Cre8tive Play: 2021 Travel the World

I started a 50-week series in 2019 that I called Travel the World. Each week of the series I visited a randomly-selected country, sharing bits of information about that country. I then chose one tidbit of information about that week's country as inspiration for a card. As I explored those 50 countries in 2019, I knew I would continue on until I've visited every one of the 195 countries in the world, so I continued the series in 2020 and here I am in 2021, the third year of traveling the world.

This week's country is...

Indonesia

With five major islands and thousands of smaller islands situated between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean, Indonesia is the largest archipelago in the world! Officially, there are over 17,500 islands that comprise Indonesia, but only 6000 of those islands are inhabited.

Indonesia lies between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean.

The island of Java is home to over half of the country's population but is the size of New York state.

It’s an understatement to say Indonesia has a lot of people. With a population of over 264 million, Indonesia ranks fourth as the most densely populated nation in the world following sizeable countries such as China, the United States and India.

Indonesia has over 600 ethnic groups.

Indonesia has a coastline of nearly 34,000 miles.

Indonesia is known for its many beautiful islands, diving, and snorkeling.

More than 50% of the country of Indonesia is covered by forests.

After Brazil, Indonesia has the world’s second-largest number of tropical forests.

Indonesia takes credit for being home to the world’s largest volcanic lake – Lake Toba.

On December 26, 2004, the world’s second largest recorded earthquake, a 9.3+ magnitude quake, struck off the coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra. The resulting tsunami hit more than a dozen countries around the Indian Ocean, leaving more than 300,000 dead or missing and millions displaced.

There are 100 active volcanoes in Indonesia. The country experiences at least one volcano explosion each year.

Indonesia is the only place in the world to see Komodo dragons in the wild. The world's largest lizard lives on just five Indonesian islands: Komodo, Rinca, Flores, Gili Montag, and Padar

In the 1650s and 1660s, the country decreed that all men aged 16 or over must plant 500 pepper plants.

Indonesia contains hotels where there are “ladies-only floors.” Ladies can book a room on such floors where all the caretakers and staff are women.

Indonesia is one of the largest social media markets in the world, with over 80 per cent of the population accessing platforms like YouTube, Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter.

Adult male orangutans, found in the wild only on the Indonesian islands of Borneo and Sumatra, are said to be eight times stronger than a human.

The Javan rhinoceros is one species that is found only in Indonesia. It is estimated that there are less than 50 of these in existence, making them nearly extinct.

Indonesia is the world’s leading exporter of frog legs. During the last decade, Europe alone imported 4,600 tons annually, with France, Belgium, and the Netherlands being the main importers.

One of Indonesia’s most interesting critters is the tiny nocturnal primate called the tarsier. These creatures, found on Sulawesi Island, are recognizable by their eyes, which are literally as big as their stomachs, so big they cannot rotate them in their sockets. Luckily, their heads can rotate 360° to compensate.

Indonesian children on Bali are traditionally always given at least four names.

With its rich variety of flora and fauna, Indonesia is second in the world after Brazil with the highest level of biodiversity in the world.

The country has the most odorous flower on Earth, Amorphophallus titanium, available on Sumatra Island. The flower, also known as “the devil’s tongue,” can grow up to an average height of two meters.

Indonesia is also home to the Rafflesia arnoldii, the world’s largest flower.

Indonesia is one of the world’s largest producers of nutmeg, which is native to its Banda Islands.

The word “ketchup” in English comes from the Indonesian word kecap, which is a sweet soy sauce.

After China, Indonesia is the world’s second-largest producer of instant noodles. The country is also home to the world’s largest instant noodle producer – Indofood.

Pepper was introduced to Indonesia’s Sumatra and Java from south India around 600 B.C. Black pepper is the result of picking unripened fruits and drying them in the sun, while white pepper comes from larger fruits left on the vine until ripe.

Almost everyone in Bali has had their teeth filed down. This practice is rooted in the belief that the six main vices—anger, confusion, jealousy, drunkenness, desire, and greed—all enter the body through the top six teeth. By filing away the teeth, the vices are thwarted.

Arguably one of Indonesia’s stranger exports is Kopi Luwak (Cat Poop Coffee), which is the world’s most expensive beverage, costing around US$1,000 per pound. Kopi Luwak is made by feeding small, catlike civets coffee berries. After they defecate, the berries are collected, washed, and ground into coffee, which supposedly has an unrivaled richness and little bitterness

My inspiration for this week's card is based on this fact about Indonesia... Java has become a slang term for the word coffee, after the coffee beans grown on the island of Java.