Plain in most part of Kalimantan, southern New Guinea, eastern Sumatra and northern Java; Rugged, volcanic topography in Sulawesi, western Sumatra, southern Java, Lesser Sunda Islands and Maluku Islands; Rugged mountains in central, northwestern New Guinea and northern Kalimantan
Tsunamis; volcanoes; earthquake activity except in central part; tropical cyclones along the Indian coasts; mud slides in Java; flooding
Environmental issues
Severe deforestation, air pollution resulting in acid rain, river pollution
Exclusive economic zone
6,159,032km2 (2,378,016sqmi)
Indonesia is an archipelagic country located in Southeast Asia and Oceania, lying between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. It is located in a strategic location astride or along major sea lanes connecting East Asia, South Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is the largest archipelago in the world.[2] Indonesia's various regional cultures have been shaped—although not specifically determined—by centuries of complex interactions with its physical environment.
Indonesia is an archipelagic country extending about 5,120 kilometres (3,181mi) from east to west and 1,760 kilometres (1,094mi) from north to south.[3] It is considered to be the largest archipelagic country in the world. According to a geospatial survey conducted between 2007 and 2010 by National Coordinating Agency for Survey and Mapping (Bakosurtanal), Indonesia has 17,500 islands.[4] While earlier survey conducted in 2002 by National Institute of Aeronautics and Space (LAPAN) stated Indonesia has 18,307 islands. According to the CIA World Factbook, there are 17,508 islands.[1] The discrepancy between the surveys is likely caused by the earlier different survey method including tidal islands, sandy cays and rocky reefs that surface during low tide and submerge during high tide. There are 8,844 named islands according to estimates made by the government of Indonesia, with 922 of those being permanent. It comprises five main islands: Sumatra, Java, Borneo (known as Kalimantan in Indonesia), Sulawesi, and New Guinea; two major island groups (Nusa Tenggara and the Maluku Islands) and sixty smaller island groups. Four of the islands are shared with other countries: Borneo is shared with Malaysia and Brunei; Sebatik, located off the northeastern coast of Kalimantan, shared with Malaysia; Timor is shared with East Timor; and New Guinea is shared with Papua New Guinea.
Indonesia has total land area of 1,904,569 square kilometres (735,358sqmi), including 93,000 square kilometres (35,908sqmi) of inland seas (straits, bays, and other bodies of water). This makes it the largest island country in the world.[2] The additional surrounding sea areas bring Indonesia's generally recognised territory (land and sea) to about 5 million km2. The government claims an exclusive economic zone of 6,159,032km2 (2,378,016sqmi). This brings the total area to about 7.9 million km2.[5][6]
The main islands of Sumatra, Java, Madura, and Kalimantan lie on the Sunda Plate and geographers have conventionally grouped them, (along with Sulawesi), as the Greater Sunda Islands. At Indonesia's eastern extremity is western New Guinea, which lies on the Australian Plate. Sea depths in the Sunda and Sahul shelves average 300 metres (984ft) or less. Between these two shelves lie Sulawesi, Nusa Tenggara (also known as the Lesser Sunda Islands), and the Maluku Islands (or the Moluccas), which form a second island group with deep, surrounding seas down to 4,500 metres (14,764ft) in depth. The term "Outer Islands" is used inconsistently by various writers but it is usually taken to mean those islands other than Java and Madura.
Nusa Tenggara or Lesser Sunda Islands consists of two strings of islands stretching eastward from Bali toward southern Maluku. The inner arc of Nusa Tenggara is a continuation of the Alpide belt chain of mountains and volcanoes extending from Sumatra through Java, Bali, and Flores, and trailing off in the volcanic Banda Islands, which along with the Kai Islands and the Tanimbar Islands and other small islands in the Banda Sea are typical examples of the Wallacea mixture of Asian and Australasian plant and animal life.[12] The outer arc of Nusa Tenggara is a geological extension of the chain of islands west of Sumatra that includes Nias, Mentawai, and Enggano. This chain resurfaces in Nusa Tenggara in the ruggedly mountainous islands of Sumba and Timor.
2019 eruption of Sinabung in North Sumatra. Sinabung is one of the most active volcanoes in Indonesia.
The Maluku Islands (or Moluccas) are geologically among the most complex of the Indonesian islands, consisted of four different tectonic plates. They are located in the northeast sector of the archipelago, bounded by the Philippine Sea to the north, Papua to the east, and Nusa Tenggara to the southwest. The largest of these islands include Halmahera, Seram and Buru, all of which rise steeply out of very deep seas and have unique Wallacea vegetation.[13] This abrupt relief pattern from sea to high mountains means that there are very few level coastal plains. To the south lies the Banda Sea. The convergence between the Banda Sea Plate and Australian Plate created a chain of volcanic islands called the Banda Arc.[14][15] The sea also contains the Weber Deep, one of the deepest point in Indonesia.[16][17]
Geomorphologists believe that the island of New Guinea is part of the Australian continent, both lies on Sahul Shelf and once joined via a land bridge during the Last glacial period.[18][19] The tectonic movement of the Australian Plate created towering, snowcapped mountain peaks lining the island's central east–west spine and hot, humid alluvial plains along the coasts.[20] The New Guinea Highlands range some 650 kilometres (404mi) east to west along the island, forming a mountainous spine between the northern and southern portion of the island. Due to its tectonic movement, New Guinea experienced many earthquakes and tsunamis, especially in its northern and western part.[21][22]
Most of the larger islands are mountainous, with peaks ranging between 2,000 and 3,800 metres (6,562 and 12,467ft) meters above sea level in Sumatra, Java, Bali, Lombok, Sulawesi, and Seram.[23] The country's tallest mountains are located in the Jayawijaya Mountains and the Sudirman Range in Papua. The highest peak, Puncak Jaya (4,884 metres (16,024ft)), is located in the Sudirman Mountains. A string of volcanoes stretches from Sumatra to Nusa Tenggara,[24] and then loops around through to the Banda Islands of Maluku to northeastern Sulawesi. Of the 400 volcanoes, approximately 150 are active.[25] Two of the most violent volcanic eruptions in modern times occurred in Indonesia; in 1815 Mount Tambora in Sumbawa erupted killing 92,000 and in 1883, Krakatau, erupted killing 36,000. While volcanic ashes resulted from eruption has positive effects for the fertility of the surrounding soils, it also makes agricultural conditions unpredictable in some areas.
Indonesia has relatively high tectonic and volcanic activities. It lies on the convergence between the Eurasian, Indo-Australian, Pacific, and Philippine Sea Plate. The Sunda megathrust is a 5,500km long fault located off southern coasts of Sumatra, Java and Lesser Sunda Islands, where the Indo-Australian Plate is thrusting northeastward towards the subducting Sunda Plate. Tectonic movement in this fault is responsible for the creation of the Sunda Trench, and mountain ranges across Sumatra, Java, and the Lesser Sunda Islands.[26] Many great earthquakes occurred in the vicinity of the fault, such as the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake.[27]Mount Merapi, located in the Java portion of the megathrust, is the most active volcano in Indonesia and is designated as one of world's Decade Volcanoes due to the hazard it poses to the surrounding populated areas.[28]
The northern part of Sulawesi and Maluku Islands lie on the convergence of Sunda Plate and Molucca Sea Plate, making it an active tectonic region with volcanic chains such as the Sangihe and Talaud Islands.[29] Northern Maluku and western New Guinea is located on the convergence of Bird's Head, Philippine Sea and Caroline Plate. It is also a seismically active region, with the 7.6 Mw2009 Papua earthquakes being the most recent great earthquake to date in the region.[30][31][32]
Borneo is the third largest island in the world and the native vegetation was mostly Borneo lowland rain forests although much of this has been cleared with wildlife retreating to the Borneo montane rain forests inland. The islands of North Maluku are the original Spice Islands, a distinct rainforestecoregion.[33] A number of islands off the coast of New Guinea have their own distinctive biogeographic features, including the limestone islands of Biak, in the entrance to the large Cenderawasih Bay at the northwest end of the island.[34][35]
A recent global remote sensing analysis suggested that there were 14,416km2 of tidal flats in Indonesia, ranking it 1st in the world in terms of how much tidal flat occurs there.[36] Another global analysis also estimated that Indonesia experienced the greatest total tidal wetland change (36% of global net change including mangroves, tidal flats, and tidal marshes) between 1999 and 2019 with a net loss of 1,426km2 (551sqmi).[37]
Lying along the equator, Indonesia's climate tends to be relatively even year-round. Indonesia has two seasons—a wet season and a dry season—with no extremes of summer or winter. For most of Indonesia, the dry season falls between May and October while the wet season between November and April.
Some regions, such as Kalimantan and Sumatra, experience only slight differences in rainfall and temperature between the seasons, whereas others, such as Nusa Tenggara, experience far more pronounced differences with droughts in the dry season, and floods in the wet. Rainfall in Indonesia is plentiful, particularly in west Sumatra, northwest Kalimantan, west Java, and western New Guinea.
Parts of Sulawesi and some islands closer to Australia, such as Sumba and Timor, are drier, however, these are exceptions. The almost uniformly warm waters that make up 81% of Indonesia's area ensure that temperatures on land remain fairly constant. The coastal plains averaging 28°C (82.4°F), the inland and mountain areas averaging 26°C (78.8°F), and the higher mountain regions, 23°C (73.4°F). The area's relative humidity ranges between 70 and 90%.
Winds are moderate and generally predictable, with monsoons usually blowing in from the south and east in June through October and from the northwest in November through March. Typhoons and large scale storms pose little hazard to mariners in Indonesia waters; the major danger comes from swift currents in channels, such as the Lombok and Sape straits.
Indonesia's climate is almost entirely tropical, dominated by the tropical rainforest climate found in every major island of Indonesia, followed by the tropical monsoon climate that predominantly lies along Java's coastal north, Sulawesi's coastal south and east, and Bali, and finally the tropical savanna climate, found in isolated locations of Central Java, lowland East Java, coastal southern Papua and smaller islands to the east of Lombok.
However, cooler climate types do exist in mountainous regions of Indonesia 1,300–1,500 metres above sea level. The oceanic climate (Köppen Cfb) prevail in highland areas with fairly uniform precipitation year-round, adjacent to rainforest climates, while the subtropical highland climate (Köppen Cwb) exist in highland areas with a more pronounced dry season, adjacent to tropical monsoon and savanna climates.
Above 3000 metres is where cold, subpolar climates dominate and where frost and occasional snow become more commonplace. The subpolar oceanic climate (Köppen Cfc), existing between 3,000 and 3,500 metres, can be found on the mountain slopes of Indonesia's highest peaks, and serves as a transition between oceanic climates and tundra climates. Tundra climates (Köppen ET), are found anywhere above 3500 metres on the highest peaks of Indonesia, including the permanently snow-capped peaks in Papua. In this climate regime, average monthly temperatures are all below 10°C, and monthly precipitation is uniform.
Deforestation in Riau province, Sumatra, to make way for an oil palm plantation, 2007.
Indonesia's high population and rapid industrialisation present serious environmental issues, which are often given a lower priority due to high poverty levels and weak, under-resourced governance.[38] Issues include large-scale deforestation (much of it illegal) and related wildfires causing heavy smog over parts of western Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore; over-exploitation of marine resources; and environmental problems associated with rapid urbanisation and economic development, including air pollution, traffic congestion, garbage management, and reliable water and waste water services.[38]
Deforestation and the destruction of peatlands make Indonesia the world's third largest emitter of greenhouse gases.[39]Habitat destruction threatens the survival of indigenous and endemic species, including 140 species of mammals identified by the World Conservation Union (IUCN) as threatened, and 15 identified as critically endangered, including the Sumatran Orangutan.[40]
In 1970, 15% of Indonesians lived in cities compared to over 30% today, and this increases pressure on the urban environment. Industrial pollution is increasing, particularly in Java, and the increasing affluence of the growing middle class drives a rapid increase in the number of motor vehicles and associated emissions. Garbage and waste water services are being placed under increasing pressure. Reliance on septic systems or effluent disposal in open canals and river systems remains the norm, and is a major polluter of water resources. Very few Indonesians have access to safe drinking water and must boil water before use.
The geographical resources of the Indonesian archipelago have been exploited in ways that fall into consistent social and historical patterns. One cultural pattern consists of the formerly Indianized, rice-growing peasants in the valleys and plains of Sumatra, Java, and Bali, another cultural complex is composed of the largely Islamic coastal commercial sector, a third, more marginal sector consists of the upland forest farming communities which exist by means of subsistence swidden agriculture. To some degree, these patterns can be linked to the geographical resources themselves, with abundant shoreline, generally calm seas, and steady winds favouring the use of sailing vessels, and fertile valleys and plains—at least in the Greater Sunda Islands—permitting irrigated rice farming. The heavily forested, mountainous interior hinders overland communication by road or river, but fosters slash-and-burn agriculture.
Statistics
Java and eastern Indonesia photographed in 2015 by an astronaut on the International Space Station. Six active volcanos are visible. Haze is from wildfires.
Area: total land area: 1,904,569km2 (land: 1,811,569km2 (699450mi2), inland water:93,000km2 (36,000sqmi)
Maritime claims: measured from claimed archipelagic baselines territorial sea:12nmi (13.8mi; 22.2km) exclusive economic zone:6,159,032km2 (2,378,016sqmi) with 200nmi (230.2mi; 370.4km)
Elevation extremes: lowest point: Sea level at 0 m (sea surface level); southern portion of the Philippine Trench, east of Miangas at −9,125 metres (−29,938ft) highest point:Puncak Jaya (also known as Carstensz Pyramid) 4,884 m
The Maluku Islands or the Moluccas are an archipelago in the eastern part of Indonesia. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located east of Sulawesi, west of New Guinea, and north and east of Timor. Lying within Wallacea, the Moluccas have been considered a geographical and cultural intersection of Asia and Oceania.
Provinces are the first-level administrative divisions of Indonesia. It is formerly called the first-level provincial region before the Reform era. Provinces have a local government, consisting of a governor and a regional legislative body. The governor and members of local representative bodies are elected by popular vote for five-year terms, but governors can only serve for two terms. Provincial governments have the authority to regulate and manage their own government affairs, subject to the limits of the central government. The average land area of all 38 provinces in Indonesia is about 50,120.23 km2 (19,351.53 sq mi), and an average population of about 7,345,233 people.
The Barat Daya Islands are a group of islands in the Maluku province of Indonesia. The Indonesian phrase barat daya means 'south-west'.
Wallacea is a biogeographical designation for a group of mainly Indonesian islands separated by deep-water straits from the Asian and Australian continental shelves. Wallacea includes Sulawesi, the largest island in the group, as well as Lombok, Sumbawa, Flores, Sumba, Timor, Halmahera, Buru, Seram, and many smaller islands. The islands of Wallacea lie between the Sunda Shelf to the west, and the Sahul Shelf including Australia and New Guinea to the south and east. The total land area of Wallacea is 347,000 km2 (134,000 sq mi).
The Banda Sea is one of four seas that surround the Maluku Islands of Indonesia, connected to the Pacific Ocean, but surrounded by hundreds of islands, including Timor, as well as the Halmahera and Ceram Seas. It is about 1000 km (600 mi) east to west, and about 500 km (300 mi) north to south.
Geologically, the Sunda Shelf is a south-eastern extension of the continental shelf of Mainland Southeast Asia. Major landmasses on the shelf include Bali, Borneo, Java, Madura, and Sumatra, as well as their surrounding smaller islands. It covers an area of approximately 1.85 million km2. Sea depths over the shelf rarely exceed 50 metres and extensive areas are less than 20 metres resulting in strong bottom friction and strong tidal friction. Steep undersea gradients separate the Sunda Shelf from the Philippines, Sulawesi, and the Lesser Sunda Islands.
The Sunda Plate is a minor tectonic plate straddling the Equator in the Eastern Hemisphere on which the majority of Southeast Asia is located.
This is a list of some of the regions of Indonesia. Many regions are defined in law or regulations by the central government. At different times of Indonesia's history, the nation has been designated as having regions that do not necessarily correlate to the current administrative or physical geography of the territory of the nation.
This is an article about the extreme points of Indonesia.
This is a brief summary of the geology of Indonesia. Indonesia is located between two major tectonic plates, the Australian Plate and the newly-separated Sunda Plate.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Indonesia:
Prehistoric Indonesia is a prehistoric period in the Indonesian archipelago that spanned from the Pleistocene period to about the 4th century CE when the Kutai people produced the earliest known stone inscriptions in Indonesia. Unlike the clear distinction between prehistoric and historical periods in Europe and the Middle East, the division is muddled in Indonesia. This is mostly because Indonesia's geographical conditions as a vast archipelago caused some parts — especially the interiors of distant islands — to be virtually isolated from the rest of the world. West Java and coastal Eastern Borneo, for example, began their historical periods in the early 4th century, but megalithic culture still flourished and script was unknown in the rest of Indonesia, including in Nias and Toraja. The Papuans on the Indonesian part of New Guinea island lived virtually in the Stone Age until their first contacts with modern world in the early 20th century. Even today living megalithic traditions still can be found on the island of Sumba and Nias.
Miss Indonesia 2012 is the eighth edition of Miss Indonesia. The pageant was held at Hall D2 JIExpo, Kemayoran on April 28, 2012, and was hosted by Ferdi Hassan and Amanda Zevannya. The current titleholder of Miss World, Ivian Sarcos attended the awarding night, when Astrid Ellena of East Java crowned her successor, Ines Putri Chandra from Bali.
The Lesser Sunda Islands, also known as Nusa Tenggara Islands, are an archipelago in Maritime Southeast Asia. Most of the Lesser Sunda Islands are located within the Wallacea region, except for the Bali province which is west of the Wallace Line and is within the Sunda Shelf. Together with the Greater Sunda Islands to the west they make up the Sunda Islands. The islands are part of a volcanic arc, the Sunda Arc, formed by subduction along the Sunda Trench in the Java Sea. In 1930 the population was 3,460,059, today lightly over 20 million people live on the islands. Etymologically, Nusa Tenggara means "Southeast Islands" from the words of nusa which means 'island' from Old Javanese language and tenggara means 'southeast'.
Eastern Indonesia is one of the two main geographical regions of Indonesia, the other being Western Indonesia. Eastern Indonesia spans across the Banda and Maluku Seas in the west, the Arafura and Timor Seas in the south, and the Halmahera Sea in the north. It comprises the archipelagic territory of Tanimbar, Banda, Maluku, Halmahera, Raja Ampat, Biak, and Western New Guinea. Central Indonesian Time and Eastern Indonesia Time are the national standard time designated for Eastern Indonesia; it falls within the UTC+8 and UTC+9 time zone, respectively.
↑ Frederick, William H.; Worden, Robert L. (1993). Indonesia: A Country Study. Area Handbook Series. Vol.550. Washington, D.C.: Federal Research Division, Library of Congress. p.98. ISBN9780844407906.
↑ Carter, D. J., Audley-Charles, M. G. & Barber, A. J. Stratigraphical analysis of island arc-continental margin collision in eastern Indonesia. J. Geol. Soc. Lond. 132, 179-189 (1976).
↑ Hamilton, W. Tectonics of the Indonesian Region Vol. 1078 (US Geol. Soc. Prof. Pap., 1979).
↑ Wirantaprawira, Dr Willy (2003). "Republik Indonesia". Dr Willy Wirantaprawira. Archived from the original on 18 October 2006. Retrieved 28 August 2006.
↑ Johnson, David Peter (2004). The Geology of Australia. Port Melbourne, Victoria: Cambridge University Press. p.12.
↑ MG Audley-Charles, 1986, "Timor–Tanimbar Trough: the foreland basin of the evolving Banda orogen", Spec. Publs int. Ass. Sediment, 8:91–102
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