I come from Indonesia

Indonesia, an archipelago country, has long been lure to men of vision from Fa-Hsien the Buddhist scholar of 5 th century whose writings contributed to the earliest recorded history of Indonesia, to Marcopolo the world traveler who visited Aceh (now Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam province) in 1992, then Megallan who routed the cope of hope in the early 16 th century to sail to fabulous spice islands, now maluku, and Alfred Russel Wallace the great natural scientist in the 19th century, and indeed countless enterprising souls, men and women traders envoy from Asian regions and other parts of the world

The Dutch had colonized Indonesia, the largest archipelago in the world, since the 17th century, which many ways shaped the International profile of the farmer Dutch East India for 300 years.

Indonesia enjoys a very strategic geographical location. It stretches 5.120 km between the Australian and Asian continental mainland and divides the pacific and the Indonesia Ocean at the equator. A unique geopolitical status stens from this fact.

Since its independence in 1945, Indonesia has been a nation aspiring to unify the best from the traditional and modern values and stood consistently to reconciled between national interests and International cooperation. The state philosophy Pancasila (the five principles) embodies the innate attitudes of Indonesia people, which are also reflected in the country's conduct towards other nations. Since 1976 has acted as initiator and influential member of ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nation).

Indonesia's community is made up of a large variety of ethnic groups of rural communities. There are about 300 ethnic groups in Indonesia spread from Sabang (The Northern most tip of Sumatra Island) to Merauke in Papua. Therefore, they have differentd languages and dialects. The variety of those dialects has made The Indonesian community determined on a national language at the second Indonesian Youth Congress on 28th October 1928, called "Bahasa Indonesia". It has become the Lingua Franca among individuals coming from diffetrent ethnic groups and culture in the national scope.

Besides the variety of ethnic groups and languages, the people adopt different religions. One of the special characteristics of the Indonesia culture is the high appreciation of the community towards religion and the faith in the One and only God.

The are five religions formally been recognized here. They are Islam, Catholic, Protesttant, Hindu, and Buddha. Nevertheless othe faith are found, especially in isolated societies, which have been accepted and are called traditional faith. Majority of the Indonesian people are Moeslems.

The 1945 constitution ensures freedom of religions parctice. Every Indonesian citizen has the right to adhere to the religion of his/her own choice and there shall be no religions discrimination. Every citizen shall respect and be tolerant to each other's belief while any form of anti-religions propaganda shall be condemned and prohibited.

The capital city of Indonesia, Jakarta. It is the center of government, commerce and industry and such has an extensive communication network with the rest of the country and the outside world. Jakarta is a city of contrasts; the traditioanal and modern, the rich and the poor, the sacral and the worldly, are often found side by side in the metropolis. Even their populations, coming from diverse ethnic and cultural groups that make up Indonesia, are an ever-present reminder of the national motto: Unity in Diversity.

Coat of arms

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