Indonesia is largest island consisting of more than 17,000 islands, the vast Indonesian archipelago spans 5,120 km across the equator, positioned between the Asian and Australian continents from Sabang to Merauke. Besides that, the many ethnic groups that live in Indonesia have made Indonesia very rich with cultures – cultures which are varied, distinctive and highly interesting. All these blessing are fountains of knowledge and insight, and they are also assests for improving the welfare of the people of Indonesia. So that Indonesian can fully taste and appreciate this abundance of God’s gifts, and in order that Indonesian can make use of this richness optimally, it is highly important that the people know what they have with the result that they will be even prouder to be Indonesian.

The development of tourism in our country is in line with the efforts to instill the love for the country, and also to teach the noble Indonesian values in order that there will be stronger union and unity amongst the people, especially in developing the tourism industry in Indonesia. Indonesia is a tourist destination country, and its tourism is one of the top sources for the nation’s income. It is on this light that there rises a need to develop tourism sector through efforts to preserve historical objects, natures and cultures, all of which are historical treasures that depict the height of the culture and the greatness of this nation. Cultural tourism in Indonesia comes with its historical remains, in the forms of museums, monuments, beautiful arts and cultures, and traditional ceremonies. Nature tourism offers the richness, beauty and magic of the natures and national parks. And marine tourism offers the beauty of sea objects and beaches in Indonesia.

HISTORY
The history of Indonesia started with the major kingdoms in Java and Sumatra islands. These kingdoms relied on trade around the archipelago. The Europeans (especially the Dutch) arriving in the archipelago wanted spices and this then led to the occupation of Indonesia by the Dutch for around 350 years. After occupying Indonesia for three painful years, Japan lost to the Allied Forces with the result that on August 17, 1945 Soekarno proclaimed Indonesia’s Independence. And after four years of fighting and negotiation, Queen Juliana of the Netherland accepted the sovereignty of the Federal Government of Indonesia, and in 1950 Indonesia became the 60^th member of the United Nations. The name Indonesia comes from to Greek words: Indos means Indian and Nesos means isles.

GEOGRAPHY
Indonesia is the biggest archipelago, having five major islands and 30 smaller ones, with the number of islands come to 17,508 islands, 6000 of them are inhabited. The length of the territory is 5,150 km between 6º North Latitude and 11º South Latitude, and from 9º to 141º East Longitude. The archipelago lies between two continets: Asia and Australia/Oceania. Indonesia borders with Andaman Sea, Singapore, South China Sea, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Pacific Ocean to the north, Papua New Guinea to the east, Indian Ocean and Australia to the south, and Indian Ocean to the west. This convenient position greatly influences trhe cultures, the social conditions, the politics and the economy of the country.

NATURE’S CONDITIONS
Based on the general spread of the area, Indonesia is divided into three areas: the shallow western and eastern lands, and deeper middle basin. The western land that has shallow waters is called Sunda Shoal. Sumatera, Java, and Kalimantan islands are in these waters, along with other smaller islands. The eastern land also has shallow waters called Sahul Shoal. Papua island and Aru isle are in these waters. The middle basin has deeper sea (more than 4,000 m deep). Sulawesi island, Maluku isle, Nusa Tenggara isle and other smaller islands are in these waters.

ART AND CULTURE
Types of arts in Indonesia are heavily influenced by different cultures. The famous Javanese and Balinese dances, for examples, show aspects from the popular Hindu cultures and mythologies. The world-famous leather puppet show also tells stories from such mythologies, and several areas in Indonesia are famous for their batik cloth. Indonesian cultures, varied may they be, are basically formed and influenced by major cultures, such as those of Chinese, Indian and Arab.

PEOPLE
Indonesian people can roughly be classified into two groups. To the west, the majority is from the Malay tribes, and to the east from Papua, with the root from the Melanesian isles. Most Indonesian claimed to be of the more specific tribes, classified based on the language spoken and region where they originate, such as Javanese, Sundanese or Bataknese. Many Indonesian converse with those of the same ethnic group using their mother tongue, yet the official language in Indonesia is Indonesian language (Bahasa Indonesia). It is taught in all schools in the country and is spoken by almost all Indonesian. Islam is the religion professed by the majority of the people (88.2%), and this makes Indonesia the country with most moslem in the world. Other Indonesian practice Protestantism (5.9%), Catholic (3%), Hindu (1.8%), Buddhism (0.8%), and others (0.3%).

CLIMATE
Indonesia lies on the equator and is affected by climates in Pacific Ocean. Indonesia has only two seasons, dry and rainy season. In some parts, rainy season comes from December through march, while dry season is between May and October. The transition period is characterized by sudden changes of winds and weathers from March – May and September – November.

FAUNA
Indonesia archipelago has the most diverse fauna spreading in the world. Orang utan can only be found in Sumatera and Kalimantan. Komodo found in the islands of Komodo, Padar and Rinca, eastern part of Java island, exactly in west coast of Flores islands. Babyroussa, anoa, and pygmy bull are some of the interesting Sulawesi endemy, other than great muskrat, tertiary species group, and sulawesi macaw. The exotic birds of Sulawesi are two species of megapode birds, maleo poultry, and sulawesi shrubhen. Papua and Maluku are also very famous for exotic birds, like casuarius, and species of birds from families of paradiseidae dan ptilinorhynhidae, and some beo birds. Other unique animals are enggang bird, elephants, sumatra tiger, java tiger, macaquel and mentawai monkeys, and one-horned rhinoceros. There are also bull, tree kangaroo, fresh water dolphin, proboscis monkey, variety of birds such as stork, pekakak, eagle, etc; thousand species of insects, land turtles, various lizards and snakes, and many exotic species of fish, prawns, clams and other water animals.

FLORA
Indonesia has the biggest contribution in the richness of melanesia floral vegetation, having almost 40,000 species of plants, or 10-12% from all of the expected plant species in the world. Indonesia has some unique tropical plants, such as rafflesia arnoldi, the biggest flower in the world. It can only be found in some places on Sumatra. Sumatra has also amorphoplalus titanium, a gigantic plant. There is also a carnivorous plant of nepenthea spp, which devours insects. There are also myriad of orchids, such as tiger orchids, grammatophyllum speciosum, taeniophyllum, etc. The lands are rich of water, so that many kinds of fungus grow well, such as grow lux horsehair blight, luminescent species, jelanga mould, and black mushrooms. There also abundance of wood species like meranti, tengkawang or illipe nuts, ramin, sandalwood, ebony, ulin, palembang wood, teakwood, etc.

GOVERNMENT
Indonesia at this time has 33 provinces, namely: Nangroe Aceh Darussalam, North Sumatera, West Sumatera, Riau, Riau Islands, South Sumatera, Jambi, Bangka Belitung, Bengkulu, Lampung, Banten, Special Capital Territory of Jakarta, West Jawa, Central Jawa, Special Territory of Yogyakarta, East Jawa, Bali, West Nusa Tenggara, East Nusa Tenggara, South Sulawesi, Southeast Sulawesi, North Sulawesi, Central Sulawesi, West Sulawesi, Gorontalo, Maluku, North Maluku, Papua dan West Irian Jaya.