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January 30, 2009 |
Scenes from Indonesia
Ecologically blessed, economically challenged, vast and diverse, Indonesia is a country of contrasts. made up of 17,500 islands (only about 6,000 of those inhabited). Indonesia is populated by over 230 million people, speaking over 740 different languages and dialects within 300 distinct native ethnic groups - it is the fourth most populous country, after the United States. Impoverished conditions amongst people living in an area so rich with natural resources has also put extreme pressure on the environment, as increased mining and deforestation make more of an impact. Collected here are only a handful of photographs from Indonesia over the past several months - again, it's impossible to sum up such a diverse subject in a single collection. (32 photos total)

An elephant keeper collects food for the elephants at the Elephant Conservation Centre in Way Kambas National Park on Indonesia's Sumatra Island January 25, 2009. Since 1998, 22 elephants were born at Way Kambas Elephant Conservation Centre. Sumatran elephants, the smallest of all Asian elephants, are facing serious pressures arising from illegal logging and associated habitat loss and fragmentation in Indonesia, said Conservation Centre authorities. (REUTERS/Beawiharta)

Singaporean Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) extremist, Mohammad Hasan bin Saynudin (center with beard), and nine other terror suspects sit behind the bars of the South Jakarta court detention house before their trial on January 13, 2009. The ten suspects were rounded up in and around Palembang in late June and early July, 2008 and were accused of forming a dangerous cell linked to some of the region's most wanted extremists. (BAY ISMOYO/AFP/Getty Images) #

Crude oil sprays from a well bucket as a result of mining processes on December 22, 2008 in Bojonegoro, Indonesia. The "eternal oil field" reserves were rediscovered here, just over 100km from Surabaya in 2005, although the 210 wells date back to Dutch colonial times. (Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images) #

Distilled diesel oil pours in to a tank as it waits for the sale to a distributor December 22, 2008 in Bojonegoro, Indonesia. These fields are mined jointly by the state oil company Pertamina and a subsidiary of ExxonMobil. Fields such as those at Banyu Urip alone produce up to 170,000 barrels per day, accounting for 20 percent of Indonesia's crude oil production.(Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images) #

This handout photo taken on January 17, 2009 and received by Michele Paolino, captain of the Wellard Rural Exports livestock ship MV Becrux, on January 22, 2009 shows three Indonesian fishermen adrift on debris in the Java Sea after their ship sank. The Australian livestock company said on January 22 it had rescued the three Indonesian fishermen who claimed to have drifted for seven days on the makeshift raft after their fishing boat sank off Indonesia on January 10. (photo by Kenny Chabba, provided to AFP/Getty Images by Michele Paolino) #

Firefighters battle a massive fire at one of Jakarta's largest fuel terminals early Monday Jan. 19, 2009 in Jakarta, Indonesia. It was unclear what started the fire, but "explosions were heard from the tank," said Afendi, a worker at the Pertamina national oil company which operates the fuel depot.(AP Photo/Ed Wray) #

An orangutan is seen with an tranquilizer dart in his side - to make him sleep before rangers relocate him to another place on Borneo island, away from this palm oil plantation. In the middle of Borneo island, a struggle against deforestation is lead by Yayasan Orangutan Indonesia (Yayorin) who tries to convince indigenous people not to sell their lands to palm oil companies, which are vital to the orangutan. Photo taken on November 19, 2008. (AFP/AFP/Getty Images) #

Rohingya refugees sit in their encampment at a military base Friday, Jan. 30, 2009 on Sabang, off the Coast of Banda Aceh, Indonesia. The Indonesian government is decding what to do with the 193 would-be immigrants - the Rohingya are a Muslim ethnic group from Myanmar - who were rescued from a decrepit boat found drifting with inadequate supplies by Acehnese fishermen. (AP Photo/Binsar Bakkara) #

A Muslim woman attends a yoga lesson in Bandung, west of Java January 30, 2009. Indonesian yoga teachers disputed recently that the practice was damaging for Muslims after the country's top Islamic body issued a fatwa banning followers from yoga that includes chanting, mantras or meditation. (REUTERS/Enny Nuraheni) #

A farmer collects latex at a rubber plantation in Kemiri village on the outskirts of Jember, Indonesia's East Java province December 30, 2008. The world's top three rubber-producing nations last week stepped up efforts to revive ailing prices, agreeing to cut next year's exports by a sixth and banning more sales until prices rebound by nearly 25 per cent. Indonesia is the second largest natural rubber producer after Thailand. (REUTERS/Sigit Pamungkas) #