Puncak Jaya: Highest peak of Indonesia

04.02.2019 17:25

The largest islands of Indonesia are Java, Sumatra, Borneo (shared with Malaysia and Brunei), Sulawesi and New Guinea (these are shared with Papua New Guinea). Indonesia has land borders with Malaysia, Papua New Guinea and East Timor and maritime borders with Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Palau and Australia.
Highest peak of the country is Puncak Jaya at 4884 meters above sea level!

Indonesia is located on the Pacific ring of Fire – it’s the place where the 3 tectonic plates meet and the Pacific and Indo-Australian go under the Eurasian one. Indonesia is tectonically one of the most unstable parts of the world – with numerous earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. There are more than 400 volcanos on the islands of Indonesia, with more than 130 active.

With its population of 265 million people, it’s the 4th largest country, behind China, India and the United States ! Тhe island of Java is the most populated island on the World – more than half of Indonesia’s population lives there – over 140 million people! That’s approximately 40 million more than Honshu island (Japan), and more than double the population of Britain – 65 million people!

It is also the most populous Muslim- majority country in the world- 87% of country’s population (230 million people). Next most populous muslim countries are Pakistan with 198 million and India with 14% of its population being Muslim –“only” 189 million.

The country’s capital is Jakarta, 2nd largest urban area in the world with 32 million people (after Tokyo – Yokohama 38 million).

The country’s very rich on natural resources such as oil, natural gas, copper, tin, gold. It’s one of the leading countries in terms of wildlife – 2nd in the world after Australia in terms of endemic species – over a third of its bird and mammals.

Because of its position – along the Equator, the climate of Indonesia is tropical. It’s relatively even all year- round. There are two seasons – wet and dry. The wet season is between November and March, and the dry season – April thru October.

4880 meter high mountains, distant villages with traditional rituals, ancient Hindu temles, white shiny beaches with turquoise blue waters and hundreds of coral and fish species, Komodo dragons, volcanoes.. These are just part of the things to see and do in this beautiful country!