ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a brief historical background and a description of major events in Indonesia. It also provides basic political, economic, and social data arranged in the following categories: polity, economy, population, purchasing power parities, life expectancy, ethnic groups, capital, political rights, civil liberties, and status. The chapter discusses the progress and decline of political rights and civil liberties in Indonesia. West Papuans enjoy many basic rights, but Jakarta's crackdown on independence activism has made it harder to express political views, hold protests, and run nongovernmental groups. Indonesian rule has helped modernize West Papua and develop its economy. Most of the benefits, however, have been reaped by foreign investors, the military, and by immigrants from other parts of the archipelago, according to the US State Department report and other sources. The Presidium Council in early November rejected a law passed by the Indonesian parliament giving West Papua political autonomy and a greater share of local forestry, fishery, and energy revenues.
