Geography

MAP OF INDONESIA

Indonesia is an archipelagic island country in Southeast Asia, lying between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. It is in a strategic location astride or along major sea lanes from Indian Ocean to Pacific Ocean. The country's variations in culture have been shaped—although not specifically determined—by centuries of complex interactions with the physical environment. Although Indonesians are now less vulnerable to the vicissitudes of nature as a result of improved technology and social programs, to some extent their social diversity has emerged from traditionally different patterns of adjustment to their physical circumstances.

Geographical Features

The territory of the Republic of Indonesia stretches from 6°8' north latitude to 11°15' south latitude and from 94°45' to 141°65' east longitude. Its estimated total area is 9.8 million sq km (including Exclusive Economic Zone _EEZ), which consists of a land territory of 1.9 million sq km and a sea territory of 7.9 million sq km.

Indonesia's five main islands are: Sumatra is about 473,606 sq km in size, Java 132,187 sq km, the most fertile and densely populated island, Kalimantan or two-thirds of the island of Borneo measuring 539,460 sq km, Sulawesi 189,216 sq km and Papua 421,981 sq km which forms part of the world's second biggest island of New Guinea. The other islands are smaller in size.
The Indonesian archipelago is divided into three divisions. The island of Java, Sumatra and Kalimantan, together with the small islands in between, stand on the Sunda Shelf which extends from the coast of Indonesia's land area is generally covered by thick tropical rain forests where fertile soils are continuously replenished by volcanic eruptions like that on the island of Java. The island of Java has 112 volcanic centers of which 15 are active. The lava ejected has a high degree of fertility.
An additional advantage of the island of Java is that its coastal plains are not edged by wide swamps as in the case of Sumatra, Kalimantan and Papua, not bordered by coral reefs as in the case of the island of Sulawesi. On the island of Sumatra there is plenty of evidence of past volcanic activities, although the ejected material contained acid which is of less fertility compared with Java.

Indonesia Standard Time

Indonesia's three time zones are as below:
1. Western Indonesia Standard Time equals GMT plus 7 hours (meridian 105°E), covering all provinces in Sumatra and Java, and the provinces of West and Central Kalimantan.
2. Central Indonesia Standard Time equals GMT plus 8 hours (meridian 120°E), covering the provinces of East and South Kalimantan, all provinces in Sulawesi, and the provinces of Bali, West and East Nusatenggara.
3. Eastern Indonesia Standard Time equals GMT plus 9 hours (meridian 135°E), covering the provinces of Maluku and Papua.

Exclusive Economic Zone

When independence was proclaimed and sovereignty gained, Indonesia had to enact laws to govern the seas in accordance with the geographic structure of an archipelagic state. This, however, did not mean that the country would bar international passage. The laws were necessary instruments for the unity and national resilience of the country, with a territory that embraces all the islands, the islets and the seas in between.

In view of the country's susceptibility to foreign intervention from the sea and for domestic security reasons, on December 13, 1957, the Indonesian Government issued a declaration on the territorial waters of the Republic. It stated that all the waters surrounding and between the islands in the territory came within Indonesia's sovereignty. It also determined that the country's territorial water limit was 12 miles, measured from a straight baseline drawn from the outermost points of the islands.

In the past, archipelagic states like Indonesia have unilaterally determined their 200-mile-Exclusive Economic Zones. Today such economic zones are confirmed by the International Convention on the Law of the Sea, which was ratified by the Indonesian Government on October 18, 1983, by Act No. 5 of the same year. This is the legal basis of the Indonesian-Exclusive Economic Zone.

More on Indonesia’s Geography:

Climate and Weather
Rivers and Lakes
Flora
Fauna