Dispelling a few myths about Indonesia. Some people still think I live on a small, underdeveloped island.
The other night I left Starbucks in Semarang just after 10pm and drove to Jakarta. I arrived just home just before 3am. There is a lot more to this story. 1/17 #Indonesia
My journey home (439 km) was almost entirely along a modern smooth toll road, about the same distance as London to Newcastle. Most vehicles on the road consisted of big SUVs, shiny new coaches covered in bright neon lights and a surprising number of classic Toyota Corollas. 2/17
The last leg of this drive took me up onto the Jakarta-Cikampek II (Elevated) Toll Road – a flyover which is 36 kilometers long. 36 kilometers long!! Further than Ipswich to Colchester (I grew up in Suffolk). The M4 Chiswick flyer in London is just over 2 miles long. 3/17
This sounds like a long journey, and it was. However, from East to West Indonesia is more than 5000 kilometres. 4/17
About the same distance as London to Tashkent as the crow flies. 5/17
The distance from Los Angeles to New York is 3,944 kilometers. 6/17
The current population of Indonesia is 278,815,763 and rising. Indonesia is the fourth most populous country in the world, behind China, India and the United States. This is more than the combined population of Germany, the United Kingdom, France and Italy. 7/17
Indonesia is the largest archipelago in the world. It consists of five major islands and about 30 smaller groups. There are total number of 17,508 islands of which about 6000 are inhabited. Taking a closer look at some of these islands… 8/17
Kalimantan is the Indonesian portion of the island of Borneo. Kalimantan "burning weather island" is the proposed site of the new Indonesian capital. Kalimantan covers a total area of approx. 539,237 km². By comparison the UK covers an area of approximately 242,495 km². 9/17
Sumatra is a large Indonesian island west of Java and south of the Malay Peninsula, known for its rugged tropical terrain, wildlife and smouldering volcanoes. It covers an area of approximately 473,481 km². By comparison Japan covers an area of approx. 377,975 km². 10/17
Western New Guinea, also known as Papua, is the western portion of the Melanesian Island of New Guinea which is administered by Indonesia. New Guinea is the world's second-largest island behind Greenland. In 2020, Western New Guinea had an estimated population of 5,437,775. 11/17
In Papua the official language is Bahasa Indonesian. Estimates of the number of local languages in the region range from 200 to over 700. The predominant official religion is Christianity, often combined with traditional practices and beliefs, followed by Islam. 12/17
Indonesia is the world’s largest Muslim-majority country, home to an estimated 231 million Muslims. It is a secular democratic country. The Indonesian constitution guarantees all people in Indonesia the freedom of worship according to his or her own religion or belief. 13/17
Indonesia is also home to about 28.6 million Christians, just over 10% of the population. Whilst the population of Indonesia is predominantly Muslim, the island of Bali is an exception where about 87% of its people identify as Hindu. There are >4.5 million Hindus in Bali. 14/17
Whilst there is still huge wealth disparity in Indonesia, there are over 100,000 millionaires and more than 1000 people with net worth of more than $50 million. There are more than 170 shopping malls in Jakarta alone. 15/17
I myself live in Jakarta on the island on Java, the world's most populous island with a population of 147.7 million people. Driving home from Semarang during Ramadan-end ‘mudik’, I joined an estimated 85 million Indonesians on the move. 16/17
As I drove up onto 36 km elevated toll road heading towards the capital, I could see Jakarta’s skyline in front of me. There are 88 high-rise buildings in Jakarta taller than 150m, and 26 more under construction, including four supertall buildings taller than 300m. 17/17
Some people still think I live on a small, underdeveloped island. I should invite them to visit. They might be quite surprised. #Indonesia #g20 #Wilson
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