Indonesia is a country in Southeast Asia. It is part of the Malay Archipelago. It has 18,108 islands.

6,000 of these islands are inhabited. The most important islands of Indonesia are Java, Bali, Borneo, Sulawesi, and Sumatra. The capital of Indonesia is Jakarta, on Java. The current president is Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. Modern Indonesia began on the 17th of August 1945. At 10 o'clock on that Friday morning, Ir. Soekarno read Indonesia's Declaration of Independence. Indonesia's Independence Day is a national holiday. Indonesia is the fourth most populous country in the world with a population of 238,452,952 (2004 est.) There are 111 inhabitants per km and the population of man and women is equal. The official language of Indonesia is Bahasa Indonesia, but a total of 737 languages are spoken throughout Indonesia mostly confined to remote tribal groups. Other languages widely spoken in Indonesia include Javanese, Balinese and Sundanese. The closest countries are Papua New Guinea, Malaysia, and East Timor which share land borders with Indonesia. Other neighbouring countries are Australia to the south, Singapore to the Northwest, and Philippines to the Northeast. The religion that most people in Indonesia follow is Islam, although formally not an Islamic country. Indonesia has the largest Muslim population on earth. Other religions include Christianity (Protestant, and Roman Catholic), Hinduism, and Buddhism.