Republic of Indonesia – Ultimate in Diversity (Bhineka Tunggal Ika)
Selamat datang di Indonesia, Welcome to Indonesia!
The Republic of Indonesia is the largest archipelago in the world comprising 13,466 large and small tropical islands fringed with white sandy beaches, many still uninhabited and a number even still unnamed. Among the most well known islands are Sumatra, Java, Bali, Kalimantan (formerly Borneo), Sulawesi (formerly Celebes), the Maluku Islands (or better known as Moluccas, the original Spice Islands) and Papua. Straddling the equator, situated between the continents of Asia and Australia and between the Pacific and the Indian Oceans, it is as wide as the United States from San Francisco to New York, equaling the distance between London and Moscow. Indonesia has a total population of more than 215 million people from more than 200 ethnic groups.
TOURISM
Business is not the only activity you can do in Indonesia.
Visit : www.indonesia.travel and plan your vacation here!
CLIMATE
Being a tropical country, Indonesia is blessed with two seasons, namely dry and rainy. Dry usually occurs from June to September and the rest is rainy season. Sunshine is abundant except in rainy season when the sky tends to be cloudy. It is advisable to visit Indonesia during dry season.
CULTURE
Living on more
than 13,400 islands, the Indonesian nation today counts some 200 million
population comprising more than 200 ethnic groups. After Independence in 1945
inter-marriages among people of different ethnic groups have welded the
population into a more cohesive Indonesian nation.
LANGUAGE
Bahasa Indonesia is the national and official language in the entire country. It is the language of official communication, taught in schools and spoken on television. Most Indonesians today speak at least two languages or more, Bahasa Indonesia and their local language, of which Indonesia counts more than 300 regional languages.
Bahasa Indonesia use Latin alphabets but some parts of Indonesia have their own scripts, too. Bahasa Indonesia is rather easy to learn and once you get the hang of it, youll find out that its actually quite simple. You can try some simple Indonesian phrases, to get youstarted.
Fact: there are 583 languages and
dialects spoken by the different ethnic groups in Indonesia. Imagine a school
of 583 students who each speaks different languages or dialects. Confusion will
be an understatement. Therefore its very fortunate that every single ethnic
group embraces Bahasa Indonesia as the national language.
CURRENCY
The rupiah (Rp/IDR) is the official currency of Indonesia. In 2015, Bank Indonesia issued the the Mandatory Use of the Rupiah in Indonesia (henceforth BI Regulation No. 17) requires the use of the rupiah in cash and non-cash transactions (for example check, giro order, credit card, debit card, ATM card or electronic money) conducted within the territory of Indonesia.
This involves:
TIME ZONE
Indonesia is 7 hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT +7)
In Indonesia, the keeping of standard time is divided into three time zones:
Indonesia Western
Standard Time
Indonesia Western Standard Time (IWST) (WIB, Indonesian: Waktu Indonesia Barat) (UTC+07:00) is observed in:
IANA time zone database identifiers are "Asia/Jakarta" and "Asia/Pontianak"
Indonesia Central Standard Time
Indonesia Central Standard Time (ICST) (WITA, Indonesian: Waktu Indonesia Tengah) (UTC+08:00) is observed in:
IANA time zone database identifier is "Asia/Makassar"
Indonesia Eastern Standard Time
Indonesia Eastern Standard Time (IEST) (WIT, Indonesian: Waktu Indonesia Timur) (UTC+09:00) is observed in:
IANA time zone database identifier is "Asia/Jayapura"
RELIGION
Indonesia is constitutionally a secular state and the first principle of Indonesia's philosophical foundation, Pancasila, is "belief in the one and only God". A number of different religions are practised in the country, and their collective influence on the country's political, economic and cultural life is significant. The Indonesian Constitution guarantees freedom of religion. However, the government recognized only six official religions (Islam, Protestantism, Catholicism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Confucianism).