1.
Jakarta
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Jakarta /dʒəˈkɑːrtə/, officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta, is the capital and most populous city of the Republic of Indonesia. Located on the northwest coast of the worlds most populous island of Java, Jakarta is the economic, cultural and political centre. The official metropolitan area, known as Jabodetabek, is the second largest in the world, established in the fourth century, the city became an important trading port for the Kingdom of Sunda. It was the de facto capital of the Dutch East Indies, today, the city has continued as the capital of Indonesia since the countrys independence was declared in 1945. Jakarta is listed as a city in the 2012 Globalization and World Cities Study Group. Based on the global metro monitor by the Brookings Institution, in 2014, Jakarta has grown more rapidly than Kuala Lumpur, Beijing, and Bangkok. Jakarta has been home to multiple settlements along with their names, Sunda Kelapa, Jayakarta, Batavia, Djakarta. Its current name derives from the word Jayakarta, the origins of this word can be traced to the Old Javanese and ultimately to the Sanskrit language. Jayakarta translates as victorious deed, complete act, or complete victory, Jakarta is nicknamed the Big Durian, the thorny strongly-odored fruit native to the region, as the city is seen as the Indonesian equivalent of the US city of New York. In the colonial era, the city was known as Koningin van het Oosten, initially in the 17th century for the urban beauty of downtown Batavias canals, mansions. After expanding to the south in the 19th century, this came to be more associated with the suburbs, with their wide lanes, many green spaces. The area in and around modern Jakarta was part of the fourth century Sundanese kingdom of Tarumanagara, following the decline of Tarumanagara, its territories, including the Jakarta area, became part of the Hindu Kingdom of Sunda. From 7th to early 13th century port of Sunda was within the sphere of influence of the Srivijaya maritime empire. According to the Chinese source, Chu-fan-chi, written circa 1225, Chou Ju-kua reported in the early 13th century Srivijaya still ruled Sumatra, the source reports the port of Sunda as strategic and thriving, pepper from Sunda being among the best in quality. The people worked in agriculture and their houses were built on wooden piles, the harbour area became known as Sunda Kelapa and by the fourteenth century, it was a major trading port for Sunda kingdom. The first European fleet, four Portuguese ships from Malacca, arrived in 1513 when the Portuguese were looking for a route for spices, in 1527, Fatahillah, a Javanese general from Demak attacked and conquered Sunda Kelapa, driving out the Portuguese. Sunda Kelapa was renamed Jayakarta, and became a fiefdom of the Sultanate of Banten which became a major Southeast Asia trading centre, through the relationship with Prince Jayawikarta from the Sultanate of Banten, Dutch ships arrived in Jayakarta in 1596. In 1602, the English East India Companys first voyage, commanded by Sir James Lancaster, arrived in Aceh and this site became the centre of English trade in Indonesia until 1682
2.
Indonesia
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Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a unitary sovereign state and transcontinental country located mainly in Southeast Asia with some territories in Oceania. Situated between the Indian and Pacific oceans, it is the worlds largest island country, with more than seventeen thousand islands. At 1,904,569 square kilometres, Indonesia is the worlds 14th-largest country in terms of area and worlds 7th-largest country in terms of combined sea. It has an population of over 260 million people and is the worlds fourth most populous country. The worlds most populous island, Java, contains more than half of the countrys population, Indonesias republican form of government includes an elected legislature and president. Indonesia has 34 provinces, of which five have Special Administrative status and its capital and countrys most populous city is Jakarta, which is also the most populous city in Southeast Asia and the second in Asia. The country shares land borders with Papua New Guinea, East Timor, other neighbouring countries include Singapore, Vietnam, the Philippines, Australia, Palau, and the Indian territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Despite its large population and densely populated regions, Indonesia has vast areas of wilderness that support the second highest level of biodiversity. The country has abundant natural resources like oil and natural gas, tin, copper, agriculture mainly produces rice, palm oil, tea, coffee, cacao, medicinal plants, spices and rubber. Indonesias major trading partners are Japan, United States, China, the Indonesian archipelago has been an important region for trade since at least the 7th century, when Srivijaya and then later Majapahit traded with China and India. Local rulers gradually absorbed foreign cultural, religious and political models from the early centuries CE, Indonesian history has been influenced by foreign powers drawn to its natural resources. Indonesia consists of hundreds of native ethnic and linguistic groups. The largest – and politically dominant – ethnic group are the Javanese, a shared identity has developed, defined by a national language, ethnic diversity, religious pluralism within a Muslim-majority population, and a history of colonialism and rebellion against it. Indonesias national motto, Bhinneka Tunggal Ika, articulates the diversity that shapes the country, Indonesias economy is the worlds 16th largest by nominal GDP and the 8th largest by GDP at PPP, the largest in Southeast Asia, and is considered an emerging market and newly industrialised country. Indonesia has been a member of the United Nations since 1950, Indonesia is a member of the G20 major economies and World Trade Organization. The name Indonesia derives from the Greek name of the Indós, the name dates to the 18th century, far predating the formation of independent Indonesia. In 1850, George Windsor Earl, an English ethnologist, proposed the terms Indunesians—and, his preference, in the same publication, one of his students, James Richardson Logan, used Indonesia as a synonym for Indian Archipelago. However, Dutch academics writing in East Indies publications were reluctant to use Indonesia, they preferred Malay Archipelago, the Netherlands East Indies, popularly Indië, the East, and Insulinde
3.
Recreation
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Recreation is an activity of leisure, leisure being discretionary time. The need to do something for recreation is an element of human biology and psychology. Recreational activities are often done for enjoyment, amusement, or pleasure and are considered to be fun. The term recreation appears to have used in English first in the late 14th century, first in the sense of refreshment or curing of a sick person. Other factors that account for a role of recreation are affluence, population trends. This direction of thought has even extended to the view that leisure is the purpose of work, and a reward in itself. Leisure is considered a right under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Recreation is difficult to separate from the concept of play. Children may playfully imitate activities that reflect the realities of adult life, a traditional view holds that work is supported by recreation, recreation being useful to recharge the battery so that work performance is improved. Many activities may be work for one person and recreation for another, or, at a level, over time recreational activity may become work. Thus, for a musician, playing an instrument may be at one time a profession, similarly, it may be difficult to separate education from recreation as in the case of recreational mathematics. Recreation is an part of human life and finds many different forms which are shaped naturally by individual interests. Recreational activities can be communal or solitary, active or passive, outdoors or indoors, healthy or harmful, a significant section of recreational activities are designated as hobbies which are activities done for pleasure on a regular basis. Some recreational activities - such as gambling, recreational use, or delinquent activities - may violate societal norms. Public space such as parks and beaches are venues for many recreational activities. Tourism has recognized that many visitors are attracted by recreational offerings. In support of recreational activities government has taken an important role in their creation, maintenance, and organization, many recreational activities are organized, typically by public institutions, voluntary group-work agencies, private groups supported by membership fees, and commercial enterprises. Examples of each of these are the National Park Service, the YMCA, the Kiwanis, Recreation has many health benefits, and, accordingly, Therapeutic Recreation has been developed to take advantage of this effect
4.
Culture of Indonesia
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The culture of Indonesia has been shaped by long interaction between original indigenous customs and multiple foreign influences. The result is a cultural mixture very different from the original indigenous cultures. Balinese dances have stories about ancient Buddhist and Hindu kingdoms, while Islamic art forms and architecture are present in Sumatra, especially in the Minangkabau, traditional art, music and sport are combined in a martial art form called Pencak Silat. The Western world has influenced Indonesia in science, technology and modern entertainment such as shows, film and music, as well as political system. India has notably influenced Indonesian songs and movies, a popular type of song is the Indian-rhythmical dangdut, which is often mixed with Arab and Malay folk music. Despite the influences of culture, some remote Indonesian regions still preserve uniquely indigenous culture. Indigenous ethnic groups Mentawai, Asmat, Dani, Dayak, Toraja and many others are still practising their ethnic rituals, customs, Indonesia is home to with those from the islands of Java, Sumatra and Bali being frequently recorded. The traditional music of central and East Java and Bali is the gamelan, on 29 June 1965, Koes Plus, a leading Indonesian pop group in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, was imprisoned in Glodok, West Jakarta, for playing Western-style music. After the resignation of President Sukarno, the law was rescinded, Kroncong is a musical genre that uses guitars and ukulele as the main musical instruments. This genre had its roots in Portugal and was introduced by Portuguese traders in the 15th century, There is a traditional Keroncong Tugu music group in North Jakarta and other traditional Keroncong music groups in Maluku, with strong Portuguese influences. This music genre was popular in the first half of the 20th century, the soft Sasando music from the province of East Nusa Tenggara in West Timor is completely different. Sasando uses an instrument made from a leaf of the Lontar palm. Indonesian dance reflects the diversity of culture from ethnic groups that composed the nation of Indonesia, each ethnic group has their own distinct dances, makes total dances in Indonesia are more than 3000 Indonesian original dances. However, the dances of Indonesia can be divided into three eras, the Prehistoric Era, the Hindu/Buddhist Era and the Era of Islam, and into two genres, court dance and folk dance. There is a continuum in the traditional dances depicting episodes from the Ramayana and Mahabharata from India, ranging through Thailand, There is a marked difference, though, between the highly stylised dances of the courts of Yogyakarta and Surakarta and their popular variations. While the court dances are promoted and even performed internationally, the forms of dance art. During the last few years, Saman from Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam has become popular and is often portrayed on TV. Reog Ponorogo is also a dance that originated from the district Ponorogo, East Java, which is a visualisation of the legendary story Wengker kingdom and the kingdom of Kediri
5.
Rumah adat
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Rumah adat are traditional houses built in any of the vernacular architecture styles of Indonesia. The traditional houses and settlements of the several ethnic groups of Indonesia are extremely varied. Ethnic groups in Indonesia are often associated with their own form of rumah adat. The houses are at the centre of a web of customs, social relations, traditional laws, taboos, myths, the house provides the main focus for the family and its community, and is the point of departure for many activities of its residents. Villagers build their own homes, or a community pools its resources for a structure built under the direction of a builder or carpenter. The vast majority of Indonesians no longer live in rumah adat, and the numbers have declined due to economic, technological. The earliest Austronesian structures were communal longhouses on stilts, with sloping roofs and heavy gables, as seen in the Batak rumah adat. Variations on the communal longhouse principle are found among the Dayak people of Borneo, the norm is for a post, beam and lintel structural system that take load straight to the ground with either wooden or bamboo walls that are non-load bearing. Traditionally, rather than nails, mortis and tenon joints and wooden pegs are used, natural materials - timber, bamboo, thatch and fibre - make up rumah adat. Hardwood is generally used for piles and a combination of soft and hard wood is used for the houses upper non-load bearing walls, the thatch material can be coconut and sugar palm leaves, alang alang grass and rice straw. Traditional dwellings have developed to respond to environmental conditions, particularly Indonesias hot. As is common throughout South East Asia and the South West Pacific, most rumah adat are built on stilts, with the exception of Java, Bali, and other houses of Eastern Indonesia. The sharply inclined roof allows the heavy rain to quickly sheet off. In hot and humid low-lying coastal regions, homes can have many windows providing good cross-ventilation, whereas in cooler mountainous interior areas, homes often have a vast roof, the Minangkabau of West Sumatra build the rumah gadang, distinctive for their multiple gables with dramatically upsweeping ridge ends. The homes of Nias peoples include the omo sebua chiefs houses built on massive pillars with towering roofs. Not only are they almost impregnable to attack in former tribal warfare, rumah Melayu Malay traditional houses built on stilts of Sumatra, Borneo and Malay Peninsula. The Riau region is characterised by villages built on stilts over waterways, unlike most South East Asian vernacular homes, Javanese omah are not built on piles, and have become the Indonesian vernacular style most influenced by European architectural elements. The Bubungan Tinggi, with their steeply pitched roofs, are the homes of Banjarese royalty
6.
Architecture of Indonesia
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The architecture of Indonesia reflects the diversity of cultural, historical and geographic influences that have shaped Indonesia as a whole. Invaders, colonizers, missionaries, merchants and traders brought cultural changes that had an effect on building styles and techniques. Numbers of Indonesian vernacular houses have been developed throughout the archipelago, the traditional houses and settlements of the several hundreds ethnic groups of Indonesia are extremely varied and all have their own specific history. The houses hold social significance in society and demonstrate local ingenuity in their relations to environment, traditionally, the most significant foreign influence has been Indian. However, Chinese, Arab, and European influences have played significant roles in shaping Indonesian architecture. Religious architecture varies from indigenous forms to mosques, temples, the sultans and other rulers built palaces. There is a legacy of colonial architecture in Indonesian cities. Independent Indonesia has seen the development of new paradigms for postmodern, ethnic groups in Indonesia are often associated with their own distinctive form of rumah adat. The houses are at the centre of a web of customs, social relations, traditional laws, taboos, myths, the house provides the main focus for the family and its community, and is the point of departure for many activities of its residents. Villagers build their own homes, or a community will pool their resources for a structure built under the direction of a master builder and/or a carpenter. The majority of Indonesian peoples share a common Austronesian ancestry, the earliest Austronesian structures were communal timber longhouses on stilts, with steep sloping roofs and heavy gables, as seen in, for example, the Batak rumah adat and the Torajan Tongkonan. Variations on the communal longhouse principle are found among the Dayak people of Borneo, the norm is for a post, beam and lintel structural system that take load straight to the ground with either wooden or bamboo walls that are non-load bearing. Traditionally, rather than nails, mortis and tenon joints and wooden pegs are used, natural materials - timber, bamboo, thatch and fibre - make up rumah adat. Traditional dwellings have developed to respond to Indonesias hot and wet monsoon climate, as is common throughout South East Asia and the South West Pacific, most rumah adat are built on stilts, with the exception of Java and Bali. The sharply inclined roof allows the heavy rain to quickly sheet off. In hot and humid low-lying coastal regions, homes can have many windows providing good cross-ventilation, whereas in cooler mountainous interior areas, homes often have a vast roof, some of the more significant and distinctive rumah adat include, Rumoh Aceh, the grandest traditional houses of Aceh. Batak architecture includes the boat-shaped jabu homes of the Toba Batak people, with dominating carved gables and dramatic oversized roof, the Minangkabau of West Sumatra build the rumah gadang, distinctive for their multiple gables with dramatically upsweeping ridge ends. The homes of Nias peoples include the omo sebua chiefs houses built on massive pillars with towering roofs
7.
National costume of Indonesia
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The National costume of Indonesia are the national costume that represent the Republic of Indonesia. It is derived from Indonesian culture and Indonesian traditional textile traditions, since Java has been the political and population center of Indonesia, folk costume from the island has become elevated into national status. As a multi-diverse country, Indonesia having more than 30 provinces, each has its own representation of traditional attire and dress from each province with its own unique, National costumes are worn during official occasions as well as traditional ceremonies. Batik is a cloth that is made using a manual wax-resist dyeing technique to form intricate patterns. Traditionally batik cloth is a piece of intricately decorated cloth used by Javanese women as kemben or torso wrap. Batik cloth were wrapped around the hips with multiple folds in front called wiron, traditionally for men, the edge of batik cloth also can be sewn together to make a tubular cloth as sarong, or wrapped around hips as kain in fashion similar to womens. Later for men, the cloth also sewn and made into contemporary batik mens shirt. Batik is recognized as one of the important identity of Indonesian culture, UNESCO designated Indonesian batik as a Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity on October 2,2009. As part of the acknowledgment, UNESCO insisted that Indonesia preserve their heritage, Batik shirts, which are commonly worn by men in Indonesia, are usually worn during formal occasions, such as attending weddings, traditional ceremonies, formal meetings, communal gatherings, etc. Sometimes men who wear batik shirt usually also wearing a songkok or peci cap to make it more formal in a traditional way, Batik shirts has two types of cuts, long sleeves for formal occasions, and short sleeves for casual to semi-formal occasions. Batik shirt or blouse are also available for women, Batik pattern differs from region to region, especially across Java and other islands, which has their own motifs or patterns unique to their respective local tradition and culture. The kebaya is the costume of women from Indonesia, although it is more accurately endemic to the Javanese, Sundanese and Balinese peoples. It is sometimes made from material such as silk, thin cotton or semi-transparent nylon or polyester. Kebaya usually worn with a sarong or batik kain panjang, or other traditional woven garment such as ikat, aceh, Riau and Johor kingdoms and Northern Sumatra adopted the Javanese style kebaya as a means of social expression of status with the more alus or refined Javanese overlords. Kebaya is usually worn during official national events by Indonesian first lady, wives of Indonesian diplomats and it also worn by Indonesian ladies attending traditional ceremonies and weddings. In Kartini day on 21 April Indonesian women usually wear kebaya to celebrate, during Balinese traditional ceremonies, Balinese women wore colorful Balinese style kebaya with songket Bali. Peci, also known as songkok or kopiah, are traditionally male Muslims cap in Indonesian archipelago and it is quite similar to Turkish-Egyptian fez. In Indonesia, the black velvet peci has become the national headdress with secular nationalist connotations made popular by Sukarno, Indonesian male presidents always wear peci as part of their official presidential attire
8.
Dance in Indonesia
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Dance in Indonesia reflects the countrys diversity of ethnicities and cultures. Each ethnic group has their own dances, makes total dances in Indonesia are more than 3,000 Indonesian original dances. The old traditions of dance and drama are being preserved in the dance schools which flourish not only in the courts but also in the modern. For classification purpose, the dances of Indonesia can be divided according to several aspects, in historical aspect it can be divided into three eras, the prehistoric-tribal era, the Hindu-Buddhist era and the era of Islam. According to its patrons, it can be divided into two genres, court dance and folk dance, in its tradition, Indonesian dances can be divided into two types, traditional dance and contemporary dance. In Bali on 19 November 2011 UNESCO announced the traditional Saman dance from Aceh province as an intangible cultural heritage. Saman dance is unique due to the speed of movement and harmony between dancers, dances in Indonesia are believed by many scholars to have had their beginning in rituals and religious worship. Such dances are based on rituals, like the war dances, the dance of witch doctors. War dances such as cakalele of Maluku and kabasaran dance of Minahasa, others are inspired by nature, such as the Tari Merak of West Java. Ancient forms are characterised by repetitive movements like the Tor-Tor dance of the Batak people of. The dancing also is meant to let the humans inner spirit come out, some of the tribal dances involving trance mental condition which interpreted as channelling the spirits through the dancers body movements. Tari Sanghyang Dedari is a dance of Bali, in which the dancers are pre-pubescent girls in trance. The dance of kuda lumping and keris dance also involve trance, with the advent of Dharmic religions in Indonesia, Hinduism and Buddhism were celebrated in ritual and in art. Although the poem originates in India, Ramayana and Mahabharata epic has long been adopted by the Javanese people. Etchings of the story can be found on temples dating back to 10th century CE and they incorporated stories of the Ramayana, Mahabharata and also Panji cycles into dance-drama, which is called sendratari or sometimes simply translated as ballet. Highly stylised methods of dances were developed and are still nowadays, especially in the islands of Java. The Javanese wayang wong dance-drama took stories from the episodes of Ramayana or Mahabharata Hindu epic, however, the dances are distinct to those of Indian. While hand gestures are very important, Indonesian dancers do not have the Indian attention to mudra
9.
Suharto
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Suharto was the second President of Indonesia, holding the office for 31 years from the ousting of Sukarno in 1967 until his resignation in 1998. Suharto was born in a village, Kemusuk, in the Godean area near the city of Yogyakarta. He grew up in humble circumstances and his Javanese Muslim parents divorced not long after his birth, and he was passed between foster parents for much of his childhood. During the Japanese occupation of Indonesia, Suharto served in Japanese-organised Indonesian security forces, Indonesias independence struggle saw his joining the newly formed Indonesian army. Suharto rose to the rank of major general following Indonesian independence, an attempted coup on 30 September 1965 allegedly backed by the Indonesian Communist Party was countered by Suharto-led troops. The army subsequently led an anti-communist purge which the CIA described as one of the worst mass murders of the 20th century and Suharto wrested power from Indonesias founding president and he was appointed acting president in 1967, replacing Indonesian founding father Sukarno, and elected President the following year. He then mounted a campaign known as De-Soekarnoization in an effort to reduce the former Presidents influence. Support for Suhartos presidency was strong throughout the 1970s and 1980s, by the 1990s, the New Orders authoritarianism and widespread corruption were a source of discontent and, following a severe financial crisis, led to widespread unrest and his resignation in May 1998. Suharto died in 2008 and was given a state funeral, the legacy of Suhartos 31-year rule is debated both in Indonesia and abroad. Under his New Order administration, Suharto constructed a strong, centralised and military-dominated government, an ability to maintain stability over a sprawling and diverse Indonesia and an avowedly anti-Communist stance won him the economic and diplomatic support of the West during the Cold War. For most of his presidency, Indonesia experienced significant economic growth and industrialisation, dramatically improving health, education, plans to bestow Suharto with a National Hero title are currently being considered by the Indonesian government and has been highly debated in Indonesia. According to Transparency International, Suharto is the most corrupt leader in modern history, Suharto was born on 8 June 1921 during the Dutch East Indies era, in a plaited bamboo walled house in the hamlet of Kemusuk, a part of the larger village of Godean. The village is 15 kilometres west of Yogyakarta, the heartland of the Javanese. Born to ethnic Javanese parents, he was the child of his fathers second marriage. His father, Kertosudiro, had two children from his previous marriage, and was a village irrigation official and his mother, Sukirah, a local woman, was distantly related to Sultan Hamengkubuwono V by his first concubine. Five weeks after Suhartos birth, his mother suffered a breakdown and he was placed in the care of his paternal great-aunt. Kertosudiro and Sukirah divorced early in Suhartos life and both later remarried, at the age of three, Suharto was returned to his mother, who had married a local farmer whom Suharto helped in the rice paddies. Over the following two years, he was back to his mother in Kemusuk by his stepfather and then back again to Wuryantoro by his father
10.
West Sumatra
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West Sumatra is a province of Indonesia. It lies on the west coast of the island of Sumatra, the latest official estimate for January 2014 shows a population of 5,098,790. West Sumatra is sub-divided into 12 regencies and seven cities and it has relatively more cities than other provinces in Indonesia, except Java province. It borders the provinces of North Sumatra to the north, Riau and Jambi to the east and it includes the Mentawai Islands off the coast. The history of West Sumatra is related to the history of the Minangkabau people, archaeological evidence indicates that the area surrounding the Limapuluh Koto regency forms the first area inhabited by the Minangkabau. Limapuluh Koto regency covers a number of rivers which meet at the eastern part of the Sumatran coastline. The Minangkabau ancestors were believed to have arrived via this route and they sailed from Asia via the South China Sea, crossing the Malacca Strait and later settled along the Kampar, Siak and Indragiri rivers. Some lived and developed their culture and traits around the Limapuluh Koto regency, the first westerner to reach West Sumatra was the French explorer Jean Parmentier in 1529. However, the westerners who came for economic and political reasons were the Dutch, the Dutch commercial fleet was seen along the southern coast of West Sumatra between 1595 and 1598. Apart from the Dutch, other European nationalities also came to the such as the Portuguese. The integration with migrants in the ensuing periods introduced cultural changes and their settlement area gradually became diminished and eventually they spread to other parts of West Sumatra. A portion of them went to the Agam regency while others went to the now Tanah Datar regency, from those areas onward, further spread of the population occurred north of the Agam regency, in particular, the Lubuk Sikaping. Most of them settled in the area such as the coastline and some in the southern parts in Solok, Selayo. The history of the West Sumatra Province became more accessible at the time of the rule by Adityawarman and this ruler left considerable amount of evidence of himself, although he did not proclaim that he was the Minangkabau King. Adityawarman ruled Pagaruyung, a region believed by the Minangkabau to be the center of its culture, Adityawarman was the most important figure in Minangkabau history. Apart from introducing a government system by a monarch, he also contributed significantly to the Minangkabau world. His most important contribution was the spread of Buddhism and this religion had a very strong influence in the Minangkabau life. The evidence of such influence found in West Sumatra today includes names such as Saruaso, Pariangan, Padang Barhalo, Candi, Biaro, Sumpur, since the death of Adityawarman in the middle of the 17th century the history of West Sumatra seems more complex
11.
Borneo
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Borneo is the third-largest island in the world and the largest island in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, the island is politically divided among three countries, Malaysia and Brunei in the north, and Indonesia to the south. Approximately 73% of the island is Indonesian territory, in the north, the East Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak make up about 26% of the island. Additionally, the Malaysian federal territory of Labuan is situated on an island just off the coast of Borneo. The sovereign state of Brunei, located on the north coast, antipodal to an area of Amazon rainforest, Borneo is itself home to one of the oldest rainforests in the world, and to Bornean orangutans. The island is known by names, internationally it is known as Borneo, after Brunei. The name Brunei possibly was derived from the Sanskrit word váruṇa, meaning either ocean or the mythological Varuna. Indonesian natives called it Kalimantan, which was derived from the Sanskrit word Kalamanthana, prior to that the island was also known by other names. In 977 Chinese records began to use the term Po-ni to refer to Borneo or Brunei, in 1225 it was also mentioned by the Chinese official Chau Ju-Kua. The Javanese manuscript Nagarakretagama, written by Majapahit court poet Mpu Prapanca in 1365, mentioned the island as Nusa Tanjungnagara, to the west of Borneo are the Malay Peninsula and Sumatra. To the south and east are islands of Indonesia, Java and Sulawesi, to the northeast are the Philippine Islands. With an area of 743,330 square kilometres, it is the third-largest island in the world and its highest point is Mount Kinabalu in Sabah, Malaysia, with an elevation of 4,095 m. The largest river system is the Kapuas in West Kalimantan, with a length of 1,143 km, other major rivers include the Mahakam in East Kalimantan, the Barito in South Kalimantan, and Rajang in Sarawak. Clearwater Cave, for example, has one of the worlds longest underground rivers, deer Cave is home to over three million bats, with guano accumulated to over 100 metres deep. The South China Sea and Gulf of Thailand now submerge the former low-lying areas of the peninsula, the Borneo rainforest is 140 million years old, making it one of the oldest rainforests in the world. There are about 15,000 species of flowering plants with 3,000 species of trees,221 species of mammals and 420 species of resident birds in Borneo. There are about 440 freshwater fish species in Borneo and it is the centre of the evolution and distribution of many endemic species of plants and animals. The Borneo rainforest is one of the few remaining habitats for the endangered Bornean orangutan
12.
Lesser Sunda Islands
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The Lesser Sunda Islands or Kepulauan Nusa Tenggara or Kepulauan Sunda Kecil are a group of islands in Maritime Southeast Asia, north of Australia. Together with the Greater Sunda Islands to the west they make up the Sunda Islands, the islands are part of a volcanic arc, the Sunda Arc, formed by subduction along the Sunda Trench in the Java Sea. The main Lesser Sunda Islands are, from west to east, Bali, Lombok, Sumbawa, Flores, Sumba, Timor, Alor archipelago, Barat Daya Islands, and Tanimbar Islands. The Lesser Sundas comprise many islands, most of which are part of Indonesia and are administered as the provinces of Bali, West Nusa Tenggara, East Nusa Tenggara, the eastern half of Timor is part of East Timor. The Lesser Sunda Islands consist of two geologically distinct archipelagos, the northern archipelago, which includes Bali, Lombok, Sumbawa, Flores and Wetar, is volcanic in origin. A number of volcanoes, like Mount Rinjani on Lombok, are still active while others. The northern archipelago began to be formed during the Pliocene, about 15 million years ago, the islands of the southern archipelago, including Sumba, Timor and Babar, are non-volcanic and appear to belong to the Australian plate. The geology and ecology of the northern archipelago share a history, characteristics and processes with the southern Maluku Islands. Lying at the collision of two plates, the Lesser Sunda Islands comprise some of the most geologically complex and active regions in the world. There are a number of volcanoes located on the Lesser Sunda Islands, the Lesser Sunda Islands differ from the large islands of Java or Sumatra in consisting of many small islands, sometimes divided by deep oceanic trenches. Movement of flora and fauna between islands is limited, leading to the evolution of a rate of localized species. The islands east of the Lombok Strait are part of Wallacea and these islands have the driest climate in Indonesia. Thorn trees used to be common in coastal areas of the islands but have largely been cleared. These islands are home to species including seventeen endemic birds. More than half of the vegetation of the islands has been cleared for planting of rice and other crops, for settlement. Only Sumbawa now contains an area of intact natural forest, while Komodo, Rincah. While many ecological problems affect both small islands and large landmasses, small islands suffer their particular problems and are exposed to external forces. Development pressures on small islands are increasing, although their effects are not always anticipated, although Indonesia is richly endowed with natural resources, the resources of the small islands of Nusa Tenggara are limited and specialised, furthermore human resources in particular are limited
