The Republic of Indonesia consists of approx. 17,000 islands roughly. 6,000 of which are inhabited. The archipelago spans approx. 5,100 km like a bridge from Asia to Australia. The island Borneo separates Indonesia with Malaysia from New Guinea with Papua-New Guinea. The biggest archipelagos of the world, Indonesia has an unequalled geological variety and a large number of different vegetal and animal species. The Asian currency and economy crisis hit Indonesia more than the adjacent countries. In 1998, the GNP shrunk by almost 14%. Since then, the economy has started to grow again, in 2002 by 3.5% compared to the year before. Industry is the biggest economic factor, followed by agriculture, forestry nd fishery, before trade and tourism.

Characteristics of the coastal region
Indonesia has the world’s longest coast. The biggest part of the landside archipelagos is covered by woods along the coast. In the transitory zones we see swampy coastal lines, seamed by mangrove woods. In South Borneo and Eastern Sumatra, the woods grow into giant mangrove swamps. These regions are among the most varied floras of the world, but in many places lumbering and settlement have destroyed them. Along the seaside, we find three different types of reefs: Fringing, Barrier and Atoll. The most frequent form of reef is the Fringing Reef. The fauna of land, water and air is absolutely unique.