Indonesia archipelago has about 17.708 islands situated between two continents of Asia and Australia, and two oceans Indian and Pacific. This strategic location has significant influence toward its culture, social, politics and Economy.

Indonesia's territory extends along 3.977 mile between the Indian ocean and Pacific ocean. If the coastal area between the islands be connected, Indonesia's area would become 1.9 million square miles.

There are five large islands in Indonesi, they are: Sumatra with an area of 473.606 square km, Java with an area of 132.107 square Km, Borneo / Kalimantan (The third largest island in the world) with an rea of 539.460 Km, Celebes/ Sulawesi with area of 189.216 square KM, and Papua with an area of 421.981 square KM.

Being located near the equator, there are two seasons in Indonesia: dry and rain. The rainy season comes every October through April, except certain places like Maluku, which start from March to August. During the rainy season, rain starts around noon and lasts into the afternoon. Some areas can have sudden showers for more than two hours.

It is believed that Indonesian first inhabitants had come from China at the beginning of the iron age, around 3000 BC. Some Buddhist inscriptions had written the date from the 9th century AD, however, only in the 11th century that the HIndu influence Java made its mark on the island. Under the reign of King Airlangga, cultural exchanges between the two islands were developed. In the 13th century, the son of King Kertanegara found the Majapahit dynasty which flourished for three centuries.
The First Dutch seamen landed in the archipelago in 1597. The settlement nd colonization process, which actually only started in 1800, was marked by troubled times and climaxed with the "Puputan" or collective suicide on 14th of September 1906 when 4000 Balinese killed themselves rather that capitulate. The Japanese occupation, from 1942 to 1945, hindered the Dutch sovereignty. On 17th August 1945, Soekarno, the first President of Republic of Indonesia, proclaimed independence.

And started per 28 May 2007, Indonesia will be added its Visa on Arrival (VOA) favors to more 11 countries joined with previous 52 other favored countries according to the Directorate General of Immigration recent released paper.
The 11 countries are Algeria , the Czech Republic , Fiji , Latvia , Libya , Lithuania , Panama , Romania , Slovakia , Slovenia and Tunisia .

Long-distance telephone calls within Indonesia are done by direct dialing. International direct dialing (IDD) is available in all 34 pronvincial capitals and in more than 320 cities throughout Indonesia. For Business travellers, facsimile, telex and email services are available in most hotels and at outlet services.

Exchange facilities for main foreign currencies are available in Banks or at Authorized money changers in major cities of Indonesia. Rupiah comes in denominations of 100.000, 50.000, 20.000, 10.000, 5.000 in bank notes and 1000, 500, 100, 50, 25 in coins.

Indonesia is devided into 3 zones. Western Indonesia Times ( Sumatra, Java, West and Central Kalimantan) is seven hours ahead of GMT, central Indonesia time (Bali, south and east Kalimantan, Sulawesi an Nusa Tenggara) is eight hours ahead, and East Indonesia time (Maluku and Irian Jaya) is nine hours ahead.

Offices are generally open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Most government offices, however, are opening from 7 a.m. until 3 p.m. Monday to Friday closing earlier on Friday. Visitors should target the 8 a.m. to noon period for their visits.