Indonesia. Indonesia has the fourth largest population in the world and is the country with the largest Muslim population in the world. The island of Bali–where I went for my honeymoon–is the most famous island for tourists. Unlike most islands, it is largely Hindu. Java, where the capital of Jakarta is located, is the most populous island in the world. While Indonesia most recently made it into the news a week ago for the 7.6 magnitude earthquake in Sumatra, Indonesia is a country on the rise. Other interesting facts about Indonesia:
Health
- Government spending on health is less than 1% of GDP.
- Indonesia has 21 doctors per 100,000 people [compared to 163 per 100,000 in the U.S.]
- Data on life expectancy, infant mortality and maternal mortality compared to Indonesia’s peers is available here.
- According to the Economist, “a public health insurance scheme for the poor, known as Jamkesmas, now covers about 76m people, nearly one-third of the population. But Ajriani Munthe Salak, of the Legal Aid Foundation for Health, says that the poor often have to pass through a bewildering series of bureaucratic hoops to receive treatment.” The government plans to extend Jamkesmas to all individuals in 2012.
- Half of all health spending in Indonesia is private.
Economy
- Indonesia has the 15th largest economy in the world at $914 billion. However, GDP per capita is only $3900, which ranks 155th in the world.
- The median age is only 27.6 [compared to 36.7 in the U.S.]
- Indonesia’s leading trading partners are: Japan 20.2%, US 9.5%, Singapore 9.4%, China 8.5%, South Korea 6.7%, India 5.2%, and Malaysia 4.7%.
- The national language in Indonesia is Bahasa Indonesia. In Bali, most people speak Bahasa Bali. Bahasa Indoneisa is “spoken as a mother tongue by very few Indonesianas at the time of independence, yet now [is] in use in almost every village.”