Name: Indonesia, Etc.
ISBN: 9780393351279

Elizabeth Pisani

Paints a unique picture of Indonesia and its citizens, where 80 million residents from over 300 ethnic groups across 13,500 islands live without electricity and some communities still participate in ritual sacrifices. 12,000 first printing.

Exploring the Improbable Nation

Indonesia, Etc.

One in 30 of the people on this planet is Indonesian. The 13,000 islands of their homeland, scattered along the equator, stretch the distance from London to Tehran, and the residents of the capital, Jakarta, tweet more than those of any other city on the planet. By any standard, Indonesia is a global hub, one of the most dynamic and diverse countries of the 21st century. But you don't have to look far from metropolitan Jakarta to find poverty, superstition, ancient rituals and black magic. Travelling from volcanoes and jungles to reefs and snowy peaks, investigative reporter Elizabeth Pisani sets out to capture the real Indonesia.

Indonesia Etc

I enjoyed every single anecdote and page on this book. It is charming, disturbing, interesting and a page turner, all at once. I'm planning to visit Jakarta and Java sometime in the near future and I was tremendously curious about the 'improbable nation', this book entertained me, educated me and inspired me to visit this unlikely nation. Wish to find more books like this one.

Cristian Garcia

Shrini S

** spoiler alert **
           string of 13,466 islands inhabited by people from over 360 ethnic groups, who between them speak 719 languages.

Though it takes up just 7 per cent of Indonesia’s land mass, Java is home to 60 per cent of all Indonesians. That’s 140 million people in an area the size of Greece.

The VOC was the world’s first joint stock company, with 1,800 initial investors.

Greater Jakarta is now home to 28 million people – the second largest urban agglomeration in the world after Greater Tokyo.

Dangdut is an Indonesian pop music which combines vaguely Indian melodies with the dang-dut dang-dut beat of conical gendang drums, a sort of Bollywood–House Music mash-up.

Indonesia strings together 127 active volcanoes;

Pontianak, the largest city in West Kalimantan and the only city in the world that sits exactly on the equator

Tolak Angin, a ginger- and honey-based tonic.

Begitulah. ‘That’s just the way it is.

In 1945, Indonesia's declaration of independence promised: 'the details of the transfer of power etc. will be worked out as soon as possible.' Still working on the 'etc.' seven decades later, the world's fourth most populous nation is now enthusiastically democratic and riotously diverse - rich and enchanting but riddled with ineptitude and corruption. Elizabeth Pisani, who first worked in Indonesia 25 years ago as a foreign correspondent, set out in 2011, travelling over 13,000 miles, to rediscover its enduring attraction, and to find the links which bind together this disparate nation. Fearless and funny, and sharply perceptive, she has drawn a compelling, entertaining and deeply informed portrait of a captivating nation.

Indonesia, Etc. Exploring the Improbable Nation

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