Indonesia
Indonesia is the largest archipelago in the world, stretching over 4,800 km along the equator. Approximately a quarter-million people live on 6,000 of the over 18,000 islands making up the 2 million square kilometer archipelago.
Indonesia straddles the edges of three tectonic plates, making it the site of many earthquakes and volcanoes (including Krakatoa).
In 1998, Suharto, Indonesia's ruler for 31 years, was thrown out by mass revolt and Indonesia had its first direct presidential election in 2004 -- the largest one-day election in the world.
