List of islands of Indonesia
The exact number of islands comprising Indonesia varies among definitions and sources. According to a geospatial survey conducted between 2007 and 2010 by Badan Koordinasi Survei dan Pemetaan Nasional (Bakorsurtanal), the National Coordinating Agency for Survey and Mapping, Indonesia has 13,466 islands. However, according to earlier survey in 2002 by National Institute of Aeronautics and Space (LAPAN), the Indonesian archipelago has 18,307 islands, and according to the CIA "World Factbook", there are 17,508 islands. The discrepancy of the numbers of Indonesian islands was because that the earlier surveys include "tidal islands"; sandy cays and rocky reefs that appear during low tide and are submerged during high tide. According to estimates made by the government of Indonesia 8,844 islands have been named, with 922 of those permanently inhabited.The following islands are listed by province:
"199 islands"
Names of Indonesia
"Indonesia" derives from the Latin and Greek "Indus" (Ἰνδός), and the Greek "nésos" (νῆσος), meaning "island". 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, "Malayunesians" — for the inhabitants of the "Indian Archipelago or Malayan Archipelago". In the same publication, a student of Earl's, James Richardson Logan, used "Indonesia" as a synonym for "Indian Archipelago". However, Dutch academics writing in East Indies publications were reluctant to use "Indonesia". Instead, they used the terms "Malay Archipelago" ("Maleische Archipel"); the "Netherlands East Indies" ("Nederlandsch Oost Indië"), popularly "Indië"; "the East" ("de Oost"); and "Insulinde".