Located in Southeast Asia, Indonesia is the largest archipelagic nation (i.e., one consisting entirely of island groups), the fourth most-populous nation (211.7 million in 2002, according to the World Bank), the third largest electoral democracy, and the most populous predominantly Muslim nation (Muslims make up approximately 88% of the population) in the world. There are 400 volcanoes across the country, about 100 of which are deemed to be currently active.

The single fact linking the very diverse territories that make up Indonesia is that they were all part of the Netherlands' East Indies colony. Nationalism began to grow on an Indies-wide basis in the second quarter of the twentieth century, and out of these religiously, ethnically, and linguistically diverse areas, a single nation was born. Independence was proclaimed at the end of World War II, on August 17, 1945, by Sukarno (also Soekarno; 1901–1970)—who, like many Indonesians, used only one name—however, the Indonesians...