Indonesia is one of the best countries to visit in Asia, especially for tourists who want to experience an exotic holiday, Asian culture and breathtaking landscapes. But Indonesia is much more than tropical islands, temples and wild beaches. Here are 10 lesser-known facts about this fabulous Asian country.
1. Indonesia is the fourth most populous country in the world, with about 262.7 million people, according to a 2016 census. Only China, India and the United States of America outperform Indonesia in this respect. The population is growing by 1.9% each year, considerably higher than other countries in the region.
2. Indonesia is the most populous Islamic country. Many islands and villages in Indonesia have been visited by missionaries and converted to Christianity, but the ancient beliefs have not completely disappeared, but have merged with more recent ones. For example, old superstitions and the belief in the existence of evil spirits have been preserved. An exception is the island of Bali, where the population is predominantly Hindu.
3. Indonesia has at least 17,508 islands, according to the CIA World Factbook, but the National Institute of Aeronautics and Space counted at least 18,307 islands in 2002. In other registers, the number of Indonesian islands ranges from 13,466 to 8,844.
4. In Papua, a province in eastern Indonesia, there are still wild tribes. At least 44 of the world’s 107 isolated tribes live in Indonesia. Some tribal families still keep the human “trophies” of their grandparents. However, tribes no longer venture outside their areas as they did in the past.
5. The world’s largest volcanic lake, Lake Toba, is located in Sumatra. The explosive eruption that led to the formation of this lake was a catastrophic disaster, causing temperatures to drop across the planet for 1,000 years due to debris being released into the atmosphere. The most powerful eruption in Earth’s history occurred 75,000 years ago, when the Toba volcano spewed a huge amount of ash into the atmosphere at immense speed. The ash cloud even reached the island of Ceylon, thousands of kilometres away.
The Toba volcano catastrophe is believed to have resulted in a volcanic winter on Earth that lasted between 6 and 10 years and a drop in global average temperatures over a 1,000-year period that brought humanity to the brink of extinction, according to BBC News.
The eruption was 100 times larger than the largest eruption in recent history, that of Mount Tambora, also in Indonesia, which had effects throughout the northern hemisphere. The year 1816 has gone down in history as “the year there was no summer”.
6. A new island, Pulau Samosir, has formed in the centre of Lake Toba and is home to the Bataks tribe. The island has become popular with tourists eager for offbeat adventures.
7. Indonesia is the only place on earth where you can see the ‘Komodo dragon’, a giant lizard, in the wild. The most popular islands for those who want to see the creature are Rinca Island and Komodo. The Amba is part of the eastern province of Nusa Tenggara.
8. Sumatra is the only place other than Borneo where you can see wild orangutans. Gunung Leuser National Park is the best place for those who want to see the animals and is located near the village of Bukit Lawang.
9. The language spoken in Indonesia is very similar to that spoken in Malaysia. Both have common expressions and words and it is quite easy for the inhabitants of both countries to understand each other.
10. More than 700 languages and dialects are spoken in the Indonesian archipelago. There are at least 270 dialects in Papua alone.
Source – www.digi24.ro
