Aviation in Indonesia
Aviation in Indonesia serves as a critical means of connecting the thousands of islands throughout the archipelago. Indonesia is the largest archipelagic country in the world, extending from east to west and from north to south, comprising 13,466 islands, with 922 of those permanently inhabited. With an estimated population of over 255 million people — making it the world's fourth-most-populous country — and also due to the growth of the middle-class, the boom of low-cost carriers in the recent decade, and overall economic growth, many domestic travellers shifted from land and sea transport to faster and more comfortable air travel. Indonesia is widely regarded as an emerging market for air travel in the region. Between 2009 and 2014, the number of Indonesian air passengers increased from 27,421,235 to 94,504,086, an increase of over threefold.
Volcanology of Indonesia
Indonesia is a volcanically active country, containing numerous major volcanoes. It has the most volcanoes of any country in the world, with 76 volcanoes that have erupted at least 1,171 total within historical times. The Smithsonian Institution has 141 Indonesian entries in its volcano database. Indonesia has around 130 active volcanoes that are part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, and it has suffered the highest numbers of eruptions resulting in fatalities, damage to arable land, debris flows, tsunamis, lava domes, and pyroclastic flows. Indonesia's most active volcanoes are Kelut and Mount Merapi on the island of Java. The majority of Indonesia's volcano are located on a 3,000 km long chain called the Sunda Arc. Here, the subduction of the Indian Ocean crust underneath the Asian Plate produced most of these volcanoes.