17 August: Indonesia Independence Day

Indonesia became independent on this date in 1945. How much do you know about Indonesia?

1. Indonesia is the largest island country in the world - it has more than thirteen thousand islands. 258 million people live there, making it the world's fourth most populous country as well as the most populous Muslim majority country.
2. One of the islands is Java, where more than half the Indonesian people live. Java is the 13th largest island in the world, and the most populous. The capital city of Jakarta is located on this island. Jakarta is the largest city in the world not to have a metro train system. Other islands which are part of Indonesia include Bali, Sumatra and 73% of Borneo.
3. Java is famous for its coffee. Coffee bushes and the habit of coffee drinking were introduced by the Dutch East India Company to Indonesia in 1696. The most expensive coffee in the world comes from here and is produced in a unique way. The coffee berries are fed to civet-like cats, and are then retrieved from the animals' poo, washed, and ground into coffee, which supposedly is extremely rich and a little bitter.
4. Indonesia is the world’s leading exporter of Frog's legs. 4,600 tons of them a year end up in plates in the Netherlands, Belgium, and, of course, France.
5. There are at least 150 active volcanoes in the country, including Krakatoa, which erupted violently in 1883. The explosion is considered to be the loudest sound ever heard in modern history, with reports of it being heard up to 3,000 miles (4,800 km) away in places such as Perth, Western Australia, and the island of Rodrigues near Mauritius. It was reported that anyone within ten miles (16 km), of it would have gone deaf. Two thirds of the island was destroyed, 36,000 people lost their lives. The shock wave rounded the globe three and a half times; the resulting tsunamis affected sea levels as far away as the English Channel. In 1927, a new volcano appeared in the caldera, which is known as Anak Krakatau, or "Child of Krakatoa" which has grown at an average rate of five inches (13 cm) per week since the 1950s. This volcano is active and erupts every few days. Scientists monitoring the volcano have warned people to stay out of a 3 km zone around the island. Earthquakes are common too, and Indonesia was the location of the world’s second largest recorded earthquake, a 9.3+ magnitude quake on December 26, 2004, the source of the devastating tsunami of that day. The force of the earthquake is said to have caused Earth to wobble on its axis and shifted surrounding land masses by up to 12 ft. (36m).
6. The English word "Ketchup" comes from the Indonesian word kecap, which is a sweet soy sauce. The Indonesian language also gave us the term "to run amok". “Amok” comes from the Indonesian word mengamuk, which translates to “make a furious and desperate charge”, believed to be caused by an evil tiger spirit which entered a person’s body and caused them to behave very badly.
7. Indonesia is second only to Brazil in terms of biodiversity. Unique animals here include Orangutans, found in the wild only on the Indonesia islands of Borneo and Sumatra. The adult males are said to be eight times stronger than a human; the Javan Rhinoceros, an animal so rare it was declared extinct - there are about 50 left; the Komodo dragon, the world's largest lizard, thought to be the inspiration behind the Chinese dragon; and the tarsier, a small primate with eyes so huge they cannot rotate them in their sockets. Their heads can rotate 360° to compensate.
8. 1.5 million years ago, Indonesia was home to Homo erectus, or "Java Man". There is a mythical creature called the orang pendek (“short man”), a type of Sasquatch. This creature is said to have feet that point backwards, making it impossible to follow its tracks. While there is no evidence this creature exists, there is evidence that "hobbits" once lived here. In September 2003, archaeologists found a skeleton the size of a three-year-old child but with the worn-down teeth and bone structure of an adult. They called it Homo floriensis, but it was later nicknamed “Hobbit.” Experts think “Hobbits” were part of the Homo erectus species that fled from Africa around two million years ago and spread throughout Asia.
9. Indonesia's Flag is a bicolour of red and white, which is identical to Monaco's flag apart from the ratio of the bands. It's very similar to the flag of Singapore (which has a half crescent and 5 stars in the top red band) and Poland's, which has the white band on top. The flag is said to have originated when Indonesian nationalists and independence movement tore apart the Dutch flag. They ripped out the blue stripe because it stood for the "blue blooded" aristocracy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
10. Java is home to the largest Buddhist monument in the world. The Buddhist temple of Borobudur resembles a nine-tiered “mountain,” 113 feet (34.5m) tall. It is said to have taken 75 years to build.