Life in Indonesia
When all is said and done, Indonesia is one of the more mysterious countries in the world today. While people certainly have heard of Indonesia, the typical person in many countries the world over actually know very little about Indonesia. Through this article, you are provided an overview of some aspects of life in Indonesia. Armed with this useful information, you will have a clearer picture of day to day life in Indonesia.
Indonesia is the largest archipelago nation in the world. Indonesia is comprised of over 17,000 individual islands. Of that number, about 6,000 are inhabited today.
There are approximately 300 ethnic groups in Indonesia. These different ethnic groups that make up the population of Indonesia have been influenced over the centuries by Indian, Chinese, Malay, Arabic and European societies.
The most dominate influence on Indonesian architecture has been that of Indian design. With that noted, Chinese, European and Arabic architectural influences are also apparent in the country as well.
The most popular sports in Indonesia are European football (called soccer in the United States) and badminton. Bull racing is enjoyed in some parts of the country as well. In those regions of Indonesia that have a history or tribal warfare, mock battles and fighting contests are conducted to this very day.
Overall, sports in Indonesia are male oriented. Part of this arises from the fact that Indonesia has the largest Muslim population of any country in the world today. (Note: In early 2008, Islam became the largest religion on the planet, surpassing Roman Catholicism for the first time.)
Despite having such a large Muslim population, Indonesia is a secular state. With a republican form of government, Indonesia has a president and parliament. Despite being such a sprawling nation with so many ethnic and cultural differences from region to region, Indonesia has not adopted a federal system of government. Interestingly, despite such strong individual ethnic identities in the country, the citizens of Indonesia no matter their ethnic background maintain a strong sense of nationhood.
The economy of Indonesia has been flourishing in recent years. Since the latter part of the 1990s, a significant amount of economic reform and liberalization has occurred in the country. Indeed, Indonesia currently boosts one of the strongest economies in the Southeast Asian region. In addition, the political system has been significantly revamped during this time period as well. For example, the citizens of Indonesia were able to directly vote for their president and vice president for the first time beginning in 2004.
In this regard, Indonesia has a trade surplus and does export a significant amount of natural resources and manufactured products. This economic trend is expected to remain on course into the future.
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