6 Interesting Facts about Indonesia

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Of the 10 ASEAN member countries, Indonesia is the southernmost country in ASEAN. Based on its latitude and longitude, Indonesia is a country on the southern border of the Southeast Asia region.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is an organization founded on the equality of countries in the Southeast Asian region. The ASEAN region is located at 28o South Latitude – 11o South Latitude and 93o East Longitude – 141o East Longitude.

At the southern border of the ASEAN region, is Indonesia's administrative land area. Apart from that, Indonesia is also considered the easternmost country in ASEAN.

Astronomical location means the existence of a place when viewed from north latitude (LU), south latitude (LS) and east longitude (BT). Indonesia's astronomical location is 60 South Latitude – 11o South Latitude and 95o East Longitude – 141o East Longitude.

Meanwhile, geographical location is determined based on the real position compared to the position of other regions. Indonesia's position is between two continents, namely the Asian Continent and the Australian Continent. Apart from that, Indonesia is also located between two oceans, namely the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean.

Indonesia became one of the pioneer countries in establishing ASEAN in Bangkok on August 8, 1967. At that time, Indonesia sent a delegation to formulate the ASEAN organization to Thailand, represented by Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Adam Malik.

Before gaining independence, Indonesia was colonized by the Portuguese, British, Spanish and Dutch. One developed country from the South Asian region that once colonized Indonesia, namely Japan.

Indonesia has tens of thousands of islands or 17,024 islands to be precise, so it is also called one of the largest archipelagic countries on earth. As of 2023, those islands have been named by Geospatial Information Agency and published in Indonesian Gazetteer.

Indonesia geographically borders Malaysia, Singapore and the Pacific Ocean in the north, Papua New Guinea in the east, the Indian Ocean in the west, and the Indian Ocean and the Australian Continent in the south.

The area of Indonesia reaches 1,904,569 square km with an astronomical location of 60o N – 110o South Latitude and 95o East Longitude – 141o East Longitude. The population of Indonesia as of June 2021 is 272,229,372 people. The Indonesian capital is planned to move to a new location in East Kalimantan.

6 Interesting Facts about Indonesia

Apart from being the southernmost country in ASEAN, Indonesia also has several other interesting things which are summarized from various sources:

1. Ranked 3rd as a country with high biodiversity.

2. Country with the 2nd largest ethnic group, namely 1,340 (based on 2010 BPS census data)

3. The country with the largest population in the world in 2022 is ranked 4th according to the UN's World Population Prospects.

4. According to a report by The Royal Islamic Studies Center, Indonesia became the country with the largest number of Muslims in 2022.

5. The most impolite country in cyberspace 2020 is in 4th position based on the Digital Civility Index survey conducted by Microsoft.

6. The country that won the most Thomas Cups, namely 13 trophies, is an interesting fact about Indonesia.

MELYNDA DWI PUSPITA

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