Indonesia is the largest archipelagic nation on the planet. Satellite data from the Indonesian Aviation and Space Institute have shown that within the archipelago there are in total 18,108 islands. Only about 6,000 of these islands are inhabited with Java accounting for more than half the nation's population. Straddling the equator and wedged between the Indian and the Pacific Oceans the country covers three time zones and a total land area of 1,811,569 sq km. The map of Indonesia, when superimposed over the map of Europe, stretches from Ireland to the Ural. The distance between the two habitually mentioned extremities of Indonesia, the cities of Sabang (the westernmost on Sumatra) and Merauke (the easternmost on Papua) is 400 miles more than the distance between New York to San Francisco.

As the fourth most populous country in the world its population is estimated at 245 million of which 44% lives in urban areas. Life expectancy is 69 years and the literacy rate as reported by UNDP is 90.4 %. The republic of Indonesia is the third largest democracy in the world. The official state motto is ‘Unity in Diversity’ (Bhinneka Tunggal Ika) Some 300 ethnic groups call Indonesia their home and they speak over 500 different languages but since Indonesia declared independence in 1945, the official national language is Bahasa Indonesia, which is similar to Malay and written in Roman script. It is used on radio and television everywhere, and for all written communication in education, government and business. Nowadays English is widely understood and spoken in the tourist destinations.