DMC Indonesia

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The country's most important and largest island is Java. Java has about 130 million inhabitants, more than any other island on earth. The Indonesian capital Jakarta is also located here. This expands more and more on the island and almost merges with the other cities, so that in the meantime the artificial term Jabodetabek, composed of the first letters of the five cities Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang and Bekasi, has become common. The island is also home to the Ujung Kulon National Park, where the endangered Java rhino can be seen. Nature is particularly impressive on Java, with its volcanoes and mountains.

Indonesia's second largest island, Borneo, is called Kalimatan among Indonesians because it is divided between the states of Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei. Borneo is more than twice the size of Germany and also larger than any other European country, Russia excepted. A new subspecies of Asian elephant was discovered here in 2003, the Borneo pygmy elephant. These animals originate from Java, where they are now extinct, and were probably brought to the island of Borneo by a sultan as a gift in the 17th century. Today there are still about 1,000 of them. The orangutan is also found only on Borneo.

The third of Indonesia's four main islands is Sumatra. The sixth largest island in the world, it is divided in the middle by the equator and plays an important role in the oil industry, generating 70% of Indonesia's income. It is also one of the world's largest producers of palm oil.

Fourth is the island of Sulawesi. Of volcanic origin, the island resembles an orchid or an octopus, depending on how you look at it, and was inhabited by humans over 100,000 years ago. Sulawesi has a very diverse fauna, but it did not depend on either the Asian mainland or the Australian continent to colonise the island. Indonesia's most popular and best-known island is certainly Bali as a round trip and bathing destination. In contrast to the other regions of Indonesia, the population of Bali is largely Hindu. Worth seeing here is the sea temple Pura Tanah Lot, one of the most beautiful Hindu sanctuaries on a rock off the coast. At high tide, the island is completely washed away, but at low tide you can almost reach the temple.