Lying between the continents of Asia and Australia, Indonesia is the world's largest archipelago, comprising more than 17,000 islands that spread 1,888 kilometres from north to south and 5,110 kilometres from east to west. Indonesians affectionately call their country "Our land and Water"(Tanah Air Kita).

The archipelago is divided into three groups: the Sunda Shelf holds the islands of Java, Sumatera and Kalimantan (two-thirds of Borneo) as an extension of the Asian continent; the Sehul Shelf embraces Irian Jaya (the western half of New Guinea) and the Aru Islands as a stretch from Australia. Located between these two shelves, with deep sea levels, Sulawesi, the islands of the Lesser Sundas and Maluku (Moluccas) have never been connected to any major land mass.

The invisible Wallace Line, which is drawn between Kalimantan and Sulawesi in the north and Bali and Lombok int the south, bisects the archipelago with significant differences in weather patterns that affect flora and fauna. Indonesia has an equatorial climate - hot and humid. There are usually two distinct seasons west of Bali. It is dry from April to October, with abundant rainfall from November to April. In the eastern reaches of the country, the climate is generally drier with a longer dry season. It is, therefore, difficult to grow rice in the east unless the land is irrigated. Corn and other crops such as cassava, sago, palm and lontar palm are the staple foods for most people.

Indonesia is abundant in petroleum, natural gas, coal, gold, silver, tin and other natural resources; crops of rubber, coffee, coconuts, tea, spices and tropical fruits are available all year around. Approximately 400 volcanoes, of which 100 are still active, provide fertile soil for agriculture, especially in the western regions. The country's many rivers are the sources of peoples' livelihoods and serve as transportation routes in certain areas. With a population of over 200 million, the vast archipelago contains more than 300 ethnic groups with distinctive cultures, and around 500 different languages and dialects. The portraits displayed around the wall maps in the Ethnography Room are a few examples of the diversity of the Indonesian people