Indonesia

How is the land laid out?

This nation consists of islands and parts of islands, located between the Indian and Pacific Oceans, and defining numerous seas and straits between them. The western half of the world's second largest island, New Guinea, constitutes--with some nearby islands--the province of Papua. The province presents sharp contrasts between the lofty Maoke--reaching above 5,000 meters--and vast tracks of swamp. The northwest of the island includes two bulbous peninsulas connected only narrowly to the large land body.

Indonesia also owns the larger part of the world's third largest island, Borneo, called Kalimantan by the Indonesian government. A mountain range running southwest to northeast delineates the boundary; south of the mountains the island is mostly swampy lowlands. The island is divided into four provinces, which include some nearby islands.

The world's fifth largest island, Sumatera,¹ is entirely within the nation. It is oriented northwest to southeast, behind the Asian mainland's Malay Peninsula, and is flanked on its west by mountains. The southeast is swampy. The island is divided into eight provinces, which include numerous islands off the west, northwest and southeast. Two other provices, consisting entirely of small islands, are located between Sumatera and Borneo.

Asia's fifth largest island is Sulawesi (the Celebes in English). The island is mostly a set of peninsulas that meet in the center. The northernmost one, Minahasa, twists first north, then east, then northeast, and is continued by a chain of islands that nearly reaches the Pilipinas (the Philippines in English). There are moderately large lakes at or near the island's center, and the entire island is mountainous. Sulawesi is divided into four provinces, which include nearby islands, some of which nearly reach Maluku Province.

Asia's sixth largest island is Jawa,¹ which sits southeast of Sumatera, south-southwest of Borneo and west of the Lesser Sundas. The cigar-shaped island, oriented west to east, has more than 100 volanoes, mostly nearer the south shore. The intermontane valleys and coastal plains are good farmland. The island is divided into six provinces--including the national capital as one, which include a few nearby islands such as Madura.

The Lesser Sundas are in a long irregular line from Bali, east of Jawa, to Timor. These volcanic islands include--besides the two just mentioned--Lombok and Flores. Only the western half of Timor is part of Indonesia. The group comprises three provinces.

The remaining islands, making up two provinces between the Sulawesi and Timor (west) and Papua (east) are the Malukus. These include Halmahera and Ceram.

UNESCO honors as World Heritage Sites the following natural areas: Ujong Kulon National Park (on Jawa and on islands in the Sunda Strait); Komodo National Park on small islands in the Lesser Sundas; Lorentz National Park on New Guinea island; and 'Tropical Rainforest Heritage of Sumatra' in three spots on Sumatera.

Who lives there?

The national language is Malay, officially called Indonesian. It is spoken as the majority first language in Borneo, by just under half of the Sumatrese (but learned by most of the others) and--in proper or Creole forms--by urban communities, including those of the national capital.

Javanese is spoken in the center and east of Java, and by migrants to Sumatra, Borneo and Papua.

On Sulawesi there is no majority language, but the South Sulawesi group accounts for more than half.

In the Lesser Sundas and Malukus--taken together, the Sundic group accounts for more than half of the residents' first languages.

Malay and Javanese, and the members of the South Sulawesi and Sundic groups are Austronesian languages. This family also represents the majority of speakers on Sumatra.

In Papua Province, the majority speak languages in the Central and Western Main Section of Trans-New Guinea languages.

Sunni Moslems, of varying degrees of orthodoxy, are the majority in Borneo, Sumatra, Java and the Celebes. Christians are the majority in Papua Province, and are a substantial minority in Borneo, the Celebes and Sumatra. There is no majority in the Lesser Sundas and the Malukus--taken together; both Islam and Christianity are important there.

There are 19 cities of over a million. Twelve of them are on Java, see Javanese cities. On Sumatra are Medan, which administers the port of Belawan in the north, Palembang, a former imperial capital in the southeast and Bandar Lampung (also called Tanjungkarang Telukbetung) at the southern tip. On Bali is Denpassar; on Lompok, Mataram; and on Kalimantan, Samarinda. The last of the 19 is Makassar, now known as Ujungpandang, an old port in the southern Celebes.

UNESCO honors the pre-Islamic heritage of three World Heritage Sites, all on Jawa: Borobudur Temple Compounds; Prambanan Temple Compounds; and Sangiran Early Man Site.

Within the Area

Papua Province
Western Kalimantan, Southern Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan and Eastern Kalimantan
Western Sumatera, Southern Sumatera, Northern Sumatera, Aceh, Bangka-Belitung, Bengkulu, Jambi, Riau, Riau Archipelago and Lampung
Southern Sulawesi, Central Sulawesi, Sulawesi Tenggara and Northern Sulawesi
Western Jawa, Central Jawa, Eastern Jawa, Banten, Jakarta and Yogyakarta
Bali, Western Nusa Tenggara, Eastern Nusa Tenggara, Maluku and Northern Maluku

Footnotes

1. Sumatra in English.
2. Java in English.