IPEKA INTEGRATED Christian School » Orientation to Indonesia and Jakarta

Orientation to Indonesia and Jakarta


Indonesia is the largest archipelago and the fourth most populous country in the world. Consisting of five main islands (Sumatra, Java, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, and Papua) with 33 provinces, 30 smaller archipelagos, it has a total of 17,508 islands of which about 6,000 are inhabited. The biodiversity above and below the ocean is some of the richest in the world.

Indonesia is situated in South East Asia and extended 5,150 km between the continents of Asia and Australia. It divides Pacific and Indian Ocean over the Equator. This beautiful country shares borders with Malaysia, East Timor and Papua New Guinea. Neighboring countries include: Singapore, the Philippines, Brunei Darussalam, and Australia.

There are almost 600 languages and dialects spoken in this archipelago which also known as The Emerald of the Equator. They normally belong to the 350 different ethnic groups of the population. Bahasa Indonesia is the national language, written in Roman script and based on European orthography.

The Indonesian climate is definitely tropical. The dry season usually occurs between June to September, whereas October to March would be wet season. The transitional period between these two are interposed by occasional rainshowers.

Indonesia is a moderate Muslim country that, by law protects all religions. “Unity in Diversity” is the motto of the country.


The capital city of Indonesia is Jakarta. It is located in Northwest of Java. It is divided into 5 regions: North Jakarta, South Jakarta, East Jakarta, West Jakarta and Central Jakarta.

As the metropolitan city which populated by more than 10 million people, Jakarta has an incredible unique diversity of tribes, languages, cultures, and traditions. As the capital city of Indonesia, Jakarta is a truly “Melting Pot” which represents peoples from throughout the archipelago.

Living in Jakarta can be thrilling, since this it is extraordinarily developed and will be at the tourism forefront in Asia in the future. Beside the scores of high fashion shopping centers, finest culinary dining, and entertainment places, luxurious houses, hotels and apartments, the city is known as the cultural center of Indonesia for a reason. In fact, expats living in Jakarta are able to greatly profit from the city cultural offerings. From jazz festivals and fashion weeks to international art exhibitions and traditional trade shows, life in Jakarta is filled to the brim with leisure activities.

This capital city is the major gateway to the rest of Indonesia. In Jakarta, sophisticated land, air and sea transportations are available to reach the rest of the country.