INDONESIa

 

 

 

 

 

Geography
Indonesia is the biggest archipelago in the world sprawling from the south of Asia to Australia.  Comprising 17548 islands, Indonesian territory consists of 17 548 islands extending 5000 km from east to west and 1770 km from north to south. Indonesia’s total surface covers 2,027,000 km2 consisting of 20% land and 80% water which makes Indonesia 14th biggest country in the world. It is a tropical country with hot and humid weather. The temperature varies from 16 to 35 °C and the humidity ranges between 60 to 90%. There are two seasons known in Indonesia: dry season starting from May to October and wet or rainy season starting from November to April.

Population
It is estimated that the number of population has reached 234.7 million (2007) which makes Indonesia the world 4th most populous country after China, India and the United States with a growth rate of 1.54. More than 60% of its population lives in Java, which has been considered as the centre of economy and politic.
La population indonésienne est en gros divisée en deux groupes : les habitants de l’ouest du pays sont principalement malais et ceux des régions de l’est sont papous. The Indonesian population is divided into two groups : Toutefois, la structure ethnique est un peu plus complexe avec notamment plusieurs tribus traditionnelles vivant à l’intérieur des îles de Bornéo et Irian Jaya  The Chinese Indonesians are influential minority ethnics  comprising 2 to 3 millions people and often faced with difficulties in integrating with local population.
Islam is the first religion of the country, adopted by 87% of the population. The other religions are Christian (9%), Buddhist (2%) and Hindu (1%), this last one is dominated by the Balinese people.

The official language or known as Bahasa Indonesia, derived from Malay, is used by almost all the Indonesian people even though many dialects exist that sometimes used locally as the main languages.

Official holidays in  2007

1er Janvier		: jour de l'An
20 Janvier		: Tahun Baru Hijriyah (Nouvel An Musulman)
18 Février		: Imlek (Nouvel An Chinois)
19 Mars		: Nyepi (Nouvel An Hindou)
31 Mars		: Maulid Nabi (Naissance du prophète Muhammad)
6 Avril		: Wafat Isa Almasih (Vendredi Saint)
17 Mai		: Ascension du Jésus-Christ
1 Juin		: Waisak (Nouvel An Bouddhiste)
11 Août		:Isra Mi’raj (Ascension du prophète Muhammad)
17 Août		: Fête nationale
13-14 Octobre		: Idul Fitri (Aid-El-Fitr)
20 Décembre		: Idul Adha (Fête du Mouton)
25 Décembre		: Noël

 

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