The republic of Indonesia forms a long bridge of over 13.000 islands between the continents of Asia and Australia. It extends 5100 km from Sumatra in the west to Irian Jay in the east, before Australians Northern coast. The total coastline is 54.716 km, a lot of space for breathtaking lonely beaches, if you bear in mind that only a small part of the islands is inhabited.

The rich landscape and nature of Indonesia, which are in many parts untouched, support a variety of animals and plants. The archipelogo offers living space for elephants, tigers, leopards and Orang Utans. Neither little is the variety of species in the water. The republic of Indonesia aims to protect the living space of so many partly unique living beings and has therefore appointed large areas national parks. Such areas are for instance the underwater national park Taka Bonerate and the national park Komodo, where the unique Komodo dragons live.

The climate is characterized by monsoons. It is mainly tropical. The temperatures are steadily high with an average of 30 degrees Celcius, but the sea winds lower these temperatures a bit. Air moisture is about 80 %. The winter months are dominated by East - West Monsoons and their raintime. That is why the best time for travelling is between March and November.

The official language is Bahasa Indonesia and the currency is Indonesia Ruphia. As Indonesia is very big, the time difference is between +6 to +8 hours ( compared to Middle European Time ) depending on where you are in Indonesia. The capital is Jakarta. Religions are distributed as follows : 87 % Muslims, 10 % Christians, 2 % Hindus, 1 % Buddhist. People in Indonesia are very tolerant of others, but set great store by respectful and polite manners. Main tourist destinations are Bali, Lombok, Sulawesi and Sumatra.

Helpful links to information about Indonesia:
http://www.wetter.com/
http://www.waehrungsrechner.de/
http://www.erdkunde-online.de/