Islands of Indonesia

Indonesia is archipelago country because indonesia has many islands. The big five islands of Indonesia is Sumatra island, Java island, Kalimantan island, Sulawesi island and the last but not least is Irian Jaya. But actually the largest is Kalimantan island. It has in three country, they are Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam.


SUMATRA ISLAND ( Part 1 )

Sumatera is the second largest island in Indonesia placing the fourth position as procure total foreign visitor. This region has a remarkable panorama, thick with virgin forests, lush vegetation, strong rivers, beautiful waterfalls, peaceful sandy beaches and large ancient lakes. The diversity of arts, people and culture literally make Sumatera a Garden of Eden for social scientists and culture seekers. Sumatera has indeed reliable nature and cultural tourist objects.

Sumatera spreading varieties point of interesting from Medan to the most southern part of the island "Lampung" with its closest distance to see the Krakatau Volcano.

Sumatra (also spelled Sumatera) is the sixth largest island in the world (approximately 470,000 km²) and is the largest island entirely in Indonesia (two larger islands, Borneo and New Guinea, are partially in Indonesia).

Etymology
An ancient name for Sumatra was Swarna Dwipa, (Sanskrit for Isle of Gold), apparently based on the fact that mines in the Sumatran highlands were exporting gold from fairly early times.[citation needed] Arab geographers referred to the island as Lamri (Lamuri, Lambri or Ramni) in the 10-13th centuries, in reference to a kingdom near modern day Banda Aceh which was the first landfall for traders. Late in the 14th century the name Sumatra became popular, in reference to the kingdom of Samudra which was a rising power. European writers in the 19th century found that the indigenous inhabitants did not have a name for the island

History
People who spoke Austronesian languages first arrived in Sumatra around 500 BCE, as part of the Austronesian expansion from Taiwan to Southeast Asia. With its location in the India-China sea trade route, several trading towns flourished, especially in the eastern coast, and were influenced by Indian religions. One of the earliest known kingdoms was Kantoli, which flourished in the 5th century AD in southern Sumatra. Kantoli was replaced by the Empire of Srivijaya and then later by the Kingdom of Samudra. Srivijaya was a Buddhist monarchy centered in what is now Palembang. Dominating the region through trade and conquest throughout the 7th to 9th centuries, the Empire helped spread the Malay culture throughout Sumatra, Malay Peninsula, and western Borneo. The empire was a thalassocracy, or maritime power that extended its influence from island to island.

Srivijayan influence waned in the 11th century after it was defeated by the Chola Empire of southern India. Sumatra was then subject to conquests from Javanese kingdoms, first Singhasari and subsequently Majapahit. At the same time Islam made its way to Sumatra, spreading through contacts with Arabs and Indian traders.

By the late 13th century, the monarch of the Samudra kingdom (now in Aceh) had converted to Islam. Ibn Battuta, who visited the kingdom during his journey, pronounced the kingdom's name as "Sumatra", hence the name of the island. Samudra was succeeded by the powerful Aceh Sultanate, which survived to the 20th century. With the coming of the Dutch, the many Sumatran princely states gradually fell under their control. Aceh, in the north, was the major obstacle, as the Dutch were involved in the long and costly Aceh War (1870-1905).

On December 26, 2004, the western coast and islands of Sumatra, particularly Aceh province, were devastated by a nearly 15 meter high tsunami following the 9.2-magnitude Indian Ocean earthquake. The death toll surpassed 170,000 in Indonesia alone, primarily in Aceh.

In 2005 there was an 8.7 magnitude aftershock of the previous earthquake in December 2004. See 2005 Sumatran Earthquake. In addition to the subduction megathrust earthquake off the west coast, Sunda arc, the Great Sumatran Fault, a transform fault, runs the entire length of the island. The pressure on this fault increased dramatically after the December 2004 earthquake, and seismologists are afraid an earthquake is going to occur soon. The fault ends directly below the devastated city of Banda Aceh.

Posted in: The Archipelago