| Indonesia is a huge archipelagic country | | | | times occurred in Indonesia. In 1815 a |
| extending 5,120 kilometers from east to | | | | volcano at Gunung Tambora on the north |
| west and 1,760 kilometers from north to | | | | coast of Sumbawa, Nusa Tenggara Barat |
| south. It encompasses 13,667 (some | | | | Province, claimed 92,000 lives and |
| sources say as many as 18,000, only | | | | created "the year without a summer" in |
| 6,000 of which are inhabited. There are | | | | various parts of the world. In 1883 |
| five main islands (Sumatra, Java, | | | | Krakatau in the Sunda Strait, between |
| Kalimantan, Sulawesi, and Irian Jaya), | | | | Java and Sumatra, erupted and some |
| two major archipelagos (Nusa Tenggara | | | | 36,000 West Javans died from the |
| and the Maluku Islands), and sixty | | | | resulting tidal wave. The sound of the |
| smaller archipelagos. Three of the | | | | explosion was reported as far away as |
| islands are shared with other nations; | | | | Turkey and Japan. For almost a century |
| Kalimantan (known in the colonial period | | | | following that eruption, Krakatau was |
| as Borneo, the world's third largest | | | | quiet, until the late 1970s, when it |
| island) is shared with Malaysia and | | | | erupted twice. |
| Brunei, Timor is shared with East Timor, | | | | Mountains ranging between 3,000 and |
| and Irian Jaya shares the island of New | | | | 3,800 meters above sea level can be |
| Guinea with Papua New Guinea. | | | | found on the islands of Sumatra, Java, |
| Indonesia's total land area is 1,919,317 | | | | Bali, Lombok, Sulawesi, and Seram. The |
| square kilometers. Included in | | | | country's tallest mountains are located |
| Indonesia's total territory is another | | | | in the Jayawijaya Mountains and the |
| 93,000 square kilometers of inlands seas | | | | Sudirman Mountains in Irian Jaya. The |
| (straits, bays, and other bodies of | | | | highest peak, Puncak Jaya, also known as |
| water). The additional surrounding sea | | | | Mount Carstenz, which reaches 4,884 |
| areas bring Indonesia's generally | | | | meters, is located in the Sudirman |
| recognized territory (land and sea) to | | | | Mountains. |
| about 5 million square kilometers. The | | | | Nusa Tenggara consists of two strings of |
| government, however, also claims an | | | | islands stretching eastward from Bali |
| exclusive economic zone, which brings | | | | toward Irian Jaya. The inner arc of Nusa |
| the total to about 7.9 million square | | | | Tenggara is a continuation of the chain |
| kilometers. | | | | of mountains and volcanoes extending |
| Geographers have conventionally grouped | | | | from Sumatra through Java, Bali, and |
| Sumatra, Java (and Madura), Kalimantan | | | | Flores, and trailing off in the Banda |
| (formerly Borneo), and Sulawesi | | | | Islands. The outer arc of Nusa Tenggara |
| (formerly Celebes) in the Greater Sunda | | | | is a geological extension of the chain |
| Islands. These islands, except for | | | | of islands west of Sumatra that includes |
| Sulawesi, lie on the Sunda Shelf--an | | | | Nias, Mentawai, and Enggano. This chain |
| extension of the Malay Peninsula and the | | | | resurfaces in Nusa Tenggara in the |
| Southeast Asian mainland. Far to the | | | | ruggedly mountainous islands of Sumba |
| east is Irian Jaya (formerly Irian Barat | | | | and Timor. |
| or West New Guinea), which takes up the | | | | The Maluku Islands (or Moluccas) are |
| western half of the world's second | | | | geologically among the most complex of |
| largest island--New Guinea--on the Sahul | | | | the Indonesian islands. They are located |
| Shelf. Sea depths in the Sunda and Sahul | | | | in the northeast sector of the |
| shelves average 200 meters or less. | | | | archipelago, bounded by the Philippines |
| Between these two shelves lie Sulawesi, | | | | to the north, Irian Jaya to the east, |
| Nusa Tenggara (also known as the Lesser | | | | and Nusa Tenggara to the south. The |
| Sunda Islands), and the Maluku Islands | | | | largest of these islands include |
| (or the Moluccas), which form a second | | | | Halmahera, Seram, and Buru, all of which |
| island group where the surrounding seas | | | | rise steeply out of very deep seas. This |
| in some places reach 4,500 meters in | | | | abrupt relief pattern from sea to high |
| depth. The term Outer Islands is used | | | | mountains means that there are very few |
| inconsistently by various writers but it | | | | level coastal plains. |
| is usually taken to mean those islands | | | | Geographers believe that the island of |
| other than Java and Madura. | | | | New Guinea, of which Irian Jaya is a |
| Tectonically, this region--especially | | | | part, may once have been part of the |
| Java--is highly unstable, and although | | | | Australian continent. The breakup and |
| the volcanic ash has resulted in fertile | | | | tectonic action created both towering, |
| soils, it makes agricultural conditions | | | | snowcapped mountain peaks lining its |
| unpredictable in some areas. The country | | | | central east-west spine and hot, humid |
| has numerous mountains and some 400 | | | | alluvial plains along the coast of New |
| volcanoes, of which approximately 100 | | | | Guinea. Irian Jaya's mountains range |
| are active. Between 1972 and 1991 alone, | | | | some 650 kilometers east to west, |
| twenty-nine volcanic eruptions were | | | | dividing the province between north and |
| recorded, mostly on Java. The most | | | | south. |
| violent volcanic eruptions in modern | | | | |