Indonesia
     Indonesia is an archipelego of about 13,700 islands stretching from the Malay Peninsula to New Guinea between the mainland of southeast Asia and Australia. The nation is home to more than 209 million people, making it the world’s fifth largest nation.

     Indonesia home to more followers of Islam than any other nation.  Arab traders converted many of the Indonesian people to Islam more than five hundred years ago. Today there are more Muslims in Indonesia than in any other nation. More than 85% of Indonesia practices the faith. 

     Indonesia’s main source of wealth is natural resources, primarily petroleum and natural gas. Indonesia is a nation of tall mountains that rise from the ocean. The hilly terrain makes farming difficult, but millions of Indonesian farmers manage to farm the difficult land. 

     The people of Indonesia have never had much of a voice in their government. The Dutch* controlled Indonesia for more than three hundred years until 1949. From 1949 to 1998, two military leaders, each of whom had only one name, have controlled the nation. Sukarno led the nation from independence until he was forced to retire in 1968. For the next thirty years Suharto led the nation. Suharto’s detractors accused him of taking money from the public treasury and of hiring relatives to important positions they were unqualified for. Many people believe Suharto’s mishandling of the Indonesian economy led to a major economic crisis in 1998 that affected many Asian nations. Suharto was forced from office in 1998. 

*The Netherlands is also known as Holland.  They people who live in the Netherlands are known as the Dutch.