Indonesia is the world's largest archipelago. Due to the country's huge size it contains a high degree of diversity in terms of religion and traditional belief systems. Although Indonesia has a Muslim-majority population, it is a secular democracy with a constitution that guarantees all Indonesian citizens the freedom of worship, each according to his or her own religion or belief (this system does not function perfectly in reality, however). Still, it means that Indonesia contains many (mostly religion-inspired) public holidays on which the nation's financial markets are closed.

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Indonesia is the world's largest archipelago. Due to the country's huge size it contains a high degree of diversity in terms of religion and traditional belief systems. Although Indonesia has a Muslim-majority population, it is a secular democracy with a constitution that guarantees all Indonesian citizens the freedom of worship, each according to his or her own religion or belief (this system does not function perfectly in reality, however). Still, it means that Indonesia contains many (mostly religion-inspired) public holidays on which the nation's financial markets are closed.

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Today, 17 August 2017, Indonesia celebrates its 72nd Independence Day. It is a national public holiday and therefore all financial markets are closed. Indonesia Investments released a newsletter that is devoted to this historic day. This newsletter contains stories including Soekarno's struggle for Independence, the origin of Indonesia's national anthem, an overview of the colonial period, stories of national heroes, and more.

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Indonesia is the world's largest archipelago. And due to the country's enormous size it contains a high degree of diversity in terms of religion and traditional beliefs. Although Indonesia has a Muslim-majority population, it is a secular democracy with a constitution that guarantees all Indonesian citizens the freedom of worship, each according to his or her own religion or belief (this system does not function perfectly in reality, however). Still, it means that Indonesia contains many (mostly religion-inspired) public holidays on which the nation's financial markets are closed.

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Indonesia is the world's largest archipelago. Due to the country's sheer size (implying diversity) it contains a variety of different religions and traditional beliefs. The Constitution of Indonesia, a secular democratic country containing a Muslim-majority population, guarantees all Indonesian citizens the freedom of worship, each according to his or her own religion or belief. This also means that Indonesia contains many, mostly religion-inspired, public holidays on which financial markets are closed.

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The Idul Fitri celebrations (also known as Lebaran) in Indonesia appear to take place in a safe and orderly manner. Idul Fitri is an important religious holiday for Muslims as it stresses the importance of unity for the Islamic community, and marks the end of the holy fasting month (Ramadan). Business comes to a near stand-still in Indonesia during these days, and Jakarta, the political and economic center of Indonesia, has become empty after millions of people went back to their hometowns ahead of Idul Fitri (this is known as the annual mudik tradition).

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The annual mudik tradition has started in Indonesia. The term mudik refers to the exodus of Indonesian workers from the cities back to their hometowns ahead of Lebaran (the Indonesian name for Idul Fitri) which starts on 28 July 2014. Lebaran, a national holiday (from 28 July to 1 August), marks the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan and is usually celebrated at people’s places of origin, implying that Indonesian cities become more-or-less deserted for one week. In the week up to Lebaran people start to mudik.

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