Indonesia

The republic of Indonesia is a large country in Southeast Asia. With 17500 islands it is the world's largest archipelagic state and with over 200 million inhabitants the world's 4th most populous country. Its capital is Jakarta, on the island of Java. There are around 300 distinct ethnic groups in Indonesia, speaking 742 distinct languages and dialects. The majority of Indonesians are Muslim.
Austronesian people who form the majority of today's population have inhabited Indonesia since 2000 BC. Between the 7th and 14th centuries the Srivijaya empire dominated much of Indonesia. In the 16th century the Europeans arrived and started colonising the country. In 1945 Indonesia declared independence and was formally recognised as an independent country after four years of armed struggle in 1949. The Indonesian economy consists mainly of services and industry, which account for 85% of GDP (2006), although half of the population is employed in the agricultural sector. After the Asian financial crisis of 1997-98 the Indonesian economy has slowly recovered and is currently growing at 5% per year.