Credit Indonesia Capital: Jakarta Muslim Population: 204,847,000 (largest Muslim population country)
If its economy continues to grow at its current rate, Indonesia will become one of the most powerful nations in the world in coming decades.
Indonesia's economy will be three times the size of Australia's by 2030, and may even become (remain) the fourth largest in the world by 2050.
"Indonesia's a funny economy because in some ways it looks very disorganised — it's got a lot of corruption, it's got a bad legal system
and a lot of nationalism that can inhibit trade," he said.
"But the fact is that for a long time now, it's been growing at an average of 5 or 6 per cent per annum, and there doesn't seem much
reason not to expect it to keep on doing that."
Professor White said there were two main ways to look at Indonesia's growth: as a potential threat, or as a potential strategic asset
in a region where power dynamics are beginning to shift in China's favour.
(An Australian perspective)"We've traditionally seen Indonesia as a very difficult neighbour, very close and potentially threatening to Australia," he said.
"In many ways Australian defence policy for decades has focused very strongly on the possibility of some sort of conflict with Indonesia."
Could Indonesia help balance out China worries?
Indonesia puts North Natuna Sea on the map, having its own concerns about China, especially its "overlapping claims"
in Indonesian waters.
Earlier this year Indonesia signed a communique with India stressing the importance of a "rules-based" Indo-Pacific region, interpreted
by many as a reaction to concerns over China's actions in the South China Sea.
Indonesia does not have any territorial disputes with China in the South China Sea, however China says the two nations have "overlapping claims" in waters Indonesia says are part of its exclusive economic zone, which has led to clashes in recent years.
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Future world growth
- China's population is the world's largest and it economic rise is well documented. Estimated in 2050 as 1.3 billion
- India, if it continues it population growth (between 2000 - 2018) of 34.6% will be the most populist in 2050. Estimated as 1.6 billion
- USA is 3rd with an estimated 400,000,000
- Indonesia is 4th with an estimated 300,000,000
The ten countries with the largest population in the world today are China, India, United States, Indonesia, Brazil, Pakistan,
Nigeria, Bangladesh, Russia and Mexico.
A map of Muslim populations by numbers, (Pew Research Center, 2009).
Indonesia is becoming an interesting place to watch.