The Dutch began to colonize Indonesia in the early 17th century; the islands were occupied by Japan from 1942 to 1945.

Indonesia declared its independence after Japan's surrender, but it required four years of intermittent negotiations, recurring hostilities, and UN mediation before the Netherlands agreed to relinquish its colony.

Indonesia is the world's largest archipelagic state and home to the world's largest Muslim population.

Current issues include: alleviating poverty, preventing terrorism, consolidating democracy after four decades of authoritarianism, implementing financial sector reforms, stemming corruption, holding the military and police accountable for human rights violations, and controlling avian influenza.

In 2005, Indonesia reached a historic peace agreement with armed separatists in Aceh, which led to democratic elections in December 2006. Indonesia continues to face a low intensity separatist guerilla movement in Papua.

Source: CIA World Fact Book

Population: 240,271,522 (July 2009 est.) country comparison to the world: 5

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Age structure: 0-14 years: 28.1% (male 34,337,341/female 33,162,207) 15-64 years: 66% (male 79,549,569/female 78,918,321) 65 years and over: 6% (male 6,335,208/female 7,968,876) (2009 est.)

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Median age: total: 27.6 years male: 27.1 years female: 28.1 years (2009 est.)

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Population growth rate: 1.136% (2009 est.) country comparison to the world: 117

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Birth rate: 18.84 births/1,000 population (2009 est.) country comparison to the world: 108

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Death rate: 6.25 deaths/1,000 population (July 2009 est.) country comparison to the world: 154

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Net migration rate: -1.24 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2009 est.) country comparison to the world: 129

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Urbanization: urban population: 52% of total population (2008) rate of urbanization: 3.3% annual rate of change (2005-10 est.)

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Sex ratio: at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.8 male(s)/female total population: 1 male(s)/female (2009 est.)

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Infant mortality rate: total: 29.97 deaths/1,000 live births country comparison to the world: 74 male: 34.93 deaths/1,000 live births female: 24.77 deaths/1,000 live births (2009 est.)

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Life expectancy at birth: total population: 70.76 years country comparison to the world: 137 male: 68.26 years female: 73.38 years (2009 est.)

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Total fertility rate: 2.31 children born/woman (2009 est.) country comparison to the world: 109

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HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 0.2% (2007 est.) country comparison to the world: 99

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HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 270,000 (2007 est.) country comparison to the world: 25

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HIV/AIDS - deaths: 8,700 (2007 est.) country comparison to the world: 36

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Major infectious diseases: degree of risk: high food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A and E, and typhoid fever vectorborne diseases: chikungunya, dengue fever, and malaria note: highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza has been identified in this country; it poses a negligible risk with extremely rare cases possible among US citizens who have close contact with birds (2009)

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Nationality: noun: Indonesian(s) adjective: Indonesian

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Ethnic groups: Javanese 40.6%, Sundanese 15%, Madurese 3.3%, Minangkabau 2.7%, Betawi 2.4%, Bugis 2.4%, Banten 2%, Banjar 1.7%, other or unspecified 29.9% (2000 census)

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Religions: Muslim 86.1%, Protestant 5.7%, Roman Catholic 3%, Hindu 1.8%, other or unspecified 3.4% (2000 census)

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Languages: Bahasa Indonesia (official, modified form of Malay), English, Dutch, local dialects (the most widely spoken of which is Javanese)

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Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 90.4% male: 94% female: 86.8% (2004 est.)

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School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education): total: 11 years male: 12 years female: 11 years (2005)

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Education expenditures: 3.6% of GDP (2006) country comparison to the world: 127

Indonesia, a vast polyglot nation, has struggled to overcome the Asian financial crisis, and still grapples with persistent poverty and unemployment, inadequate infrastructure, endemic corruption, a fragile banking sector, a poor investment climate, and unequal resource distribution among regions. The country continues the slow work of rebuilding from the devastating December 2004 tsunami and from an earthquake in central Java in May 2006 that caused over $3 billion in damage and losses. Declining oil production and lack of new exploration investment turned Indonesia into a net oil importer in 2004. The cost of subsidizing domestic fuel placed increasing strain on the budget in 2005, and combined with indecisive monetary policy, contributed to a run on the currency in August, prompting the government to enact a 126% average fuel price hike in October. The resulting inflation and interest rate hikes dampened growth through mid-2006, while large increases in rice prices pushed millions more people under the national poverty line. Economic reformers introduced three policy packages in 2006 to improve the investment climate, infrastructure, and the financial sector, but translating them into reality has not been easy. Keys to future growth remain internal reform, building up the confidence of international and domestic investors, and strong global economic growth. Significant progress has been made in rebuilding Aceh after the devastating December 2004 tsunami, and the province now shows more economic activity than before the disaster. Unfortunately, Indonesia suffered new disasters in 2006 and early 2007 including: a major earthquake near Yogyakarta, an industrial accident in Sidoarjo, East Java that created a "mud volcano," a tsunami in South Java, and major flooding in Jakarta, all of which caused additional damages in the billions of dollars. Donors are assisting Indonesia with its disaster mitigation and early warning efforts.

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GDP (purchasing power parity): $948.3 billion (2006 est.)

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GDP (official exchange rate): $264.7 billion (2006 est.)

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GDP - real growth rate: 5.5% (2006 est.)

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GDP - per capita (PPP): $3,900 (2006 est.)

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GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 13.1% industry: 46% services: 41% (2006 est.)

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Labor force: 108.2 million (2006 est.)

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Labor force - by occupation: agriculture: 43.3% industry: 18% services: 38.7% (2004 est.)

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Unemployment rate: 12.5% (2006 est.)

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Population below poverty line: 17.8% (2006)

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Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 3.6% highest 10%: 28.5% (2002)

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Distribution of family income - Gini index: 34.8 (2004)

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Inflation rate (consumer prices): 13.2% (2006 est.)

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Investment (gross fixed): 20.3% of GDP (2006 est.)

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Budget: revenues: $75.58 billion expenditures: $79.45 billion; including capital expenditures of $NA (2006 est.)

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Public debt: 43.8% of GDP (2006 est.)

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Agriculture - products: rice, cassava (tapioca), peanuts, rubber, cocoa, coffee, palm oil, copra; poultry, beef, pork, eggs

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Industries: petroleum and natural gas, textiles, apparel, footwear, mining, cement, chemical fertilizers, plywood, rubber, food, tourism

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Industrial production growth rate: 2.6% (2006 est.)

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Electricity - production: 123.4 billion kWh (2005 est.)

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Electricity - consumption: 107.7 billion kWh (2005 est.)

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Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (2005 est.)

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Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (2005 est.)

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Oil - production: 1.136 million bbl/day (2005 est.)

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Oil - consumption: 1.168 million bbl/day (2005 est.)

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Oil - exports: 474,000 bbl/day (2005 est.)

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Oil - imports: 424,000 bbl/day (2005 est.)

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Oil - proved reserves: 4.85 billion bbl (2006 est.)

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Natural gas - production: 76 billion cu m (2005 est.)

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Natural gas - consumption: 39.4 billion cu m (2005 est.)

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Natural gas - exports: 36.29 billion cu m (2005 est.)

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Natural gas - imports: 0 cu m (2005 est.)

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Natural gas - proved reserves: 2.76 trillion cu m (31 December 2005 est.)

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Current account balance: $1.636 billion (2006 est.)

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Exports: $102.3 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)

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Exports - commodities: oil and gas, electrical appliances, plywood, textiles, rubber

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Exports - partners: Japan 19.1%, Singapore 11.6%, US 11.3%, South Korea 7.7%, China 7.6% (2006)

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Imports: $77.73 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)

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Imports - commodities: machinery and equipment, chemicals, fuels, foodstuffs

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Imports - partners: Singapore 29.9%, China 11.4%, Japan 8.9%, Malaysia 4.9%, Thailand 4% (2006)

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Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $43.04 billion (2006 est.)

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Debt - external: $130.4 billion (2006 est.)

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Economic aid - recipient: ODA, $67 billion (2006 est.) note: Indonesia ended 2006 with $67 billion in official foreign debt (about 25% of GDP), with Japan ($25 billion), the World Bank ($8.5 billion) and the Asian Development Bank ($8.4 billion) as the largest creditors; about $6 billion in grant assistance was pledged to rebuild Aceh after the December 2004 tsunami; President YUDHYONO ended the Consultative Group on Indonesia forum in January 2007

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Currency (code): Indonesian rupiah (IDR)

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Exchange rates: Indonesian rupiah per US dollar - 9,159.3 (2006), 9,704.7 (2005), 8,938.9 (2004), 8,577.1 (2003), 9,311.2 (2002)

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Fiscal year: calendar year