Indonesia, located in Southeast Asia, is a nation consisting of over 13,000 islands, only 6000 of which are inhabited. The islands spread between the Indian and Pacific oceans, linking the continent of Asia and Australia. The main islands are Sumatera (473,606 sq.km), Kalimantan (539,460 sq.km), Sulawesi (189,216 sq.km), Irian Jaya (421,981 sq.km), and Java (132,187 sq.km). 

To say Indonesia is a land of diversity is an understatement. It is an ethnological goldmine: 336 ethnic groups at the last count. People whose ways of life can be 5,000 years apart: some in the Stone Age, some in the nuclear age. With more than 300 languages and cultures, Indonesia is definitely a unique place to visit and many people (especially in big cities) speak English. Hopping from island to island is not only fun, it's the only way to appreciate the country's incredible diversity - the difference in people (pigmentation, stature, physiognomy, hair type), the difference in religion (Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism), the difference in cultural influences (Chinese, Indian, Melanesian, Portugese, Polynesian, Arabian, English, Dutch, American), the difference in agricultural patterns (ladang or shifting cultivation, and sawah or wet-rice cultivation), the difference in "progress", whether the locals have rings in their noses or their noses in Sartre, and so on.  Indonesia has the ability to be all things to all people. It is so diverse it can cater to everyone's tastes. Most regions in Indonesia developed quite independently of each other: some were influenced by European traders, others by the Chinese, and still others had no outside influences whatsoever. Each of the larger cities also has a distinct culture: Yogyakarta is decidedly Javanese while Bandung, near Jakarta, reflects far more the influence of the Dutch. Adventure programs are also widely available: boat ride up the Mahakam River in Kalimantan, visit the Baliem Valley in Irian Jaya - seeing people whose lives have remained relatively untouched for centuries, raft through the remote highlands of North Sumatra on the Alas River, or trek up Mount Rinjani on the island of Lombok.

Climate. The climate is mostly hot and humid, except in mountains. There are two seasons; wet season (November to April) and dry season (May to October).