Generally speaking, a country's population and area is the hardware of the comprehensive national strength. With these two hardware , can have great development potential no matter how you develop. If it develops well, you will naturally have a certain sense of existence on the world stage.
However, there is such a country in Southeast Asia. It is the fourth largest country in the world with a population of and ranks fifteenth in the world. Even in terms of natural resources and geographical location, it has the potential to be a strong country. , but it has never developed. This country is Indonesia . It has many advantages in software and hardware. It is basically a small transparent existence in the international community, and its economic strength and influence are completely in proportion to its size.
When people talk about Indonesia, they may only think of the scenic tourist destination Bali , and there is nothing else.
01 Excellent conditions
To deal with the natural conditions, compared with many countries, can be said to have won at the starting line .
Indonesia is the largest archipelago country in the world, consisting of more than 10,000 islands of all sizes and is known as the "country of Thousand Islands".
has a land area of about 1.904 million square kilometers, ranking 15th in the world. At the same time, it is also the country with the largest span in Southeast Asia.
Its ocean area reaches 3.166 million square kilometers, which means that it has rich marine resources and maritime trade resources. China is also a major maritime power, but our ocean area is not as good as Indonesia.
Because the sea area is vast and has a tropical climate suitable for fish survival, Indonesia has extremely rich fishery resources, Sumatra Bagancia Biya is a world-famous fishing ground.
Indonesia has countless excellent ports, let alone worry about the coastline, which means that there are sufficient advantages and potential in maritime trade.
In terms of geographical location, Indonesia also has unique advantages. It is located at the junction of the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean. It is a major transportation route for maritime trade and controls the lifeblood of maritime traffic- Strait of Malacca .
Indonesia is connected to Asia on one end and to the Australian mainland on the other end. Frequent trade transactions can bring a lot of income to Indonesia.
In terms of population, this country ranked fourth in the world has a population of 262 million, and is second only to China, India and the United States.
The huge population actually means that there is sufficient labor. In a short period of time, there may be no need to worry about the threat posed by the aging of the population.
In terms of natural resources, Indonesia is rich in mineral resources such as oil, natural gas , coal, etc. At present, Indonesia has proven that oil is 1.31 billion tons , natural gas is 2423 trillion cubic meters, and coal reserves are 19.3 billion tons, but the potential reserves can reach more than 190 billion tons.
Mining occupies an important position in Indonesia's economy. was once the only member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries in Southeast Asia, and is rejoining the organization recently.
In addition, Indonesia is one of the countries with the richest biological resources in the world. has forest area of 120 million hectares of , and the forest coverage rate of has reached 67.8%. has many precious woods that can be used, sandalwood , ebony and teak and so on are well-known in the world. There must be many types of plants in vast forests like
. According to incomplete statistics, there are about 140,000 plants in Indonesia, and the largest number of medicinal plants are . In the mysterious forest, all kinds of animals live.
However, , a country that seems to be "born with a golden key", has not such a developed economy. It is just a second- and third-rate country that is barely supported by resources and population. does not have much voice in the international community. Even in Southeast Asia, it is difficult to compare with Thailand, , Singapore, and other countries.
2021, the total amount of GDP in Indonesia reached 1697.08 trillion Indonesian rupiah (equivalent to RMB 7.5 trillion), much more than Singapore, but the per capita GDP of is difficult to compare with.
Overall, the living standards of Indonesian people are not very high. In ASEAN , Indonesia is considered a relatively backward country in economic terms.
In the international political stage, Indonesia has no position. Even within ASEAN, it cannot control the situation. It is just that it can still occupy a place because it is still the largest economic scale in Southeast Asia.
has many advantages, but Indonesia cannot become a climate. Why is this?
02 The tragedy of many islands
As the "country of Thousand Islands", although many islands have brought many development advantages to Indonesia, they have also brought fatal tragedy.
Indonesia has with 17,500 islands , but territory is not connected to . Only the sea area between Sumatra and Java Island is relatively narrow. The other islands are scattered on the sea and are very far away from each other. They have to travel by sea and aircraft. The costs of transportation, trade, and exchanges are very high. - the aviation speed is fast, but the bulk cargo cannot be transported, and the cost is also expensive. It can only be used for the transportation of high-value cargo; the shipping price is low, but the speed is slow, the efficiency is low, and the limitations are obvious.
This undoubtedly greatly restricts communication between regions and makes it difficult to form a whole economically.
The ocean is relatively complex, and Indonesia also knows to build bridges and roads to connect various islands and strengthen connections.
But the problem is that most of the islands are alpine rainforests, and their natural conditions are not suitable for road construction. The long distance of the ocean is also a huge limitation, and it is extremely difficult to build bridges, highways, etc.
Judging from Indonesia's current economic and technical level, it is difficult to build bridges and roads with extremely technical content. Even if a road that can be connected is built, a distance of more than 1,000 kilometers is scary enough.
Compared with Britain and Japan, which are also island countries, Indonesia is probably much more unfortunate.
Although there are multiple islands in the UK, Great Britain Isles occupies 80% of the land area, and is the main island of the UK. There are basically no problems with communication difficulties.
Japan has four major islands. The distance between the island and the island is very close, and the nearest island is only one kilometer away, so it is very convenient to build bridges and roads.
So, The natural environment of the UK and Japan determines that they can have a complete economic region, but Indonesia does not. The economy is very scattered and the development of various places is unbalanced. Even in developed regions, there are various social problems.
Capital Jakarta is the largest city in Southeast Asia. It is known as the "Eastern Venice" and is the economic, political and cultural center of Indonesia.
Due to the relatively developed economy, Jakarta has gathered tens of millions of people in recent years, becoming the second largest metropolitan area after the Tokyo urban circle. However, Indonesia is unable to manage such an urban circle. Jakarta is also somewhat unable to drive the decline in the development of surrounding areas. The city has also encountered problems such as over-dense population, shortage of water use, and incomplete public transportation facilities. Even Indonesian President Joko Widodo said that this is a city without a future.
Perhaps it is an island country with a relatively scattered geographical location. Indonesia itself is relatively closed and it is not convenient to communicate with the outside world. Except for the sea roads, Indonesia and the outside world mainly rely on the only Sukarno -Hadha International Airport in Jakarta. There are few flights that can directly reach abroad in other places, unlike Singapore.
In addition, although the scenery of the archipelago is beautiful, Bali is a resort that many people dream of, but it also has hidden dangers.
Indonesia is in the contact zone between the Eurasian continent and the Pacific plate. earthquakes are very frequent and volcanoes are very active. active volcanoes have exceeded 120, and local residents often face tsunamis and other natural disasters.
In the tsunami on December 26, 2004, Indonesia was the most severely attacked, and in the end more than 200,000 people were killed, and they are still a wound in Indonesia.
is precisely because of this. Only one-third of the islands in Indonesia have permanent population, and many resources have not been used properly.
03 It is difficult to develop industrial
However, the dispersion of islands may not be the biggest obstacle to Indonesia's development. Overall, its geographical environment with rainforests and mountains as the main body limits the process of Indonesia's modernization development, which is the biggest problem.
Forests with a coverage rate of more than 67.8% are excellent natural resources and are unimaginable to many countries, but this means that Indonesia is mostly mountainous and rainforest, and the plain area is sparse. The extremely sparse plains are still scattered on various islands far apart.
Agriculture has always been the foundation for a country's development. In modern society, all countries are committed to promoting agriculture to modernization.
However, the sparse plain area of limits the development of Indonesian agriculture. Most crops with high demand in the people can only rely on imports, let alone move towards modernization.
The basic conditions for industrial development are also a large amount of plain areas, that is, industrial land that can be used, because one of the characteristics of industrial development is that it is concentrated in a specific area, so as to form a relatively complete industrial system and reduce the cost of production. Indonesia's fragmented landforms make it impossible for them to do this.
The only area with plains as the core is Java Island, but the area of Java Island is only 130,000 square kilometers, is less than 7% of the land area, and has a large population and cannot develop industrial land.
If Indonesia wants to forcibly develop local mountains and rainforests, it will be extremely difficult and will cause some degree of damage to the natural environment.
In contrast, the Pearl River Delta region in my country has a large area of plains that can form a complete industrial system and gradually rank at the forefront of the country and even the world.
In addition to the terrain, Indonesia's climate is also an important factor limiting its industrial development.
Indonesia is located at the equator, with an average annual temperature of about 25-27 degrees Celsius, and it is humid, rainy and extremely stuffy. Workers will feel uncomfortable when working outdoors or indoors, and their work efficiency is not high.
Air conditioners and fans have entered the process of human modernization development. The working environment of Indonesian workers has also improved, but only a small part of them. Because a country with an economy is still backward, it is impossible to allow air conditioning in all working environments across the country.
This is difficult for Indonesia to compare with Singapore. Singapore is also located at the equator and is hot all year round, but because of its small land area and a small population, can almost allow indoor places across the country to have air conditioning, which includes a large number of factories.
Many people even joked: "Singapore's air conditioner blows the feeling of winter on the equator." Workers work in a more comfortable environment, and labor efficiency is naturally higher.
Indonesia's long-term rainy season affects the transportation of goods. During the rainy season, the transportation costs of various goods will increase, and ultimately increases industrial costs, and is reflected in the domestic prices of industrial products in Indonesia.
The domestic industrial products in Indonesia have poor sales due to excessive prices, so merchants cannot make much profit, and consumers' needs are not met. The industry has been stagnant, forming a vicious cycle.
Various natural environmental factors make Indonesia unable to develop its industry, and economically it can only rely on exports and "sell" its own country's resources, but this is not a long-term solution after all.
After all, when Indonesia's resources are exhausted, who will care about his life or death?
04 The history of the country
The division and harsh natural environment have always stagnated Indonesia's economic development. However, due to certain historical roots, Indonesia's own politics, culture, etc. are also divided. This has led to frequent turmoil and uneasy local society, making Indonesia unable to become a strong country.
In history, Indonesia was not a unified country, it was divided. html In the 116th century, after Dutch invaded this area, it was not until many island federations were combined into a country, called it " Indonesia " for management.
After the colonists withdrew from the stage of history, Indonesia became a Southeast Asian country today. This is similar to the historical evolution of India.
Indonesia was integrated because of the development of world industrialization, which also means that Indonesians do not have a unified ideology , and the central government has a low degree of centralization.
Indonesia itself is a multi-ethnic country. There are hundreds of ethnic groups in , and includes Javanese , Malay , Sunda, etc. The official language is Indonesian , and there are more than 200 ethnic languages.
These ethnic groups are far apart in regions, different languages, different cultures, and different beliefs. They lack communication and exchanges, have a low sense of identity with each other, and have a certain degree of barrier, which aggravates internal political friction.
The main ethnic group with a large population like the Javanese often regards itself as its master, suppressing other ethnic groups, causing a lot of dissatisfaction.
The religious situation in Indonesia is also very complicated. Eighty percent of the local population believes in Islam , which is the country with the largest Muslim population in the world, while others believe in Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, etc. However, religions cannot be well inclusive and understanding.
In the past decade, Indonesia's Islam has been influenced by international terrorist organizations, forming some terrorist organization groups, causing extremely bad influences.
For a long time, conflicts in Indonesia's domestic politics, culture, religion and other aspects were very sharp, and these contradictions could easily escalate into conflicts, or even serious civil wars.
In this way, if foreign enemies attack, it will be difficult for Indonesia to gather domestic strength to resist.
How to eliminate the barriers between islands, enhance the cohesion of the entire country, and thus resolve various contradictions and conflicts is a difficult problem that Indonesian leaders need to work hard to resolve.
In short, there are many difficulties that prevent Indonesia from becoming a regional power, and these difficulties cannot be solved overnight.
If Indonesia wants to achieve great development and gain a place in the modern international community, it will still be long and arduous.
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