Indonesia

Located between the Indian and Pacific Oceans, Indonesia is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. It is made up of more than 17 000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi and parts of Borneo and New Guinea. Indonesia is the largest island state in the world and the 14th largest country in terms of area. The size, tropical climate and geography of Indonesia's archipelago make it one of the world's most biodiverse countries, and one of 17 megadiverse countries identified by Conservation International. The flora and fauna is a mixture of Asian and Australasian species. The Sunda Islands were once connected to mainland Asia and have a rich Asian fauna. At one time, large species like the Sumatran Tiger, rhinoceros, orangutan, Asian Elephant and leopard ranged as far as Bali, but their numbers and distribution have declined dramatically. As Sulawesi, Nusa Tenggara and Maluku have long been separated from the mainland, they have developed their own unique flora and fauna. Formerly part of the Australian mainland, Papua is home to an amazing array of flora and fauna closely related to Australia, including more than 600 species of birds. In terms of total endemic species, Indonesia is second after Australia, with 36% of its 1,531 bird species and 39% of its 515 mammal species endemic. Indonesia's 80 000 kilometers of coastline are surrounded by tropical seas. The country has a wide range of marine and coastal ecosystems, including beaches, dunes, estuaries, mangrove forests, coral reefs, seagrass beds, coastal mudflats, tidal flats, algal beds and small island ecosystems.