Indonesian Independence Day
Every year on the 17th of August, Indonesia observes a National Holiday in honor of the Declaration of Independence.
To celebrate Indonesian Independence, below are some FUN FACTS about Indonesia.
1. Indonesia has a lot of people, especially the young population.
With estimated ~275 millions people, Indonesia is the world's 4th largest country by population following China, Unites States and India [1]. This country has ~165 millions people under the age of 30, making it the world's biggest young population.
2. The world's largest Muslim nation.
It is well known that Indonesian are predominantly Muslims, but with history of Buddhism and Hinduism civilization as well as colonization by Portuguese and Dutch, there are many traces of other religions in Indonesia.
Borobudur Temple, which was constructed during the 9th century, is the world's largest Buddhist Temple and widely considered as one of the World's Seven Wonders.
Hinduism is very prominent in the Land of God: Bali. Also, did you know that despite the vast majority of Muslims, there are over 61,000 churches in Indonesia [2].
3. Indonesia is a major supplier for Patchouli oil, Clove oil and Nutmeg oil.
Did you know that Nutmeg was traditionally used as a hallucinogen? Later it was found out that a compound called "myristicin" is the one responsible for the hallucinogen effect when digesting a large amount of Nutmeg.
4. Indonesia is a big country.
Indonesia covers an area of 1.92 million sq. km and its diverse tropical archipelago consists of ~17,500 islands of which only ~6000 are inhabited [3].
The country stretches over 3,000 miles and has three time zones. It is bigger horizontally than USA or Canada.
5. Indonesia is very diverse.
Indonesia is not only large by area, but the country is also incredibly diverse. The population is made up of 300 different ethnic groups and over 500 languages & dialects spoken across Indonesia [2].
6. Guinness World Record holder for the “Largest packet of instant noodles".
In 2005, PT Indofood from Indonesia broke the Guinness Book of World Records of making the largest packet of instant noodles. The packet of the noodles measured 3.4 m x 0.47 m, with a net weight of 664,938 kg, which is ~8,000x larger than the weight of a regular instant noodles. This massive packet was an exact scaled-up replica of a regular Indomie Mi Goreng [4].
7. Kopi Luwak is from Indonesia.
The most expensive coffee in the world is from Indonesia. The coffee beans are eaten by civets and digested before being brewed.
8. Rendang voted #1 the most delicious dish in the world.
In 2011, ~35,000 readers of the online magazine GO CNN a famous dish from West Sumatra: Rendang to be #1 The Most Delicious Dish in the World. You can read more about Rendang on our previous article HERE. The second place went to another famous Indonesian dish: Nasi Goreng or Indonesian fried rice.
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