FAST FACTS
Area: 1,904,570 sq km
1997 population: 208,085,400
Capital (population): Jakarta (8,259,000)
Government: Multiparty republic
Ethnic groups: Javanese 39%, Sundanese 16%, Indonesian (Malay)
12%, Madurese 4% and over 300 other nationalities
Languages: Bahasa Indonesian (official)
Religions: Moslem 87%, Christianity 10% (Roman Catholic 6%),
Hindu 2% and Buddhist 1%
Currency: Rupiah = 100 sen
1997 GDP per capita: US$ 1,139

Indonesia is a country stretched across the archipelago of islands which run from nest to the Malays peninsula, all the way to the huge island of New Guinea, and includes a total of some 13,600 islands, of which only about 6,000 are inhabited. The main islands are Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, Kalimantan (southern Borneo) and Irian Jaya, the western half of New Guinea.

Indonesia is the largest Muslim nation in the world in terms of population, with 87% of its nearly 200 million people following this faith. Islam was only introduced to Indonesia in the 15th century, previously being a mixture of Hindu cults and local tribal religions, with a Buddhist minority.

Indonesia is therefore a very diverse consumer market, encompassing many different peoples living a diverse range of lifestyles (from city slickers to head-hunters), in a highly fragmented island archipelago. Most consumers (in the real sense) live in the cities of the main islands of Java, Sumatra and Bali, but wealth, thanks to the countries vast natural resources, is spreading further across the country. Although having been hit by the economic crisis sparked-off in 1997, the potential for building strong consumer markets still exists, especially towards the lower end of the middle class market.

INDONESIA LINKS

http://www.imn.co.id/imn.html
http://www.iit.edu/~syafysa/