Geography of Indonesia
Indonesia is an archipelagic country extending about from east to west and from north to south. According to a geospatial survey conducted between 2007 and 2010 by National Coordinating Agency for Survey and Mapping (Bakosurtanal), Indonesia has 13,466 islands. While earlier survey conducted in 2002 by National Institute of Aeronautics and Space (LAPAN) stated Indonesia has 18,307 islands. According to the CIA World Factbook, there are 17,508 islands. The discrepancy between the surveys is likely caused by the earlier different survey method including tidal islands, sandy cays and rocky reefs that surface during low tide and submerge during high tide. There are 8,844 named islands according to estimates made by the government of Indonesia, with 922 of those are permanently inhabited. It comprises five main islands: Sumatra, Java, Borneo (known as "Kalimantan" in Indonesia), Sulawesi, and New Guinea; two major island groups (Nusa Tenggara and the Maluku Islands) and sixty smaller island groups. Four of the islands are shared with other countries: Borneo is shared with Malaysia and Brunei; Sebatik, located off the northeastern coast of Kalimantan, shared with Malaysia; Timor is shared with East Timor; and the newly divided provinces of Papua and West Papua share the island of New Guinea with Papua New Guinea.
Southeast Asian coral reefs
Indonesia has 2,915,000 square kilometers of marine area. The reef area is 51,020 square kilometers. Of that amount, 82% of it is at risk. Indonesia holds 17% of the world's total coral reef areas. Blast fishing, which has been illegal since 1985 still goes on today, along with cyanide fishing (1995). Another factor that is hurting the coral reefs in Indonesia is the amount of coral that they export. They are the world's largest exporter of corals, exporting about 500 tons of coral per year.