Take a spin around the globe! Stop at the island nation of Indonesia. The tropical paradise is in Southeast Asia. It sits just north of Australia and south of China. Indonesia is in between the countries of Papua New Guinea, Malaysia, and East Timor.
One island, two island, three islands . . . 17,000 islands?! Indonesia is one country that is made of thousands of islands––17,508 to be exact. If Indonesia’s islands were all scrunched together, the nation would be about three times the size of Texas.
People live on 6,000 of Indonesia’s islands. Two of the largest islands are Sumatra and Java. Do those names sound familiar? Indonesians grow some of the world's finest coffee on those islands. You may have heard of the coffees named for those places.
Indonesia is the fourth most populous country in the world. Around 269 million people live there. Jakarta is its capital city. It’s located on Java. Half the country’s entire population lives on Java. Jakarta’s population is very dense (crowded together). Many people there live in slums. People, animals, and unsafe, overcrowded homes fill the dirty streets. Buildings in slums are often unstable. They usually lack water, toilets, and electricity. Hundreds of different languages can be heard in Jakarta’s slums. That’s because there are more than 700 different languages spoken in Indonesia. Most are tribal languages. They’ve been around for many hundreds of years. The country’s official language is called Bahasa Indonesia.
The hot and humid country is home to an impressive tropical wilderness. Wildlife in Indonesia’s jungle forests includes giant Komodo dragons, Javan rhinoceroses, Sumatran tigers, and orangutans.
Indonesia has “the most” of several things in the world. It has the most islands of any country. Those islands are home to the most active volcanoes in the world. Indonesia also has the largest Muslim population on Earth. But about 11 percent of the population claim to be Christians too.
God loves the people of Indonesia. He created them for His glory. James 2:5 says, “Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which He has promised to those who love Him?” Pray that the gospel would reach across the nation of Indonesia.
