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Geography of Indonesia

Location: Southeastern Asia, archipelago between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean

Geographic coordinates: 5 00 S, 120 00 E

Map references: Southeast Asia

Area:
total: 1,919,440 kmē
land: 1,826,440 kmē
water: 93,000 kmē

Area - comparative: slightly less than three times the size of Texas

Land boundaries:
total: 2,830 km
border countries: Malaysia 1,782 km, Papua New Guinea 820 km, East Timor 228 km

Coastline: 54,716 km

Maritime claims: measured from claimed archipelagic baselines
exclusive economic zone: 200 nautical miles
territorial sea: 12 nautical miles

Climate: tropical; hot, humid; more moderate in highlands

Terrain: mostly coastal lowlands; larger islands have interior mountains

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
highest point: Puncak Jaya 5,030 m

Natural resources: petroleum, tin, natural gas, nickel, timber, bauxite, copper, fertile soils, coal, gold, silver

Land use:
arable land: 9.9%
permanent crops: 7.2%
other: 82.9% (1998 est.)

Irrigated land: 48,150 kmē (1998 est.)

Natural hazards: occasional floods, severe droughts, tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanoes, forest fires

Environment - current issues: deforestation; water pollution from industrial wastes, sewage; air pollution in urban areas; smoke and haze from forest fires

Environment - international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Marine Life Conservation

Geography - note: archipelago of 17,000 islands (6,000 inhabited); straddles Equator; strategic location astride or along major sea lanes from Indian Ocean to Pacific Ocean

See also : Indonesia