Indonesia

Discover Indonesia

In 1883, a volcano called Krakatoa exploded so loudly that people heard it more than 3,000 miles away. The blast killed over 36,000 people and sent so much ash into the sky that global temperatures dropped for years afterward.

Indonesia is made up of more than 17,000 islands spread across Southeast Asia. It's the largest island nation on Earth. More than 270 million people live here, speaking over 700 different languages.

For more than 300 years, the Dutch controlled Indonesia, shipping its spices, coffee, and sugar back to Europe. Indonesians resisted for generations. On August 17, 1945, a leader named Sukarno declared independence, and the country fought for four more years before the Dutch officially recognized it in 1949.

Indonesia also carries difficult modern history. After a violent political crisis in 1965, the military took power and hundreds of thousands of people were killed. A military government ruled until 1998. The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami struck hardest here, killing over 160,000 people in the province of Aceh alone.

Bali is the most visited island, with ancient Hindu temples like Tanah Lot perched right on ocean cliffs. On the island of Java, you can walk around Borobudur, a 9th-century Buddhist temple built from two million stone blocks and the largest of its kind in the world. Want to see a real dragon? The Komodo dragon, the world's largest living lizard, lives only on a handful of Indonesian islands.

For food, try nasi goreng, which is fried rice cooked with egg, vegetables, and soy sauce. Satay is skewered grilled meat served with peanut sauce. Rendang is slow-cooked beef in coconut milk and spices, rich and deeply flavored.