LAND

Indonesia, the largest archipelago in the world to form a single state, consists of five main islands and some 30 smaller archipelagoes, totaling about 17,508 islands and islets of which about 6,000 are inhabited.

The name "INDONESIA" is composed of the two Greek words: "Indos" meaning India and "Nesos" meaning islands. The Indonesian archipelago forms a crossroad between two oceans, the Pacific and Indian oceans and a bridge between two continents, Asia and Australia. Because of its strategic position, therefore, Indonesia's cultural, social, political and economic patterns have always been conditioned by its geographical position.

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

Climate and Weather

Indonesia's climate and weather is characterized by an equatorial double rainy season. Its variation is caused by the equatorial circulation (Walker circulation) and the meridional circulation (Hardley circulation). The displacement of the latter circulation is closely related to the north-south movement of the sun and its position at a certain period with regard to the earth and the continents of Asia and Australia. These factors contribute to the displacement and intensity of the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) being an equatorial through of low pressure. This characterizes the weather of Indonesia, while the prevalence of the West monsoon and the East monsoon (the rainy and dry seasons) are characterizing Indonesia's climate.

Indonesia's monsoon-type climate changes approximately every six months although in recent years weather patterns have been somewhat disrupted as part of global changes in weather.

Humidity and temperatures are varies according to the season but temperatures are affected additionally by time of day, height above sea level and proximity to the sea and exception. The dry season is from June to September and the rainy season from December to March. Intervening periods are transition months in which the weather will be mixed.

Average temperatures are classified as follows: Coastal plains: 28-30°C; inland and mountain areas: 26°C; higher mountain areas: 23°C, varying with the altitude.

Indonesia has an average relative humidity between 70 percent and 90 percent, with a minimum of 73 percent and a maximum of 87 percent.

Rivers and Lakes

A number of unique lakes are also found in some islands. All of them are located amidst of islands, such as the Toba, Maninjau and Singkarak Lakes in Sumatra; the Tempe, Towuti, Sidenreng, Poso, Limboto and Tondano Lakes in Sulawesi, the Paniai and Sentani Lakes in Papua.

Flora and Fauna

Partly due to its vast size and tropical archipelago make-up, Indonesia has the world's second highest level of biodiversity (after Brazil) with its flora and fauna species a mixture of Asian and Australasian species.  Once linked to the Asian mainland, the Greater Sunda Islands (Sumatra, Kalimantan, Java and Bali) have a wealth of Asian fauna. Large species such as the tiger, rhinoceros, orangutan, elephant, and leopard, although once abundant and distributed as far east as Bali, have dwindled drastically in number and distribution. Sumatra and Kalimantan still contain vast forests, predominantly Asian in nature, but they are being logged at rapid rates, while the smaller but densely populated Java and Bali are now predominantly developed for habitation and agriculture. Originally part of the Australian landmass, the highlands of Papua enclose a number of unique environments, including over 600 bird species, with fauna closely related to Australia’s.  Sulawesi, Nusa Tenggara and Maluku, having been long separated from the continental landmasses, have developed their own unique flora and fauna

Surrounding a vast number of islands with over 80,000km of coastline, the warm, tropical seas of Indonesia also boast a high level of biodiversity,^[2] corresponding with a diverse range of ecosystems including beaches, sand dunes, estuaries, mangroves, coral reefs, sea grass beds, coastal mudflats, tidal flats, algal beds, and small island ecosystems

The British naturalist Alfred Wallace described a dividing line between the distribution of Indonesia's Asian and Australasian species, known as the Wallace Line, it runs along the edge of the Sunda shelf, between Kalimantan and Sulawesi, and along the deep Lombok Strait, between Lombok and Bali. West of the line, the flora and fauna are more Asian, and as one travels east from Lombok they are increasingly Australian. Wallace described not only the transition between Asian and Australasian species, but also numerous species unique to the surrounding area, which is now known as Wallacea.

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.