About This Region
The Republic of Indonesia (Indonesian: Republik Indonesia), commonly known as Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia, with its capital in Jakarta. Indonesia shares borders with Papua New Guinea, East Timor, and Malaysia.Indonesia is the world's largest archipelagic country, with territory spanning Asia and Oceania, and is also a country with many volcanoes and frequent earthquakes. The larger islands include Kalimantan, Sumatra, New Guinea, Sulawesi, and Java.Indonesia ranks fourth in the world in population. Indonesia is one of the founding members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and is also the largest economy in Southeast Asia and a member of the G20.Indonesia is an archipelagic country with few direct land borders with neighboring countries; external connectivity is mainly through sea routes, aviation, and other means. Indonesia's waterway transport is relatively developed, especially shipping. Indonesia has about 670 ports of various types, of which 25 are major ports. Tanjung Priok Port in Jakarta is the largest international port in the country, and Tanjung Perak Port in Surabaya is the second largest. In terms of maritime transport, the Indonesian government hopes to expand its ports' cargo handling capacity as soon as possible to match the country's overall economy and resolve cargo detention problems caused by insufficient loading and unloading capacity. Foreign trade occupies an important position in Indonesia's national economy. The government has adopted a series of measures to encourage and promote exports of non-oil and gas products, simplify export procedures, and reduce tariffs. In 1997, total foreign trade was US$95.1 billion; it declined continuously in 1998 and 1999; in 2000, driven by exports and domestic demand, it surged by 32%; in 2001 and 2002, it declined somewhat due to the global economic slowdown; in 2003 and 2004, it resumed growth; and from 2005 to 2007, the average annual growth rate was above 10%.