A colleague’s email name read “Maryanto Maryanto”. I was puzzled by the identical first and last names until I learned that many Javanese people in Indonesia use mononyms—that is, they go by only one name. Corporate email systems simply duplicate it to fill the last name field.

Indonesia defies the postcard. It’s not a country I can simply summarize. Here is my attempt to explain why.

Geography

Indonesia is a geographical rebel! World’s largest archipelago of ~17,000 islands stretching more than 5,000 kilometers from west to east spanning 3 time zones. If you laid Indonesia across Europe, it would reach from Portugal to Iran. It is wider than USA. (appears much smaller on maps because objects near the equator are visually compressed due to Mercator projection)

Indonesia holds between 20–26% of the world’s total mangrove forests — more than any other country. It has the longest stretch of the equator passing through its territory — across both land and sea.

Flying frequently between India and Singapore, I’d cross over the massive but seldom-discussed island of Sumatra. Sumatra is the sixth-largest island in the world, and it is just one of Indonesia’s headliners. Among the top 13 largest islands on Earth, Indonesia has a footprint in 5 of them — more than any other country. Three of those five — Sumatra, Sulawesi, and Java — are entirely self-contained within Indonesia.

Geology

Indonesia is the volcano capital of the world with near-constant volcanic activity throughout the year. It has the highest number of active volcanoes on Earth, ~130 peaks that are currently active or have erupted recently. 6 of them are underwater. As I write this on 7-March-2026, I searched “days since last volcano eruption in Indonesia” out of curiosity. The answer: 0 days. Mt Ibu erupted yesterday.

The Mount Tambora eruption of 1815 led to what became known as the “Year Without a Summer” in 1816. The ash and sulphur it blasted into the atmosphere was enough to dim sunlight across Europe, North America and large parts of Asia. Europe saw snow as late as July that year. It remains the most powerful volcanic eruption in recorded human history. In an unexpected historical chain reaction, this event led to the invention of the bicycle & ammonia fertilizer! If this intrigues you, check out Morgan Housel’s article for more on it.

Between the islands of Bali and Lombok, just 35 km apart, the invisible Wallace Line marks one of nature’s most dramatic divides. Two distinct animal worlds separated by a narrow channel: Asian animals like tigers and orangutans on one side, Australian animals like kangaroos on the other. (Yes, Indonesia has native kangaroos in Papua. The province also has a glacier!) Most such boundaries in the world fade slowly — a gradual blending of species over hundreds of kilometres. This one is nature’s sharpest dividing lines anywhere on Earth.

Then there’s Toba Caldera— the world’s largest volcanic lake, formed when a supervolcano erupted 74,000 years ago. One of the largest known explosive events in Earth’s history created a vast basin that took 1,500 years to fill with rainwater, forming a lake 100km long, 30km wide, and 500 metres deep. Samosir Island, which is at the center of the lake is the same size of Singapore. During my visit in 2025 I stood mesmerized on the Scottish Highland-style wavy, rolling hills overlooking Lake Toba. A catastrophe at one scale becoming a wonder at another — that is Indonesia’s geology in a nutshell.

Remnants of Hinduism & Buddhism

It is well known fact that the country is home to the world’s largest Muslim population of 230 million people. And yet remnants of Hindusim and Buddhism is everywhere. The national symbol is the Garuda, a mythical bird from Hindu mythology. National airline is named Garuda Indonesia. The country’s shadow puppet tradition, wayang, retells the Ramayana and Mahabharata. PT Ramayana Lestari Sentosa Tbk is a prominent Indonesian retail company that is publicly listed in the Jakarta stock exchange. It operates departmental stores across major islands under the brand name of Ramayana, the iconic Hindu epic. The mottos of Indonesia’s armed forces and police are Sanskrit phrases.

Indonesia is home to Borobudur, the world’s largest Buddhist temple, and Prambanan, a massive 9th-century Hindu temple complex. Both are UNESCO World Heritage sites and are maintained with pride by the Indonesian government and the local Muslim-majority population in Central Java. I experienced this first hand in our visit to Yogyakarta in 2024.

I have good memories of Tanah Lot, the ancient temple on a rock formation with the ocean crashing around it, and of Uluwatu on the southern tip, where the cliff-top temple meets dramatic waves. But that is not why I went. The primary reason was simpler and more personal — to experience a Hindu state 4,000 kilometres from India

Then there’s my driver in North Sumatra — Chandra. Not Indian. Not Hindu. Christian. A Toba Batak, carrying a name rooted in Sanskrit.

Tourism

When most people think of Indonesia, they think of Bali. The island accounts for ~45% of all international tourist arrivals to Indonesia. What lies beyond Bali is extraordinary, and largely discovered by a hand full of travellers. The imbalance prompted the government to launch the “10 New Balis” initiative. The goal is to develop ten alternative destinations across the country. The ten sites are Toba, Mandalika, Labuan Bajo, Borobudur, Manado, Wakatobi, Bangka Belitung, Morotai, Bromo-Tengger-Semeru, and Tanjung Lesung.

Language

Indonesia is the 2nd most linguistically diverse country in the world with over 700 languages (It’s neighbour Papua New Guinea tops the chart). Yet one language bridges the entire nation. How did Bahasa Indonesia become the common tongue?

Between 1928 to the country’s independence in 1940s, the leaders chose a minority trade language. At this time, only about 5% of the population spoke Bahasa Indonesia as a first language. Most people spoke Javanese or Sudanese. Usually, national languages are imposed by the largest ethnic group. By selecting a language native to none of the major ethnic groups, it was a threat to none. It worked. Within a generation, 97% are fluent today.

Bahasa Indonesia is widely hailed as a linguistic marvel but language is a complexity subject. Here is an interesting BBC article on the stiffness of the language- the author says it is such an engineered language for unity and neutrality that it lacks enough nuance and emotional depth. I am no expert in languages and hold no opinions yet this is intriguing.

Ghost Believers & Horror Movies

It is common to meet Indonesians who claim to have the ability to see ghosts. A colleague was one such. Not my favourite subject but out of curiosity, I have had unsettling conversations with him to say the least.

Horror movies have become the country’s commercial king. The genre dominates market share & box office. Some report say it accounts for over 70% of total cinema audiences and ~60% of domestic productions in 2024. Some others peg the production number at 30%. The highest-grossing Indonesian film of all time is of this genre, KKN di Desa Penari, released in 2022. The story originated as a thread on X in 2019. You don’t have to watch the films to find that remarkable.

Conclusion

Among all the countries I have visited, when I ask myself which place keeps surprising me the most, the answer is the same many a times. Nusantara (the ancient name for the archipelago) keeps producing facts that makes me stop, blink and think. This blog is a personal challenge to uncover memories, explore accumulated curiosity & research rabbit holes — and answer one question: Why am I captivated by Indonesia?

Indonesia fan? First-timer still on the fence? Either way — drop a message. Let’s talk Nusantara!

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