*Indian Ocean, Government
Digraph:
XO
*Indian Ocean, Economy
Overview:
The Indian Ocean provides major sea routes connecting the Middle East,
Africa, and East Asia with Europe and the Americas. It carries a
particularly heavy traffic of petroleum and petroleum products from the oil
fields of the Persian Gulf and Indonesia. Its fish are of great and growing
importance to the bordering countries for domestic consumption and export.
Fishing fleets from Russia, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan also exploit the Indian
Ocean, mainly for shrimp and tuna. Large reserves of hydrocarbons are being
tapped in the offshore areas of Saudi Arabia, Iran, India, and Western
Australia. An estimated 40% of the world's offshore oil production comes
from the Indian Ocean. Beach sands rich in heavy minerals and offshore
placer deposits are actively exploited by bordering countries, particularly
India, South Africa, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and Thailand.
Industries:
based on exploitation of natural resources, particularly marine life,
minerals, oil and gas production, fishing, sand and gravel aggregates,
placer deposits
*Indian Ocean, Communications
Ports:
Bombay (India), Calcutta (India), Madras (India), Colombo (Sri Lanka),
Durban (South Africa), Fremantle (Australia), Jakarta (Indonesia), Melbourne
(Australia), Richard's Bay (South Africa)
Telecommunications:
submarine cables from India to United Arab Emirates and Malaysia, and from
Sri Lanka to Djibouti and Indonesia
*Indonesia, Geography
Location:
Southeast Asia, between Malaysia and Australia
Map references:
Oceania, Southeast Asia, Standard Time Zones of the World
Area:
total area:
1,919,440 km2
land area:
1,826,440 km2
comparative area:
slightly less than three times the size of Texas
Land boundaries:
total 2,602 km, Malaysia 1,782 km, Papua New Guinea 820 km
Coastline:
54,716 km
Maritime claims:
measured from claimed archipelagic baselines
exclusive economic zone:
200 nm
territorial sea:
12 nm
International disputes:
sovereignty over Timor Timur (East Timor Province) disputed with Portugal
and not recognized by the UN; two islands in dispute with Malaysia
Climate:
tropical; hot, humid; more moderate in highlands
Terrain:
mostly coastal lowlands; larger islands have interior mountains
Natural resources:
petroleum, tin, natural gas, nickel, timber, bauxite, copper, fertile soils,
coal, gold, silver
Land use:
arable land:
8%
permanent crops:
3%
meadows and pastures:
7%
forest and woodland:
67%
other:
15%
Irrigated land:
75,500 km2 (1989 est.)
Environment:
archipelago of 13,500 islands (6,000 inhabited); occasional floods, severe
droughts, and tsunamis; deforestation
Note:
straddles Equator; strategic location astride or along major sea lanes from
Indian Ocean to Pacific Ocean
*Indonesia, People
Population:
197,232,428 (July 1993 est.)
Population growth rate:
1.61% (1993 est.)
Birth rate:
24.84 births/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Death rate:
8.73 deaths/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Net migration rate:
0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
69.6 deaths/1,000 live births (1993 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population:
60.26 years
male:
58.28 years
female:
62.34 years (1993 est.)
Total fertility rate: 2.86 children born/woman (1993 est.)
Nationality:
noun:
Indonesian(s)
adjective:
Indonesian
Ethnic divisions:
Javanese 45%, Sundanese 14%, Madurese 7.5%, coastal Malays 7.5%, other 26%
Religions:
Muslim 87%, Protestant 6%, Roman Catholic 3%, Hindu 2%, Buddhist 1%, other
1% (1985)
Languages:
Bahasa Indonesia (modified form of Malay; official), English, Dutch, local
dialects the most widely spoken of which is Javanese
Literacy:
age 15 and over can read and write (1990)
total population:
77%
male:
84%
female:
68%
Labor force:
67 million
by occupation:
agriculture 55%, manufacturing 10%, construction 4%, transport and
communications 3% (1985 est.)