A sporting nation of more than 284 million people, spread across an archipelago of over 17,000 islands. From village longboat races that are centuries old to MotoGP on the shores of Lombok, sport is part of how Indonesia lives, celebrates and welcomes the world.
Indonesia's story in sport runs from the first National Games (PON) in 1948, three years after independence, to the Asian Games of 1962 and 2018, a badminton dynasty with a record 14 Thomas Cup titles, and a new generation of world championship events on Lombok and in Jakarta.
National Sports Day (Hari Olahraga Nasional) is celebrated every 9 September, the date the first National Games (PON) opened in Surakarta in 1948. It was made official by presidential decree in 1985.
Read the timeline →Indonesia has won 10 Olympic gold medals, eight of them in badminton, and holds a record 14 Thomas Cup titles. Istora Senayan is one of the loudest arenas on the BWF World Tour.
More about badminton →Pencak Silat was inscribed on UNESCO's list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2019. Longboat races, bull races and stone jumping are still contested in villages every year.
Traditional sports →Volcanic highlands, surf coasts, rainforest trails and city stadiums, all connected by frequent domestic flights across three time zones.
The first National Games (PON) opened at Stadion Sriwedari in Surakarta on 9 September 1948, and that date is still celebrated as National Sports Day. In 1962 Jakarta hosted the Asian Games, and the Gelora Bung Karno stadium built for them remains the spiritual home of Indonesian sport.
Badminton brought the country its first Olympic golds in Barcelona in 1992. In 2018 Jakarta and Palembang welcomed 45 nations to the Asian Games, and since 2021 the Mandalika circuit on Lombok has brought world championship motorsport to Indonesian shores. The National Sports Grand Design (DBON), signed in 2021, now sets the national blueprint for educational, recreational and elite sport and for the sports industry.
See the full timelineContinental Games, a FIFA World Cup, world championship motorsport and one of badminton's four biggest tournaments.
Jakarta and Palembang welcomed 45 nations from 18 August to 2 September 2018, the second time Indonesia hosted the Games after 1962.
Jakarta hosted 43 nations at the third Asian Para Games from 6 to 13 October 2018, weeks after the Asian Games closed.
Played from 10 November to 2 December 2023 in Jakarta, Bandung, Surakarta and Surabaya. Germany won the final at Manahan Stadium.
Held at Mandalika every year since March 2022. The 2025 race weekend drew 140,324 spectators, a record for the circuit.
Jakarta co-hosted the 2023 World Cup with the Philippines and Japan, staging group games at the newly opened Indonesia Arena from 25 August to 10 September 2023.
A BWF World Tour Super 1000 at Istora Senayan every June, one of only four events at badminton's top tier, with a US$1.45 million prize purse in 2026.
Living contests, tied to harvests and ceremonies, and still fiercely fought every year.
The archipelago's martial art, part self-defence, part performance and part ceremony. Inscribed by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in December 2019. On its Asian Games debut in Jakarta 2018, Indonesia won 14 of the 16 gold medals.
Longboats carved from a single tree trunk, each crewed by dozens of paddlers, race the Batang Kuantan river. A national intangible cultural heritage, its five-day festival at Tepian Narosa, Teluk Kuantan, every August drew a record 228 boats in 2025.
Pairs of bulls yoked to a wooden sled sprint a short track in seconds, driven by a standing jockey. Heats run across Madura's four regencies through the dry season and end in the Piala Presiden grand final each October.
Young men clear a stone tower about two metres tall in a single leap. Once a rite of passage proving a warrior's readiness, it is now performed at village ceremonies on Nias, and it appeared on the Rp1,000 banknote of 1992.
Kick volleyball with a rattan ball, known locally as sepak raga. A Southeast Asian game played on every schoolyard, and a full medal sport at the Asian Games since Beijing 1990.
Mataram-style archery shot from a seated position, in traditional dress, with the bow held at the hip rather than at eye level. Encouraged by Sultan Hamengku Buwono I in the 18th century to build a warrior's character, it is a courtly tradition that is now open to everyone.
The Mandalika International Street Circuit was inaugurated in November 2021 inside the Mandalika Special Economic Zone. Its first race weekend was the WorldSBK season finale that same month, and since March 2022 it has hosted the MotoGP Grand Prix of Indonesia every year, alongside GT World Challenge Asia and national series.
Indonesia hosted the tournament from 27 January to 7 February and reached the final, losing to Iran on penalties.
Jakarta staged the first Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Southeast Asia (19 to 25 October). At Mandalika, 140,324 spectators attended the MotoGP weekend.
Veddriq Leonardo (speed climbing) and Rizki Juniansyah (weightlifting) won gold in Paris on 8 August, taking Indonesia's Olympic gold tally to ten. PON XXI in Aceh and North Sumatra became the first Games hosted by two provinces.
Indonesia hosted the U-17 World Cup across four cities (10 November to 2 December) and co-hosted the FIBA Basketball World Cup with the Philippines and Japan, with group games at Indonesia Arena.
The first Grand Prix of Indonesia at Mandalika was run on 20 March, the country's first since Sentul in 1997. Formula E raced in Jakarta for the first time on 4 June, and Jakarta International Stadium opened.
President Joko Widodo inaugurated the Mandalika circuit on 12 November, a week before its first WorldSBK round. In October the men's team won the Thomas Cup in Aarhus, a 14th title. The National Sports Grand Design (DBON) was signed in September.
The Traditions of Pencak Silat were inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity on 12 December in Bogotá.
Jakarta and Palembang hosted 45 nations at the 18th Asian Games (18 August to 2 September), followed by 43 nations at the Asian Para Games in Jakarta (6 to 13 October). Pencak Silat was contested at the Asian Games for the first time.
Indonesia hosted the Southeast Asian Games for the fourth time, after 1979, 1987 and 1997.
Susi Susanti and Alan Budikusuma won the women's and men's badminton singles, Indonesia's first Olympic gold medals.
The tournament that would become a BWF Super 1000 was first played at Istora Senayan.
The fourth Asian Games opened on 24 August at the newly completed Gelora Bung Karno stadium, built between 1960 and 1962 for the occasion.
Indonesia won the men's team world championship for the first time, the start of a record that now stands at 14 titles.
PON I opened at Stadion Sriwedari, Surakarta, on 9 September 1948. The date became National Sports Day by presidential decree in 1985.
Special Economic Zones like Mandalika pair sport venues with hospitality, real estate and event infrastructure, backed by tax and licensing incentives. By the first quarter of 2026, Indonesia's eight tourism zones had drawn Rp45 trillion of investment and created 53,278 jobs.
See Investment Opportunities