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