There are 17,508 islands making up the Republic of Indonesia and with the population  estimated at around 240 million people, it is the fourth most populated country in the world.  The Indonesian language is the official language making it one of the most widely spoken languages in the world but there are over 300 distinct languages or regional dialects spoken in Indonesia.  Dutch is spoken by a lot of the older residents and English is the language used in the tourism industry and for foreign business dealings.

The majority of the population do not speak Indonesian as their first language but merely as a second or third after their regional language. The people who speak it as a first language mainly live in or around the capital city of Jakarta.  The standard, correct version of the Indonesian language is rarely spoken in daily life although it can be found in books and newspapers. This of course also applies to most other languages, English for example, but it is a bit more pronounced with Indonesian.

The Indonesian language is also called Bahasa Indonesia by a lot of English-speakers but Bahasa just means ‘language’ in Indonesian so this name has no official status. There are a number of different ways to learn to speak the Indonesian language, but one of the best is by following the Pimsleur Language Learning Technique - a highly effective and proven method to learn a new lanugage quickly and easily!

The Indonesian language is a variety of Malay but its grammar is a little bit more complex than Malay’s. These differences are mainly due to the fact that Indonesia was colonized by the Dutch for over 350 years and Malay was influenced more by the English.

Indonesia has the largest Muslim population with over 200 million of its population adhering to the Islamic religion but it also has the world’s second largest Buddhist temple in the world.

Since becoming independent from the Dutch after World War II life in Indonesia has been very turbulent, with natural disasters, corruption, separatism, a democratization process, and periods of rapid economic change.  The national motto is , "Bhinneka Tunggal Ika" ("Unity in Diversity" literally, "many, yet one") reflects the diversity of the country. Economic and political stability has been undermined in recent years by the sectarian tensions and separatism.

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