If you are planning to visit Indonesia, be ready to be welcomed by the invigorating aroma of spices. Indonesia had a huge market of spices and was a part of several trade routes. The strategic location and of course the spices attracted sea-farers across the world.
Indian and Arab merchants had trade relations with Indonesia before the Europeans entered the scene. The British and the Portuguese struggled to control the islands, but it was the Dutch who could succeed in it: they ruled Indonesia from 1798 and brought in a sense of unity among the islanders. A century after the Dutch rule, Indonesia gained independence and became a republic in 1949, with Achmed Sukarno as the first president. The army became a powerful force after independence.
In recent years Indonesia was very much in the news because of the earthquake in the Indian Ocean and the tsunami that followed, which devastated the archipelago in 2004. It is once again in the news as the country is planning to move the capital out of Jakarta, the present capital.
Picture Credit : Google