The Indonesia comprises 13,466 islands 1 which are inhabited 922 permanently 2 ( 3 ).

Description

The Indonesian archipelago is generally divided into several archipelagos :

  • the Sunda Islands in the West – further subdivided between large while the west Sunda islands ( Sumatra , Java , Borneo , Sulawesi ) and small Sunda islands, of islands extending south of the country from Bali to Timor .
  • the Moluccas to the East, whose main islands are Halmahera in the North, Seram in the center and the Aru Islands and Tanimbar Islands in the South
  • the New Guinea to the east .

Indonesia, with the exception of New Guinea, is often considered part of a larger archipelago, the Insulinde .

Indonesia’s largest islands are Java, home to nearly half of the country’s population, Sumatra , Borneo (shared with Malaysia and Brunei ), West Papua (West New Guinea ) and Sulawesi .

The island of Bali is the only true international tourist destination of Indonesia.

Other notable islands include Timor and Flores Island (where a new species of hominids was discovered in 2003 , Homo floresiensis ).

List of the main islands

By area

List of Indonesian islands by area
Rank Name Group Area (km²) Remarks
1 New Guinea Moluccas 829,200 The island is shared with Papua New Guinea .
The West Papua , the Indonesian part covers 421,981 km 2 .
2 Borneo Large Probe 725,500 The island is shared with Malaysia and Brunei .
The Kalimantan , the Indonesian part covers 539,460 km 2 .
3 Sumatra Great Islands of the Sunda 425,000
4 Sulawesi Great Islands of the Sunda 174,600
5 Java Great Islands of the Sunda 126,700
6 Timor Small islands of the Sonde 30,777 The island is shared with East Timor .
The Indonesian part covers 15,770 km 2 .
7 Halmahera Moluccas 17,780
8 Seram Moluccas 17,148
9 Sumbawa Small islands of the Sonde 15,448
10 Flores Small islands of the Sonde 14,300
11 Yos Sudarso Moluccas 11,600
12 Bangka Great Islands of the Sunda 11,330
13 Sumba Small islands of the Sonde 11,153
14 Buru Moluccas 9,505
15 Bali Small islands of the Sonde 5,561
16 Lombok Small islands of the Sonde 5,435
17 Madura Great Islands of the Sunda 5,290
18 Belitung Great Islands of the Sunda 4,800
19 Buton Great Islands of the Sunda 4,200
20 nias Great Islands of the Sunda 4,064
21 Siberut Great Islands of the Sunda 3,810
22 Wetar Moluccas 3,600
23 Yamdena Moluccas 3,100
24 Waigeo Moluccas 3,060

By region

Big Islands of the Sunda

  • Borneo , divided between Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei
  • Sulawesi and related islands:
    • Buton
    • Sangir
    • Talaud Islands
    • Togian Islands
    • Tukang Besi Islands
    • Selayar
  • Java and related islands:
    • Bawean
    • Kangean Islands
    • Madura
    • Karimun Jawa Islands
    • Seribu Islands
  • Sumatra and related islands:
    • Bangka
    • Belitung
    • Enggano
    • Banyak Islands
    • Mentawai Islands (including Siberut )
    • nias
    • Riau Islands ( Batam , Bintan , Karimun )
    • Lingga Islands
    • Natuna Islands
    • Simeulue

Small islands of Sunda

    • Archipelago of Alor
    • Bali
    • Flores
    • Komodo
    • Lombok
    • Palu’e
    • Roti or Rote
    • Solor
    • Sumba
    • Sumbawa
    • Timor , divided between Indonesia and East Timor

Moluccas and New Guinea

  • Maluku :
    • Ambon
    • Aru Islands
    • Babar Islands
    • Bacan
    • Banda Islands
    • Barat Daya Islands
    • Buru
    • Halmahera
    • Haruku
    • Kai Islands
    • Leti Islands
    • Makian
    • Morotai
    • Saparua
    • Seram
    • Tanimbar Islands
    • Ternate
    • Tidore
    • Waigeo .
  • New Guinea , divided between Indonesia and Papua New Guinea
  • Islands attached:
    • Biak
    • Sorong

Riau Islands

  • Batam
  • Bintan
  • Penyengat

Number of islands

According to the Ministry of Interior of Indonesia (2004), Indonesia consists of 17,504 islands, of which 7870 are named 4 .

Number of islands in Indonesia by province (2004)
n o Province Number of islands
With a name Nameless Total
1. Aceh 205 458 663
2. North Sumatra 237 182 419
3. West Sumatra 200 191 391
4. Riau 73 66 139
5. Jambi 16 3 19
6. South Sumatra 43 10 53
7. Bengkulu 23 24 47
8. Lampung 86 102 188
9. Bangka Islands Belitung 311 639 950
10. Riau Islands 1,350 1,058 2,408
11. Jakarta 111 107 218
12. West Java 19 112 131
13. Central Java 47 249 296
14. Yogyakarta 22 1 23
15. East Java 232 55 287
16. Banten 48 83 131
17. Bali 25 60 85
18. Small Western Sunda Islands 461 403 864
19. Small islands of the Eastern Sonde 473 719 1,192
20. West Kalimantan 246 93 339
21. Central Kalimantan 27 5 32
22. South Kalimantan 164 156 320
23. East Kalimantan 232 138 370
24. North Sulawesi 310 358 668
25. Central Sulawesi 139 611 750
26. South Sulawesi 190 105 295
27. Southeast Sulawesi 361 290 651
28. gorontalo 96 40 136
29. Moluccas 741 681 1,422
30. North Maluku Islands 125 1,349 1,474
31. Papua 301 297 598
32. West Papua 956 989 1,945
– Total 7,870 9,634 17,504

Related article

  • Pulau

Notes and references

  1. ↑ “The Naming Procedures of Indonesia’s Islands” file prepared by the Working Group on Maritime toponyms and Names of Islands of the Indonesian National Team for the Standardization of Topographical Names and submitted to the 10 th United Nations Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names , New York, July 31 – August 9, 2012
  2. ↑ According to the ” Seminar Nasional Penetapan Nama Pulau-pulau Kecil Dalam Perspektive Sejarah ” (“National Seminar naming small islands from the historical point of view”) held from July 16 to 18 in Palembang
  3. ↑ 6,000 according to the CIA Factbook
  4. ↑ Ministry of Interior Indonesian  [ archive ]