INTRODUCTION TO INDONESIA
Indonesia is the world's largest archipelago, consisting of 17.508 islands stretching between two continents, Asia and Australia and two oceans, the Indian and Pacific. The world's fourth most populous nation has an astonishing array of cultures. Over 330 ethnic groups throughout the archipelago speak about 583 languages and dialects. It's this size and diversity that make Indonesia so fascinating. Whether you fancy a world class beach resort in Bali or an adventurous jungle hike deep into the rain forests of Sumatra, Indonesia will be most satisfying!

GEOGRAPHY
Indonesia has an area of 1,919,443 km2 consisting of 17,508 islands. The country also claims sovereignty over 3,272,160 km2 of sea. Indonesian Archipelago is stretching 5,120 km from east to west and 1.770 km from north to south, it straddles the equator between the Australian and Asia Continents, between the Pacific and the Indian oceans.
There are eight major islands or island groups in this vast chain. The largest landmasses consist of Sumatra, Java, Kalimantan (Borneo), Sulawesi (Celebes) and Irian Jaya (the western half of Papua New Guinea). The smaller islands fall into two main groups: the Molluccas to the northeast, and the lesser Sunda chain east of Bali. Bali is a unique island, which for a number of reasons can be put into a class of its own.
Indonesia is a land of mountains, coastal lowlands, and high plains, tropical forest. Situates on the "Ring of Fire," a crescent of volcanic formation which encircles the earth, Indonesia t has hundreds of volcanoes. Mountain lovers will find plenty to enjoy in Indonesia. A great volcano chain, the Bukit Barisan, runs the entire length of Sumatra. On the West Coast, the mountains fall abruptly to the sea, while to the east they ease gradually down to plains in a broad fringe of coastal mangroves. Vegetation-clad volcanoes also rise dramatically from the sea at Banda, Ternate and Makian. Many of the volcanoes are still active, constantly smouldering and occasionally erupting violently, though geological stations monitor the active ones constantly and give warning if they are unsafe to climb. Mount Merapi in Central Java is a favourite for climbers, despite being one of the most active on the archipelago.
Mountain lakes are also abundant in dormant craters of many volcanoes, the most famous of these being lake Toba in the northern highlands of Sumatra. This mountain lake covers an area four times the size of Singapore. In Kalimantan, waterborne transportation moves cargo and passengers up and down the major rivers: Mahakam, Barito, Kahayan and Kapuas. The mountainous island of Flores is famous for its multi-coloured volcanic lakes, known as Keli Mutu. The three lakes are in a close group and range from dark red to turquoise.
Located between two distinct bio-geographic groups - Asia and Australia - the flora and fauna of the archipelago is also quite idiosyncratic. Species found nowhere else on earth have flourished in certain areas, including the famous Komodo dragon on the island of the same name. Also in abundance are rare flowers, including exotic orchids, unusual insects, birds of paradise and numerous indigenous spices such as cloves, nutmeg cinnamon, mace and many more.

CLIMATE
Indonesia's climate is definitely tropical. It is quite even all year round, there is no autumn or winter, and characteristic dry and wet seasons share the year. The north-east monsoon brings drenching rain between November and April, and the tropical sun and the oceans combine to produce always high humidity (between 75 - 100 percent) everywhere. The south-east monsoon tends to neutralize this high humidity by blowing hot, dry air up from over the Australian land mass between May and October. Moving south-eastward, the influence of this dry monsoon increases. The transitional period between the two seasons alternates between sun-filled days and sporadic thunderstorms. Even amid the wet season, temperature range from 21 - 33 degrees Celsius, excluding at higher altitudes, which can be much cooler. The heaviest rainfalls are usually in December and January.

POPULATION
Anyone travelling through the length of Indonesia will find the complexity and diversity of peoples, languages and customs surprising. For centuries the many thousands of islands and mountainous terrain have separated groups of people in the Indonesian archipelago from each other. The result of this is huge variations in culture and languages across the nation. The exact number is not clear, but approximately 300 ethnic groups live here, which use own languages and a large number of dialects. Indonesian's present population is the fourth largest in the World next to China, India and USA. Indonesia's population is unevenly distributed, 65% of the population are concentrated in overcrowded Java Island, which forms only 7% of the total land area. While the rest is spread out in Sumatra, the second densely populated island, and Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Irian Jaya, etc. Most people descend from Malay origin, spread into Indonesia during many thousand years. The darker Melanesians in East Indonesia (Irian Jaya) is the other major group. The many groups were not "Indonesian" before 1949, when the border around the archipelago was drawn, but despite all this diversity, Indonesia is surprisingly unified. Much because of the national language, Bahasa Indonesia, which makes communication possible between the many groups. A majority of the inhabitants today identify themselves with their nation, flag and language.
A third group is the Chinese, which is a minority, but nevertheless have had a larger impact in the country than most other ethnic groups. In Indonesia the concept of ethnic minorities is often discussed not in numerical but in religious terms. Although the major ethnic groups claimed adherence to one of the major world religions recognized by the Pancasila ideology-- Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, or Buddhism--there were millions of other Indonesians in the early 1980s who engaged in forms of religious or cultural practices that fell outside these categories. These practices were sometimes labelled animist or kafir (pagan). In general, these Indonesians tended to live in the more remote, sparsely populated islands of the archipelago.

LANGUAGE
Over 330 ethnic groups throughout the archipelago speak their own languages, which should be more correctly defined as ethnic languages rather than dialect. There are about 583 languages and dialects spoken in the archipelago. There normally belong to the different ethnic groups of the population. Some of the distinctly different local languages are: Acehnese, Batak, Sundanese, Javanese, Sasak, Tetum of Timor, Dayak, Minahasa, Toraja, Buginese, Halmahera, Ambonese, Ceramese, and several Irianese languages. To make the picture even more colorful, these languages are also spoken in different dialects.
Bahasa Indonesia is the national language which is similar to Malay, written in Roman script and based on European orthography. In all tourist destination areas English is the number one foreign language fairly spoken and written, whereas some Dutch is till spoken and understood in the bigger cities and French increasing in its popularity at the better hotels and restaurants.

RELIGION
The majority (about 85%) of the population follows Islam. By quantity Indonesia holds the largest Muslim population - larger that of any Islamic state in the Middle East. Christianity forms about 7 % of the population, most concentrated in the province of North Sumatra, North Sulawesi, Mollucas, East Nusa Tenggara and Irian Jaya. Hinduism together with Buddhism comes to about 3 % of the population, while the rest belong to various forms of Paganism and Natural Beliefs. Freedom of religion is implemented by the Indonesian Constitution, however, which is defined in the First Principle of the State Philosophy' "Pancasila", which upholds a "Belief in One Supreme God".

CURRENCY
The Indonesian currency unit is called the Rupiah. Notes are issued in the values of Rp.500, Rp.1000, Rp.5000, Rp.10.000, Rp.20.000, Rp.50.000, and Rp.100.000. Coins come in Rp.5, Rp.25, Rp.50, Rp.100, Rp.500 and Rp.1000.
Change is often not available in smaller shops. Carry a variety of coins and small notes, especially when traveling outside cities.

Changing money
Bring only new notes issued after 1997 ( no coins ), as practically no one will change dirty or torn bank notes.
The best exchange rate is usually obtained at moneychangers, found at the airports of all major cities. Hotels usually offer a lower rate, and banks often offer even worse rates. The exchange rates are advertised on boards along the footpaths or on windows outside the shops. Look for moneychangers that advertise "no commission ", and ask if there is a commission before you exchange. Cheating moneychangers are very common in Kuta, Bali. Count your money before leaving the counter and get a receipt. It is advisable to convert most of your money in the cities before moving toward interior. Leftover Rupiah is easily changes back into foreign currency at departure.

Travellers' cheques
Major hotels, banks and a few shops will accept them, but their exchange rates are slightly lower. Most small towns will not accept them at all. US-dollar travellers' cheques are more widely accepted.

Credit Cards
Visa, MasterCard or American Express are accepted by most of the bigger businesses that cater to tourists. Credit cards are accepted in big hotels, international airline offices, city restaurants and shops. Don't count on using plastic in the hinterlands. Most transactions are subject to surcharge of between 3 - 5 %. Cash advances may be obtained by presenting your credit card and passport at the major banks: BCA Bank, LIPPO Bank or BII Bank.

ATMs
Automatic Teller Machines ( ATMs ) are found everywhere in the larger cities. Look for those affiliated with your international ATM network.

Tipping
Tips are accepted with pleasure. Services charges of 10 % are added to bills in most leading hotels and restaurants. Where not included, a tip of between 5 - 10 % of the bill would be appropriated, depending on service and establishment. An airport porter or hotel bellboy expect Rp. 5,000 - Rp. 10,000 per bag (depending on weight and size). Tip taxi driver Rp. 3000 - Rp.5000 or small change to the nearest Rp. 1000, hired cars, about 10 %.

TIME
The Indonesia archipelago is spread over three time zones. Java, Sumatra and West and Central Kalimantan are on Western Indonesia Standard Time, 7 hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time ( GMT ). Bali, Lombok, East and South Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Nusa Tenggara and West Timor are on Central Indonesia standard time, 8 hours ahead of GMT ( the same zone as Singapore and Hong Kong ). Maluku and West Papua are on Eastern Indonesia Standard Time, at GMT plus 9 hours.