu (city) Lampung – Bandar Lampung Java Special Capital Region of Jakarta* (Daerah Khusus Ibu Kota Jakarta) – Jakarta Banten – Serang West Java (Jawa Barat) – Bandung Central Java (Jawa Tengah) – Semarang Yogyakarta Special Region* (Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta) – Yogyakarta (city) East Java (Jawa Timur) – Surabaya Lesser Sunda Islands Bali – Denpasar West Nusa Tenggara (Nusa Tenggara Barat) – Mataram East Nusa Tenggara (Nusa Tenggara Timur) – Kupang Kalimantan West Kalimantan (Kalimantan Barat) – Pontianak Central Kalimantan (Kalimantan Tengah) – Palangkaraya South Kalimantan (Kalimantan Selatan) – Banjarmasin East Kalimantan (Kalimantan Timur) – Samarinda North Kalimantan (Kalimantan Utara) – Bulungan Sulawesi North Sulawesi (Sulawesi Utara) – Manado Gorontalo – Gorontalo (city) Central Sulawesi (Sulawesi Tengah) – Palu West Sulawesi (Sulawesi Barat) – Mamuju South Sulawesi (Sulawesi Selatan) – Makassar South East Sulawesi (Sulawesi Tenggara) – Kendari Maluku Islands Maluku – Ambon North Maluku (Maluku Utara) – Sofifi Western New Guinea West Papua* (Papua Barat) – Manokwari Papua* – Jayapura Geography Main article: Geography of Indonesia Mount Semeru and Mount Bromo in East Java. Indonesia's seismic and volcanic activity is among the world's highest. Indonesia lies between latitudes 11°S and 6°N, and longitudes 95°E and 141°E. It consists of 17,508 islands, about 6,000 of which are inhabited.[89] These are scattered over both sides of the equator. The largest are Java, Sumatra, Borneo (shared with Brunei and Malaysia), New Guinea (shared with Papua New Guinea), and Sulawesi. Indonesia shares land borders with Malaysia on Borneo, Papua New Guinea on the island of New Guinea, and East Timor on the island of Timor. Indonesia shares maritime borders across narrow straits with Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Palau to the north, and with Australia to the south. The capital, Jakarta, is on Java and is the nation's largest city, followed by Surabaya, Bandung, Medan, and Semarang.[90] At 1,919,440 square kilometers (741,050 sq mi), Indonesia is the world's 15th-largest country in terms of land area and world's 7th-largest country in terms of combined sea and land area.[91] Its average population density is 134 people per square kilometer (347 per sq mi), 79th in the world,[92] although Java, the world's most populous island,[93] has a population density of 940 people per square kilometer (2,435 per sq mi). At 4,884 metres (16,024 ft), Puncak Jaya in Papua is Indonesia's highest peak, and Lake Toba in Sumatra its largest lake, with an area of 1,145 square kilometers (442 sq mi). The country's largest rivers are in Kalimantan, and include the Mahakam and Barito; such rivers are communication and transport links between the island's river settlements.[94] Indonesia's location on the edges of the Pacific, Eurasian, and Australian tectonic plates makes it the site of numerous volcanoes and frequent earthquakes. Indonesia has at least 150 active volcanoes,[95] including Krakatoa and Tambora, both famous for their devastating eruptions in the 19th century. The eruption of the Toba supervolcano, approximately 70,000 years ago, was one of the largest eruptions ever, and a global catastrophe. Recent disasters due to seismic activity include the 2004 tsunami that killed an estimated 167,736 in northern Sumatra,[96] and the Yogyakarta earthquake in 2006. However, volcanic ash is a major contributor to the high agricultural fertility that has historically sustained the high population densities of Java and Bali.[97] Lying along the equator, Indonesia has a tropical climate, with two distinct monsoonal wet and dry seasons. Average annual rainfall in the lowlands varies from 1,780–3,175 millimeters (70.1–125.0 inches), and up to 6,100 millimeters (240 inches) in mountainous regions. Mountainous areas – particularly in the west coast of Sumatra, West Java, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, and Papua – receive the highest rainfall. Humidity is generally high, averaging about 80%. Temperatures vary little throughout the year; the average daily temperature range of Jakarta is 26–30 °C (79–86 °F).[98] Biota and environment Main articles: Fauna of Indonesia, Flora of Indonesia and Environment of Indonesia The critically endangered Sumatran Orangutan, a great ape endemic to Indonesia. Indonesia's size, tropical climate, and archipelagic geography, support the world's second highest level of biodiversity (after Brazil),[99] and its flora and fauna is a mixture of Asian and Australasian species.[100] The islands of the Sunda Shelf (Sumatra, Java, Borneo, and Bali) were once linked to the Asian mainland, and have a wealth of Asian fauna. Large species such as the tiger, rhinoceros, orangutan, elephant, and leopard, were once abundant as far east as Bali, but numbers and distribution have dwindled drastically. Forests cover approximately 60% of the country.[101] In Sumatra and Kalimantan, these are predominantly of Asian species. However, the forests of the smaller, and more densely populated Java, have largely been removed for human habitation and agriculture. Sulawesi, Nusa Tenggara, and Maluku – having been long separated from the continental landmasses—have developed their own unique flora and fauna.[102] Papua was part of the Australian landmass, and is home to a unique fauna and flora closely related to that of Australia, including over 600 bird species.[103] Indonesia is second only to Australia in terms of total endemic species, with 36% of its 1,531 species of bird and 39% of its 515 species of mammal being endemic.[104] Indonesia's 80,000 kilometers (50,000 miles) of coastline are surrounded by tropical seas that contribute to the country's high level of biodiversity. Indonesia has a range of sea and coastal ecosystems, including beaches, sand dunes, estuaries, mangroves, coral reefs, sea grass beds, coastal mudflats, tidal flats, algal beds, and small island ecosystems.[10] Indonesia is one of Coral Triangle countries with the world's greatest diversity of coral reef fish with more than 1,650 species in eastern Indonesia only.[105] The British naturalist, Alfred Wallace, described a dividing line between the distribution of Indonesia's Asian and Australasian species.[106] Known as the Wallace Line, it runs roughly north-south along the edge of the Sunda Shelf, between Kalimantan and Sulawesi, and along the deep Lombok Strait, between Lombok and Bali. West of the line the flora and fauna are more Asian; moving east from Lombok, they are increasingly Australian. In his 1869 book, The Malay Archipelago, Wallace described numerous species unique to the area.[107] The region of islands between his line and New Guinea is now termed Wallacea.[106] Indonesia's high population and rapid industrialization present serious environmental issues, which are often given a lower priority due to high poverty levels and weak, under-resourced governance.[108] Issues include large-scale deforestation (much of it illegal) and related wildfires causing heavy smog over parts of western Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore; over-exploitation of marine resources; and environmental problems associated with rapid urbanization and economic development, including air pollution, traffic congestion, garbage management, and reliable water and waste water services.[108] Deforestation and the destruction of peatlands make Indonesia the world's third largest emitter of greenhouse gases.[109] Habitat destruction threatens the survival of indigenous and endemic species, including 140 species of mammals identified by the World Conservation Union (IUCN) as threatened, and 15 identified as critically endangered, including Bali Starling,[110] Sumatran Orangutan,[111] and Javan Rhinoceros.[110] Much of Indonesia's deforestation is caused by forest clearing for the palm oil Industry, which has cleared 18 million hectares of forest for palm oil expansion. Palm oil expansion requires land reallocation as well as changes to the local and natural ecosystems. Palm oil expansion can generate wealth for local communities, if done right. If done wrong, it can degrade ecosystems and cause social conflicts.[112] Economy Main article: Economy of Indonesia Using water buffalo to plough rice fields in Java. Agriculture had been the country's largest employer for centuries. Indonesia has a mixed economy in which both the private sector and government play significant roles.[113] The country is the largest economy in Southeast Asia and a member of the G-20 major economies.[114] Indonesia's estimated gross domestic product (nominal), as of 2012 was US$928.274 billion with estimated nominal per capita GDP was US$3,797, and per capita GDP PPP was US$4,943 (international dollars).[115] The gross domestic product (GDP) is about $1 trillion[4] and the debt ratio to the GDP is 26%.[116] According to World Bank affiliated report based on 2011 data, the Indonesian economy was the world's 10th largest by nominal GDP (PPP based), with the country contributing 2.3 percent of global economic output.[117][118] The industry sector is the economy's largest and accounts for 46.4% of GDP (2012), this is followed by services (38.6%) and agriculture (14.4%). However, since 2012, the service sector has employed more people than other sectors, accounting for 48.9% of the total labor force, this has been followed by agriculture (38.6%) and industry (22.2%).[119] Agriculture, however, had been the country's largest employer for centuries.[120][121] According to World Trade Organization data, Indonesia was the 27th biggest exporting country in the world in 2010, moving up three places from a year before.[122] Indonesia's main export markets (2009) are Japan (17.28%), Singapore (11.29%), the United States (10.81%), and China (7.62%). The major suppliers of imports to Indonesia are Singapore (24.96%), China (12.52%), and Japan (8.92%). In 2005, Indonesia ran a trade surplus with export revenues of US$83.64 billion and import expenditure of US$62.02 billion. The country has extensive natural resources, including crude oil, natural gas, tin, copper, and gold. Indonesia's major imports include machinery and equipment, chemicals, fuels, and foodstuffs. And the country's major export commodities include oil and gas, electrical appliances, plywood, rubber, and textiles.[89] Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia and the country's largest commercial center. The tourism sector contributes to around US$9 billion of foreign exchange in 2012, and ranked as the 4th largest among goods and services export sectors.[123] Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, China and Japan are the top five source of visitors to Indonesia. In the 1960s the economy deteriorated drastically as a result of political instability, a young and inexperienced government, and economic nationalism, which resulted in severe poverty and hunger. By the time of Sukarno's downfall in the mid-1960s, the economy was in chaos with 1,000% annual inflation, shrinking export revenues, crumbling infrastructure, factories operating at minimal capacity, and negligible investment. Following President Sukarno's downfall in the mid-1960s, the New Order administration brought a degree of discipline to economic policy that quickly brought inflation down, stabilized the currency, rescheduled foreign debt, and attracted foreign aid and investment. (See Berkeley Mafia). Indonesia was until recently Southeast Asia's only member of OPEC, and the 1970s oil price raises provided an export revenue windfall that contributed to sustained high economic growth rates, averaging over 7% from 1968 to 1981.[124] Following further reforms in the late 1980s,[125] foreign investment flowed into Indonesia, particularly into the rapidly developing export-oriented manufacturing sector, and from 1989 to 1997, the Indonesian economy grew by an average of over 7%.[126][127] Indonesia was the country hardest hit by the Asian financial crisis of 1997–98. During the crisis there were sudden and large capital outflows leading the rupiah to go into free fall. Against the US dollar the rupiah dropped from about Rp 2,600 in late 1997 to a low point of around Rp 17,000 some months later and the economy shrank by a remarkable 13.7%. These developments led to widespread economic distress across the economy and contributed to the political crisis of 1998 which saw Suharto resign as president.[128] The rupiah later stabilised in the Rp. 8,000 range[129] and economic growth returned to 4% per year by 2000.[130] However, the currency still fluctuates, dropping below Rp 11,000 per dollar in September 2013. In addition, corruption has been a persistent problem. Transparency International, for example, has since ranked Indonesia below 100 in its Corruption Perceptions Index.[131][132] Since 2007, however, with the improvement in banking sector and domestic consumption, national economic growth has accelerated to over 6% annually[133][134][135] and this helped the country weather the 2008–2009 global recession.[136] The Indonesian economy performed strongly during the Global Financial Crisis and in 2012 its GDP grew by over 6%.[137] The country regained its investment grade rating in late 2011 after losing it in the 1997.[138] However, as of 2012, an estimated 11.7% of the population lived below the poverty line and the official open unemployment rate was 6.1%.[89] |
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