Indonesia has population of around 2.370.000 (sensus penduduk 2010), making it the fifth most populous country in the world after China, India, the United States and the Soviet Union. Well over half of this total live on the island of Java, too, can be found the nation’s commercial and administrative capital, the city of Jakarta, which supports about eight million residents.
Islam is the predominant religion, accounting for approximately 87% of the population. There are a number of largely Christian areas, notably Manado in northern Sulawesi, parts of the Moluccas and the eastern islands of the archipelagos, as well as the Batak region of north Sumatra. Exceptional is the island of Bali, which has retained a syncretic Hindu/Buddhist faith up to the present day. In isolated regions the remnants of early , pre-Hindu animistic cultures can still be found.
‘Unity in Diversity’ is the motto of the Republic of Indonesia. This is certainly appropriate for a nation consisting of more than three hundred ethnic groups, each with its own peculiar manners and customs, languages/dialect and style of dress. These diverse peoples are today bound together by a common language, Bahasa Indonesia, and share a common outlook and attitude towards life, which is clearly expressed in the doctrine of Panca Sila (the five principles), the foundation of the national ideology.
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