10 Surprising Things to Know About Indonesia

The largest country of South East Asia, the fourth most crowded place in the world, Indonesia is a wonderland speaking in geographical terms. These days most people think of the honeymoon heaven Bali Island when they think of Indonesia, sometimes that’s all they know about it. But there some things that will surprise you when you learn about this beautiful country.

1- The Fourth Crowded Country in the World

After China, India and USA, Indonesia is world’s most populated country. Although the migrations are frequent the population remains the same. Between the years of 1971 and 2010, in 40 years, the population of Indonesia doubled.

2- Multi Religional

Indonesia is the most populated Muslim country known but things are a bit different than the common knowledge. We can say that beliefs differ from island to island. In the past years many islands and villages converted to Christianity with the help of visiting missionaries. But in truth the religon is a mix of Christianity and the old pagan beliefs. The only exception is Bali which has a predominantly Hindu population.

3- World’s Largest Island Country

World’s largest island country Indondesia also has the 14th largest on earth. And this is a very little known fact.

4- Nobody Knows How Many Islands Indonesia Has

Yes, Indonesia is a country consisting of thousands of islands but no one is sure how many is that. Some of the islands are only visible by tides. For now the Indondesian goverment claims there are 17,504 islands but only 13,466 of them are found.

5- Little Known Fact About Bali

Even though there are so many islands in Indonesia Bali is the most famous one of them all. In fact Bali is known as a central for all of the islands and is a great place to start your travel. When you want to visit far you can prefer Bali but since this is not well known tourists can feel a bit confused.

6- Primitive Tribes Still Exist

Indonesia hosts quite a few modern cities and islands but there are still primitive tribes who choose to live without modern technology. It’s known that there are lots of tribes living in the Sumatran Jungles. 44 of the 100 known tribes of the world exist in Indonesia.

7- It’s a Volcanic Land

There are 127 active volcanos that have erupted in the past in Indonesia. When the Gunung Agung volcano was stirring in 2017 and 2018, the tourists in Bali were horrified. World’s largest volcanic lake, Lake Toba is also in Indonesia.

8- The Only Country That Has Comodo Dragons

Indonesia is the only country where you can see a comodo dragon in the wild life. The popular places you can see this reptiles are Comodo Island and Rinca Island. Comodo dragons sometimes attack the natives and the national park guards and the venomous saliva they excrete make them one of the most dangerous animals in the world.

9- Wild Orangutans Live There

World’s wildest orangutans live in the Sumatran and Bornean regions of Indonesia. If you want to see them as a tourist you can visit the Gunung Leuser National Park near the Bukit Lawang Village.

10- More Than 700 of Language

The official language of Indonesia is Bahasa but there are over 700 languages being spoken on the islands. Just in the city Papua there are 270 different dialects. The second most spoken language is Javanese.