Indonesia
Overview
Indonesia officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...

 and Oceania
Oceania
Oceania is a region centered on the islands of the tropical Pacific Ocean. Conceptions of what constitutes Oceania range from the coral atolls and volcanic islands of the South Pacific to the entire insular region between Asia and the Americas, including Australasia and the Malay Archipelago...

. Indonesia is an archipelago
Archipelago
An archipelago , sometimes called an island group, is a chain or cluster of islands. The word archipelago is derived from the Greek ἄρχι- – arkhi- and πέλαγος – pélagos through the Italian arcipelago...

 comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces
Provinces of Indonesia
The province is the highest tier of local government subnational entity in Indonesia. Each province has its own local government, headed by a governor, and has its own legislative body...

 with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic
Republic
A republic is a form of government in which the people, or some significant portion of them, have supreme control over the government and where offices of state are elected or chosen by elected people. In modern times, a common simplified definition of a republic is a government where the head of...

, with an elected legislature and president. The nation's capital city is Jakarta
Jakarta
Jakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Officially known as the Special Capital Territory of Jakarta, it is located on the northwest coast of Java, has an area of , and a population of 9,580,000. Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre...

.
Timeline

1945    Heavy fighting in Surabaya between Indonesian nationalists and returning colonialists after World War II, is celebrated as Heroes' Day (Hari Pahlawan).

1949    Indonesian National Revolution: The Netherlands officially recognizes Indonesian independence.

1950    Indonesia is admitted to the United Nations.

1950    Indonesia joins the United Nations.

1955    Twenty-nine nations meet at Bandung, Indonesia, for the first Asian-African Conference.

1957    Sukarno expels all Dutch people from Indonesia.

1961    Indonesia invades Netherlands New Guinea.

1965    General Suharto crushes an attempted coup in Indonesia.

1966    Suharto takes over from Sukarno to become President of Indonesia.

1967    The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is founded by Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.

 
x
OK