 |
|
|
INDONESIA IN BRIEF GEOGRAPHY  The Republic of Indonesia is the largest archipelago country in the world, comprising 17,508 islands stretching along 5,120 kilometers from east to west, and 1,760 kilometers from north to south. The islands scatter over more than one tenth of the equator between Southeast Asia and Australia, covering a land area of around 2 million square kilometers and territorial waters nearly four time of that size.a. Main islands :
b. Main cities :
DEMOGRAPHY AND HUMAN RESOURCES According to the Population Census 2000, the total population of Indonesia is 203,456,005. The distribution of population, however, is not even. The island of Java with less than 7 percent of total land area is the home of almost 60 percent of the total population, while the island of Papua that covers almost 21 percent of total land area is inhabited by only 1 percent of the total population. Population growth during the period of 1990-2000 is 1.35 percent/year. THE ARCHIPELAGO The archipelago of Indonesia comprises about 17,508 big and small islands, of which only about 6,000 are inhabited. Five main islands and 30 smaller island groups are home to the majority of the population. The main islands are Sumatera (425,606 km2), Kalimantan (539,460 km2), Sulawesi (174,219 km2), Irian Jaya (421,981 km2), and Java (129,187 km2) which is home to about 70% of the country's population. The archipelago lies on tropical zone of Southeast Asia. The equator passes through the islands of Sumatera, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, and Halmahera. Geographically, the archipelago is situated between 06o08' north latitude to 11o15' south latitude and 94o45' to 141o05' east longitude; between two continents: Asia and Australia; between two oceans: Indian and Pacific; and on the traditional trading crossroads. Stretching along the equator of about 8,000 km long, it is the same width to the North American Mainland, or Australia Continent, or West European Continent. Total territorial area is 9.8 million km2, a large part of which (7.9 million km2 or 81%) is sea, while the rest (1.9 million km2 or 19%) is terrestrial land. Total coastline length of all islands is 54,716 km. Having such figures, Indonesia is recognized as the greatest maritime country in the world. PHYSIOGRAPHY AND GEOMORPHOLOGY The archipelago of Indonesia is situated on the matching point of the two world greatest volcanic ranges, the Mediterranean from the west and Circum Pacific from the northeast, by which the volcanic pattern, physiography, and geomorphology of the archipelago are strongly influenced. There are about 400 mounts, most of which are volcanoes - either active or inactive ones - forming a bow of mountain ranges along the array of islands on the southern archipelago stretching from Sumatera, Krakatau on the Straits of Sunda, Java, Bali, Lombok, Sumbawa, and Flores. Kalimantan is the only island where volcano does not exist; instead, dense tropical rainforest naturally developed on the middle-range and peat-swamp ecosystems on the lowland. The highest summit of the archipelago is Mount Jayawijaya, about 5,000 m above sea level, where snow can be permanently found. Facing the Indian Ocean, most of the coastlines of these islands are steep cliffs with very limited sand dunes. On the other hand, the inner northward coastlines are relatively flat, with substantially rapid coast expansion due to excessive sedimentation. On this type of coastline, mangrove forest communities exist, and brackish-water fish culture takes place on relatively developed areas. ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISIONS The capital of the Republic of Indonesia is Jakarta, the biggest and most densely populated city in the country, located on Java Island. Administratively, Indonesia is divided into 32 provinces, led by a Governor. Of all provinces, there are three special provincial territories, i.e.: Nangroe Aceh Darussalam, Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta (DI Yogyakarta - Yogyakarta Special Territory), and Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta (DKI Jakarta - Jakarta Metropolitan Special Territory). Each province is divided into some kabupaten (regency), kota (city) or kotamadya (big city). A kabupaten or regency commonly covers a capital town and surrounding area as well as a great area of hinterlands; it is led by a Bupati. Whereas, a kota or kotamadya or city covers a big city, including its sub-urban areas; it is led by a Walikota (City Mayor). Kabupaten and kota have the same level of governmental hierarchy. Within a kabupaten or kota there are some kecamatan (districts), led by a Camat. Each kecamatan is divided into some desa / kelurahan (villages). Desa is village within a kabupaten, and it is led by a Kepala Desa (Village Chief); while kelurahan is village within a kota or kotamadya, and it is led by a Lurah. Village (desa and kelurahan) is the lowest level of governmental organization structure. Within a village there are some voluntary social organizations called Rukun Kampung (RK - Hamlets within a desa) or Rukun Warga (RW - Hamlets within a kelurahan), each is led by a volutary social leader called Ketua RK or Ketua RW. Within each RK or RW, there are also some Rukun Tetangga (RT - Neighborhood). Led by a Ketua RT, each RT covers some neighboring households. CLIMATE Climate and Weather Characteristics The archipelago of Indonesia belongs to the Austral-Asiatic tropical zone. Climatic and weather condition of the archipelago is characterized by an equatorial double rainy season. Its variation is caused by the equatorial circulation and the meredional circulation. Displacement of the meredional circulation is closely related to the north-south relative 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 being an equatorial trough of low pressure. This characterizes the weather of Indonesia; while the prevalence of the west monsoon and the east monsoon (wet and dry seasons) are characterizing the climate of Indonesia. Monsoon and Rainfall When relative position of the sun is on the north hemisphere from mid-March to mid-September, relatively dry winds blow over the archipelago from the southeast - the arid continent of Australia; and east monsoon characterizing dry season takes place on a large part of the archipelago. The dry season is generally prevailing from May to September. On the other hand, when relative position of the sun is on the south hemisphere from mid-September to mid-March, wet winds blow over the archipelago from the northeast - the humid continent of Asia; then west monsoon characterizing wet season takes place in most parts of the archipelago. The wet season is generally prevailing from December to March. However, these patterns do not always rigidly take place since a large part of the archipelago is covered by sea and diurnal differences are not significant, which makes precipitation be possible anytime. Sunshine is abundant, but rainfall - either heavy or light storms - can also drop in the dry season period. Rain even falls nearly all the year round on the islands where equator passes through, and this had resulted in dense natural tropical rainforest on the islands of Sumatera, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, and also in Irian Jaya. Humidity and Temperature Being within the humid equatorial zone, Indonesia has a high degree of air relative humidity with an average minimum of 60%. A minimum of 20% was observed in Jakarta in 1972. On the average, the mean annual air relative humidity ranges around 80% - 90%. The annual mean air temperature in Indonesia is around 33°C. As for the higher mountainous region, the monthly mean air temperature ranges approximately 25oC - 28oC. The mean maximum temperature can reach 33oC, whereas the mean minimum air temperature is 21°C. Wind and Storm The average wind velocity is generally less than 15 knots per hour. Strong wind may be blowing occasionally in any parts of Indonesia that is usually closely related to tropical storms. Wind velocities of 45 knots per hour were reported from Rembiga in January 1976, from Surabaya in January 1973, and from Ujungpandang in January 1974. Nevertheless, the tropical storms are rare in Indonesia as it is anticipated that these would not develop in land areas within the latitude of less than 70o. Despite this anticipation, however, reports of tropical storms were recorded at Banda area in April 1778, at the islands of Rote and Timor in April 1843, and the giant ones at Timor in 1918 and on the island of Flores in 1973 and 1993. Today's Weather Forecasts Weather forecasts for some big cities in Indonesia are provided. Thanks to the Weathernews Inc., the daily and weekly weather forecast data are automatically updated. You may also view the satellite imagery presenting current weather conditions of Central Asia and Pacific Rim, where Indonesian Archipelago lies. INDONESIA'S STANDARD TIME As of 1 January 1988, the Indonesia's three time zones have been changed as shown on the map, which is briefly described as follows:
The capital city of Indonesia, Jakarta, is situated on the island of Java, belonging to the WIB (GMT +7 hours). It is 6,695 nautical miles from London, 10,123 nautical miles from New York, 4,610 nautical miles from Vladiwostok, 3,437 nautical miles from Sydney, 2,992 nautical miles from Beijing, and 3,610 nautical miles from Tokyo. |