Geography
Indonesia is located between Southeast Asia and Australia, occupying the territory of the islands of the Sunda Archipelago, and is washed by the Indian and Pacific Oceans. This is the largest island state in the world, it has more than 13.5 thousand islands, among which there are 5 main large islands and about 30 archipelagos. See Indonesia abbreviations.
Indonesia borders Malaysia to the north and Papua New Guinea to the east.
The capital of Indonesia is the city of Jakarta, located on the island of Java. This is the largest city in the country.
More than half of the territory is occupied by virgin tropical forests. The archipelago is seismically very active, there are a large number of volcanoes, many of which are still active today, they are interspersed with swampy plains.
Mount Punkak-Jaya (5030 m) is considered the highest point of the country. Also high mountains include volcanoes Agung, Gunung Batur, Kelud and Semeru.
The relief of the country contributes to the formation of an extensive river network. The rivers are full-flowing and in some areas serve as a source of energy.
The largest rivers of Indonesia are located in Kalimantan: Kapuas with a length of 1040 km, Mahakam (715 km), Martapura and Barito (650 km); in Sumatra: Hari (Jambi) (800 km), Musi (553 km), Kampar (285 km), etc. The rivers of Sumatra are mostly navigable. On the island of Java, the largest rivers are the Bengawan Solo, Chitarum and Brantas.
In the east of the country is the world’s largest tropical swamp with an area of approximately 155 thousand km². The most famous lakes in Indonesia are Toba, Maninjau, Singkarak, Tovuti, Sidenreng, Limboto and others.
Indonesia time zones: GMT+7, +8, +9 (+4, +5, +6 hours from Moscow).
Climate
According to 800zipcodes, the Indonesian climate is tropical because the country is located close to the equator. The air temperature throughout the year is quite even (+25…+35 °С), and the water temperature is +26…+27 °С. The hottest months are July and August. The mountainous areas are cooler.
Precipitation is especially individual in Indonesia. During the year there are two seasons – wet and dry, the onset of one or another season depends on the direction of the wind. The wet period lasts from November to March-April, and the dry period lasts from May to September-October. However, in different parts of the country, climatic conditions can vary greatly.
Humidity in Indonesia is high, around 70-90%. The least precipitation falls on the islands of the Nusa Tenggara group.
Famous beach resorts in Indonesia: Bali island (resorts of Jimbaran, Kuta, Lovina, Nusa Dua, Sanur, Ubud), Sulawesi island, Lombok island (Sengjiji resort), as well as the islands of Java and Sumatra.
Indonesian cuisine
The national cuisine of Indonesia is distinguished by the interweaving of traditions of island cuisines, as well as India and China.
Basic Indonesian dishes consist of the following ingredients:
- from cereals, in particular from rice, legumes,
- vegetables such as eggplant, cabbage, peppers, lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, pumpkins,
- from meat – beef, chicken,
- from seafood – fish, crabs, lobsters, squids and shrimps.
To prepare most dishes in Indonesia, various spices and sauces are used. The most commonly added to dishes are cloves, ginger, tamarind, soybeans, peanuts, curry, garlic, nutmeg, various varieties of pepper, including the hottest ones.
National dishes of Indonesia
- The basis for many dishes of traditional Indonesian cuisine is rice – “nasi”. It is often used as a garnish. In addition, rice noodles, rice cakes, chips and much more are prepared from it. A well-known national rice dish is “nasi goreng” – fried rice with vegetables, meat, seafood and spices.
- Among salads, vegetables are popular in the country. Salad “gado-gado” consists of boiled vegetables, legumes, bean curd and spicy peanut sauce.
- Wabi omelette made with nuts and herbs
- Sate is considered a traditional meat dish – meat or seafood skewers.
- Indonesian cuisine is also distinguished by its desserts. From fruits here you can try different varieties of bananas, pineapples, pomelo, papaya, carom, rambutan, salak, mango, durian and others. One of the most popular desserts is fried bananas.
- Indonesian soups include noodles, vegetables and meatballs.
Most of the population of Indonesia is Muslim, so pork is not eaten here or is eaten extremely rarely.
In Indonesia, there are also exotic dishes that tourists need to be careful with, these include fried locusts, shark fin soup, swallow nests, cuttlefish with rice, frog legs wrapped in dough and others.
Traditionally, the country eats with special chopsticks or no cutlery at all, but European cutlery can also be served in restaurants.
Indonesians drink spicy dishes with cold water and tea.
The most popular drinks in the country are coconut milk, juice from local tangerines with ice – “es-jeruk”, a drink made from sugar cane juice called “air-tebu”, and ginger tea.
From alcoholic beverages in some parts of Indonesia, you can try bram rice wine, arak palm vodka and tuak beer, made from palm flower juice.
