Background: The Dutch began to colonize Indonesia in the early 17th century; the islands
were occupied by Japan from 1942 to 1945. Indonesia declared its independence
after Japan's surrender, but it required four years of intermittent
negotiations, recurring hostilities, and UN mediation before the Netherlands
agreed to relinquish its colony. Indonesia is the world's largest archipelagic
state. Current issues include: alleviating widespread poverty, preventing
terrorism, continuing the transition to popularly-elected governments after four
decades of authoritarianism, implementing reforms of the banking sector,
addressing charges of cronyism and corruption, and holding the military and
police accountable for human rights violations. Indonesia has been dealing with
armed separatist movements in Aceh and in Papua.
Location: Southeastern Asia, archipelago between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean
Population: 241,973,879 (July 2005 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 29.1% (male 35,823,456/female 34,590,631)
15-64
years: 65.7% (male 79,447,560/female 79,449,399)
65 years and
over: 5.2% (male 5,526,389/female 7,136,444) (2005 est.)
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