Geography

Indonesia is the largest insular state in the world. It occupies most of the Malay Archipelago which stretches between the Indian and the Pacific Oceans both sides of the equator. Indonesia was given its name by a German traveler, geographer and ethnographer A.Bastian in 1884. He combined the Greek word “nesos” – “islands” and the name “India”, as the local culture showed traces of Indian influence. The invention of this name is, however, sometimes ascribed to other personalities. The locals call their country Nusantara, Tanah air.

Indonesia is called the “country of a thousand islands”, or even the “country of three thousand islands”; in fact, however, there are much more. Among them are giant islands, for example Kalimantan, and some very small islands. Usually several large groups of islands are distinguished: Greater and the Lesser Sunda Islands, the Maluku Islands, etc. The west part of the New Guinea Island (Irian Jaya) and the adjacent small islands are also part of Indonesia.

The nature of the paradisiacal islands of the archipelago astonished with its incredible generosity and inexhaustible variety. Here one can see vast marshes, rainforests and mountains covered in snow. Eternal summer rules in the country – there is no change of seasons. The change of seasons is only revealed in the amount of rainfall which depends with the changes of the monsoon winds. Weather forecasts focus not on the temperature or precipitations, but on wind direction, which is important for fishermen. The length of the daylight hours also stays the same throughout the year.  The flora and the fauna of Indonesia are extraordinarily rich. One of the main peculiarities is intensive volcanic activity. But the Indonesians themselves believe that the volcanoes patronize and protect anyone who was born at the moment of eruption. Sometimes people count their age from the time of eruption of a certain volcano. 

End of dry season on West Java. S. V. Banit		West Java, the river is dried up. S. V. Banit		The children wash a buffalo with the water  of the first rain of the rain season. S. V. Banit
Boatrace Malili village. Indonesia. Sulawesi (Celebes), early 20th c.		Rain is comming. Banit S.		Indonesia is a maritime state. Banit S.