Visit Klaten – How Many Islands in Indonesia?. Indonesia is an archipelagic country located between the Pacific and Indian oceans, on both sides of the equator.
Because of its location between Oceania and Southeast Asia, it is considered a transcontinental country. Indonesia’s territory stretches for more than 1,000 miles from north to south and more than 3,100 miles from east to west, making it the largest archipelagic country in the world.
Several of its islands share land borders with other countries including East Timor, Malaysia and Papua New Guinea. Researchers estimate that less than half of the islands here have permanent human settlements.
How many islands in Indonesia?
Indonesia is officially designated as an archipelagic country by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
What is an Island Country?
Archipelagic countries are recognized by the UN as a national territorial unit that includes land and water areas.
As an archipelagic country, the waters that surround and connect all the islands in the country are designated as the country’s inland waterways.
This recognition gives countries the right to have autonomous control over their waters. Only 6 countries in the world have been awarded this distinction: Indonesia, Fiji, Trinidad and Tobago, the Bahamas, Papua New Guinea, and the Philippines.
How Many Islands Does Indonesia Have?
As an archipelagic country, Indonesia consists of several thousand islands. Interestingly, however, neither researchers nor the Indonesian government have an accurate count of how many islands make up the entire region.
Its distinction as an archipelago means that its territory is determined based on UN international agreements. The treaty also provides a definition of an island, claiming it as an area of land that cannot be completely covered by water at high tide.
In addition, only named islands are officially registered and these islands can only be registered if at least 2 people know their official name.
Because Indonesia failed to provide accurate records of the number of islands that make up the country, its true territorial claims over the entire region were affected. This problem extends to the waters connecting these islands.
Indonesian Archipelago
Maintaining its status as an archipelagic country means that Indonesia must follow this internationally accepted definition. Given that the reported number of islands has changed over the years, the total number of their internal waterways has also changed.
At the last count in 2003, the Indonesian government reported a total of 18,108 islands after relying on satellite imagery. This number is an increase of 584 islands from the previous count.
The satellite imagery used only takes into account land areas of more than 322.91 square feet. The UN has officially accepted and listed only 14,752 of these 18,108 islands as part of the archipelago.
Each of these islands has been officially given a name by the Indonesian government. The UN holds a Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names every 5 years.
Lost Islands in Indonesia
As Indonesia continues to add islands to its territory with the help of advances in imaging technology, the country is also losing islands every year.
Some of the claims made by the country’s government over certain plots of land have been disputed over the years. In fact, in 2002, Indonesia lost some of its islands and territory due to two major events.
In this first incident, Malaysia took the dispute specifically to the International Court of Justice. In this case, the court ruled in favor of Malaysia and Indonesia lost two islands: Sipadan and Ligitan.
In the second case, East Timor gained independence from Indonesia. The two countries continue to share a land border, with West Timor belonging to Indonesian territory.
Why is the Number of Islands in Indonesia Important?
With so many islands in its territory, losing just a few seemed like a mild ordeal for the country. However, this assumption is not correct.
The sea area around Indonesia and its neighboring countries is considered one of the most important in the world, especially for international trade purposes. Experts estimate that about 33% of the world’s ships travel through this area, known as the South China Sea, every year.
In terms of global trade, this same area produces about $5 trillion worth of goods annually. The economies of Indonesia, China, Malaysia, Japan, Vietnam, Brunei, and South Korea, among many other countries depend on these waters.
In addition to maritime transportation, the South China Sea also supports an active fishing industry and is home to rich natural gas and petroleum deposits. Because of this dependency, local authorities are very important.
In short, it is considered one of the most important maritime areas in the world, which means that issues of territorial ownership are important, especially when conflicts and accidents are involved.
Several cases of conflict between international parties and sovereignty issues in certain areas of the South China Sea have been reported.
Threats to the Indonesian Archipelago
Not only is Indonesia at risk of losing its islands due to international disputes and court rulings, but the country also faces the increasing threat of global climate change.
As global climate change becomes an ever-invasive part of life around the world, its direct and indirect effects are becoming clearer. For Indonesia, one of the most threatening impacts of global climate change is rising sea levels.
As the ocean reaches further inland, many small islands and low-lying areas are at risk of disappearing. Researchers have predicted that Jakarta, Indonesia’s capital, will likely be flooded and uninhabitable by 2030.
The threat is even more serious in 2050, the year researchers say the island nation will lose an additional 1,500 islands. Small islands mean the country will have autonomous control over fewer maritime areas, leaving the economy open to the influence and control of stronger countries.
Loss of territory means loss of the diversity of natural resources currently available in Indonesia, including the fishing industry and oil and natural gas reserves.
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