Indonesia - Aceh

The Indian Ocean tsunami caused colossal death and destruction when it smashed into northern Indonesia, but it also helped galvanise a peace process to end one of Asia's longest running wars.

Rebels, who had been fighting for 30 years for independence in the province of Aceh, signed a peace deal with the government eight months after the disaster. Challenges remain but progress has so far exceeded all expectations.

Around 15,000 people, mostly civilians, were killed in the war and hundreds of thousands uprooted. Most have now returned home.

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The war began in 1976 when the Gerakan Aceh Merdeka (GAM), or the Free Aceh Movement, launched its campaign for independence. At its helm was Hasan Muhammad di Tiro, who was descended from a family with close ties to Aceh's former sultans and had worked in Indonesia's mission to the United Nations in the 1950s.

Fierce reaction from government troops forced Tiro and other GAM leaders to flee to Sweden, where they set up a self-styled government in exile.

The separatists accused Jakarta of grabbing too much of the revenue from the province's abundant natural resources like gas.

GAM maintained Jakarta was an occupying power in Aceh whose people were culturally and linguistically different from other Indonesians. (This could be claimed by many in a country made up of hundreds of ethnic groups with their own cultures and languages.)

Aceh is more solidly Muslim and more orthodox than the rest of the country. About 98 percent of Aceh's 4 million people are Muslim. Its location on the western end of the archipelago made it a gateway for Islamic influence and its main city Banda Aceh is known as "The Veranda of Mecca" (Islam's holy city).

In late January 2005 the two sides met face to face in Helsinki for the first peace talks in nearly two years.

Both parties made important compromises leading to the signing of a peace pact on Aug. 15. GAM dropped its independence demand and the government agreed to let GAM members participate in politics.

Elections in Indonesia's volatile Aceh province may be held in August if the parliament passes a bill on governing the region by next month, Vice President Jusuf Kalla said on Sunday.

Elections are a key component of a landmark Finnish-brokered peace pact signed between Indonesia and the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) last year.

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Capital: Jakarta
Area size: 1811570 sq. km

Language:
Bahasa Indonesia is the official language. There are hundreds of regional languages, among them Javanese. English is widely used for business purposes.

Ethnic groups:
The main ethnic groups include Malay, Javanese, Sundanese, Madurese and Papuan. There are also Chinese and Indian minorities.

Religion:
Islam is the main religion, accounting for 86 percent of the population. Nearly 10 percent are Christian, while Buddhist and Hindu minorities making up most of the rest.

Urban population: 45%

Percentage of population living on less than US$1 a day: 7.5 percent (1990-2003 )

Year women granted right to vote: 1945

Net percentage of girls enrolled in primary education: 92 (2002-2003)

Percentage of undernourished population: 6 percent (2000-2002 average)
Population with access to improved water: 78 percent (2000)
Population with access to improved sanitation: 55 percent (2000)

Literacy - average: 87.9 percent (2003)
Literacy - male: 92.5 percent (2003)
Literacy - female: 83.4 percent (2003)
(Human Development Report 2005)

GDP:
2004 - 257.6 current US$ billions (World Bank Data Profile Tables 2006)

Annual GDP growth:
2004 - 5.1 percent (World Bank Data Profile Tables 2006)

Percentage HIV+ (adults aged 15-49):
2005 - 0.1 percent (U.N. Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS) 2006)

Number of refugees originating here: 16240 (2003)

Number of internally displaced people\Estimate: 342000 - 600000 (2005)

Percentage of GDP spent on military: 1.5 percent (2003)
Percentage of GDP spent on education: 1.2 percent (2000-2002)
Percentage of GDP spent on health1.2 percent (2002)