Financial Institutions and Markets in Indonesia

Abstract

The Indonesian archipelago comprises thousands of islands strewn along a 5000 kilometre stretch of the equator from just west of peninsular Malaysia at the western extremity to the border with Papua New Guinea in the east. The three largest islands — Kalimantan (formerly Borneo), Sumatra and Irian Jaya (formerly West New Guinea) — account for about three-quarters of its nearly 2 million square kilometre land mass. Most others are little more than dots on the ocean. Indonesia’s population of about 150 million is the largest of the ASEAN nations, and fifth largest in the world. About two-thirds of this population are concentrated in Java, southern Sumatra and Bali.