Indonesia is the largest archipelago in the world. An archipelago is a large group of islands and Indonesia has over 17,500 of them! There are only a few big islands though.
We live on Sumatra, but there is Bali, Maluku, Kalimantan, Irian Jaya, Sulawesi and Java.
Most people live on Java, where the capital, Jakarta is.
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Indonesia is a Democratic Republic. Its flag's colors stand for bravery & freedom, purity & truth. Independence was declared in 1945, just over 60 years ago!
The US has a Bill of Rights, and Indonesia has the Pancasila, The 5 Principles.
The national motto is "UNITY IN DIVERSITY",similar to the US motto, E Pluribus Unum "OUT OF MANY ONE"
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The nation of islands has many land types, mountains, valleys, rain forests and wetlands.
This is Lake Toba, one of the largest calderas in the world, created 75,000 years ago when the volcano erupted, sending ash all over the earth!
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Indonesia was hit by the worst tsunami because it is located within the "Ring of Fire".
It has more than 400 volcanoes! At least one erupts each year
This is a site for Kids about volcanoes
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Indonesia has more than 220 million people and is the 4th most populated nation in the world. There are about 300 ethnic groups, and 250 different langauges spoken!
Public education is one way to help everyone understand each other and work together as one country.
Children must start school at age 6, usually going 6 days a week and usually wearing uniforms. All are taught in the national language Bahasa Indonesia and begin studying English in the 5th grade. They learn survival skills in scouting.
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Indonesian people make money by selling rubber, tin, plywood, oil, natural gas, textiles, coffee, tea, and spices.
They grow peanuts, cocoa, coconuts and rice.
We eat a lot more rice now than we did in the United States.
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