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