Indonesia

Republic of Indonesia abbreviated RI or Indonesia is a country in Southeast Asia, which is crossed by the equator and located between the continents of Asia and Australia as well as between the Pacific and Indian Ocean. Indonesia is the world's largest archipelagic country consisting of 17,508 islands, therefore he is called also as the Nusantara (Archipelago Between). [5] With a population of 222 million people in 2006, [6] Indonesia is the fourth most populous nation in the world and the most populous Muslim country in the world, although not officially an Islamic state. Indonesia is a republic, the House of Representatives, Regional Representatives Council and the President who is directly elected. Is the country's capital Jakarta. Indonesia is bordered by Malaysia on Borneo island, with Papua New Guinea on the island of Papua, and Timor Leste in the Timor Island. Other neighboring countries include Singapore, Philippines, Australia, and the unity of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in India.

History of Indonesia heavily influenced by other nations. The Indonesian archipelago became an important trade region since at least the 7th century, when the kingdom of Sriwijaya in Palembang, religion and trade relations with China and India. Hindu kingdoms and Buddhism has grown in the early centuries AD, followed by the traders who brought Islam, and various European powers fought each other to monopolize the spice trade in the Moluccas during the era of ocean exploration. Once under Dutch rule, Indonesia, then called the Dutch East Indies declared its independence at the end of World War II. Furthermore, Indonesia has received a variety of obstacles, threats and challenges of natural disasters, corruption, separatism, a democratization process and the period of rapid economic change.

From Sabang to Merauke, Indonesia consists of distinct ethnic, linguistic and religious differences. The Javanese are the largest ethnic group and most politically dominant. Indonesia's national motto, "Unity in Diversity" ("Different but one "), articulates the diversity that shapes the country. Besides having a dense population and vast territory, Indonesia has a natural area that supports the level of biodiversity in the world's second largest.
Indonesia has about 300 ethnic groups, each ethnicity has a cultural heritage that developed over the centuries, influenced by Indian culture, Arabic, Chinese, European, and includes its own culture that is Malay. An example of traditional Javanese and Balinese dances have a cultural aspect and Hindu mythology, such as wayang kulit featuring stories of Hindu mythological characters of Ramayana and Baratayuda. Many dances also contains the values ​​of Islam. Some of them can be found in the area of Sumatra, such as dance and dance Ratéb Meuseukat Seudati of Aceh.

Art rhymes, couplets, and so forth from various regions like rhyme Malay, and other rhymes-rhymes are often used in certain events ie events, art performances, and others.

Indonesian territory has a high diversity of living things so that by some ecological regions Indonesia is called the "Mega biodiversity" or "a high diversity of living creatures" [69] [70] commonly known as Indomalaya or Malesia bedasarkan research that 10 percent of plants, 12 percent of mammals, 16 percent of reptiles, 17 percent birds, 25 percent of the fish in the world live in Indonesia, though widely Indonesia only 1.3% of the Earth. The wealth of living creatures Indonesia was ranked third after Brazil and the Democratic Republic of Congo. [71]

However, Guinness World Records in 2008 Indonesia had a record as the country's most fast rate of forest destruction in the world. Every year Indonesia is losing forest area of ​​1.8 million hectares. The damage that occurs in the upstream region (forest) also damage the downstream region (coastal). [72] According to a note Down The Earth, the project Asian Development Bank (ADB) in the marine sector of Indonesia has triggered the transfer of functions on a large scale forest mangroves into aquaculture areas. Though mangrove forests, in addition to serve to protect the shore from abrasion, is a good habitat for various fish species. The destruction of mangrove forests is caused fishermen to find fish at a distance farther and increase their operating costs in the search for fish. In addition, the destruction of mangrove forests also result in increasing the vulnerability of coastal regions of Indonesia against the brunt of the ocean tides and flooding, especially in the rainy season.