Indonesia

presidential republic

The archipelago was once largely under the control of Buddhist and Hindu rulers. By around the 7th century, a Buddhist kingdom arose on Sumatra and expanded into Java and the Malay Peninsula until it was conquered in the late 13th century by the Hindu Majapahit Empire from Java. Majapahit (1290-1527) united most of modern-day Indonesia and Malaysia.

Profile

CapitalJakarta

Population283.6M

GDP$4102.0B

Area1,904,569 km²

LanguageBahasa Indonesia (official, modified form of Malay), English, Dutch, local dialects (of which the most widely spoken is Javanese); note - more than 700 languages are used in Indonesia

CurrencyIndonesian rupiah (IDR) per US dollar -