page_title: Geography of Indonesia
section_title: Geographical facts
hierarchical_section_title: Geography of Indonesia / Geographical facts
caption_attribution_description: English: As an equatorial country, Indonesia is often obscured by cloud cover. An astronaut aboard the International Space Station recently seized the opportunity of a relatively storm-free day to photograph nearly half the length of Indonesia’s main island chain. Using a short lens and looking to the horizon for a panoramic effect, the astronaut captured this vast view that includes both clear skies and a murky, region-wide smoke pall. The smoke comes from fires caused by lightning strikes and by forest clearing by humans in Indonesia and northern Australia. In this photograph looking from west to east, Java is in the foreground, Bali and Lombok are near the center, and smaller islands trail off toward the horizon. More distant islands such as Sumba and Timor are almost invisible; each is more than 1600 kilometers (1,000 miles) distant from the spacecraft. The brightest reflection of the Sun off the sea surface silhouettes Surabaya (population 2.8 million), Indonesia’s second-largest city. Against this background of regional smoke, a line of volcanoes appears in sharp detail. Volcanoes are the backbone of the islands, which have been formed by the collision of the Australian tectonic plate (right) with the Asian plate (left). Note that the name of each volcano is labeled in italics. White plumes show that at least six volcanoes appeared to be emitting steam and smoke during this ISS orbit, though some of the plumes could also be wildfire. Even though the plumes are short (80 kilometers; 50 miles), they are prominent because the volcanoes stand above the smoky air layer near the surface. The plumes are also strikingly parallel, aligned with winds from the northeast. Every day, astronauts are sent memos alerting them to dynamic events—such as volcanic eruptions and fires—so that they might observe them from space.
context_page_description: Indonesia is an archipelagic country located in Southeast Asia, lying between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. It is located in a strategic location astride or along major sea lanes connecting East Asia, South Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is the largest archipelago in the world. Indonesia's various regional cultures have been shaped—although not specifically determined—by centuries of complex interactions with its physical environment.
context_section_description: Area:
  total land area: 1,904,569 km² (land: 1,811,569 km,
  inland water: 93,000 km²) (35,907 mi²)
  Area - comparative:
  Slightly smaller than Nunavut, Canada
  Slightly larger than combined area of Alaska and New England
  More than 27 times larger than Republic of Ireland
  Territorial area: 5,193,250 km²
  Total area (including exclusive economic zone): 8,063,601 km²
  Land boundaries:
  Total: 3,096 kilometres (1,924 mi)
  Border countries: Malaysia 2,019 kilometres (1,255 mi), Papua New Guinea 824 kilometres (512 mi), East Timor 253 kilometres (157 mi)
  Other nearby countries: Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, India, Laos, Myanmar, Palau, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam
  Coastline: 54,720 km (34,000 mi)
  Maritime claims: measured from claimed archipelagic baselines
  territorial sea: 12 nmi (13.8 mi; 22.2 km)
  exclusive economic zone: 6,159,032 km² (2,378,016 sq mi) with 200 nmi (230.2 mi; 370.4 km)
  Elevation extremes:
  lowest point: Sea level at 0 m (sea surface level); southern portion of the Philippine Trench, east of Miangas at −9,125 metres (−29,938 ft)
  highest point: Puncak Jaya (also known as Carstensz Pyramid) 4,884 m
  Land use:
  arable land: 12.97%
  permanent crops: 12.14%
  other: 74.88% (2013)
  Irrigated land: 67,220 km² (2005) (25,953 mi²)
  Total renewable water resources: 2,019 km³ (2011) (484 mi³)
  Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):
  total: 113.3 km³/yr (11%/19%/71%)
  per capita: 517.3 m³/yr (2005)
  Natural resources: coal, petroleum, natural gas, tin, nickel, timber, bauxite, copper, fertile soils, gold, silver
caption: Java and eastern Indonesia photographed in 2015 by an astronaut on the International Space Station. Six active volcanos are visible. Haze is from wildfires.
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