Eastern Indonesia (or East Indonesia; , ) is one of the two main geographical regions of Indonesia, the other being Western Indonesia. It comprises four geographical units: Lesser Sunda Islands, Sulawesi, Maluku Islands and Papua. Central Indonesian Time and Eastern Indonesia Time are the national standard time designated for Eastern Indonesia; it falls within the UTC+8 and UTC+9 time zone, respectively.
Eastern Indonesia borders the Southern Philippines and Palau in the North, Papua New Guinea in the East, and Northern Australia in the South.
History and background
During the last stages of the Dutch colonial era, the area east of Java and Kalimantan was known as the Great East and later known as Eastern Indonesia. After Denpasar Conference, on 24 December 1946, the State of East Indonesia was formed, covering the same area, excluding Western New Guinea, previously included during Malino Conference. It was a component of the United States of Indonesia, and was dissolved into the unitary Republic of Indonesia in 17 August 1950 . Currently, Eastern Indonesia consists of 17 provinces: Bali, East Nusa Tenggara, West Nusa Tenggara, Central Sulawesi, Gorontalo, North Sulawesi, South Sulawesi, Southeast Sulawesi, West Sulawesi, Maluku, North Maluku, Central Papua, Highland Papua, Papua, South Papua, Southwest Papua, and West Papua.
Geography
Climate In Eastern Indonesia, the days are generally dry and sunny from October through March with the warm tropical rain season occurring between May and August; temperatures are typically in the to range throughout the year.
Administration
Administratively, Eastern Indonesia consists of four main geographical units, namely the Lesser Sunda Islands, Sulawesi, Maluku Islands and Papua. ISO 3166-2 CodesGeographical unitProvincesPopulation(mid-2022)Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2023.Largest cityHighest pointNusa Tenggara (Lesser Sunda Islands)Bali, West Nusa Tenggara, and East Nusa Tenggara15,355,100DenpasarMount Rinjani 3,726 m (12,224 ft)SulawesiCentral Sulawesi, Gorontalo, North Sulawesi, South Sulawesi, Southeast Sulawesi, and West Sulawesi20,304,400MakassarLatimojong 3,478 m (11,411 ft)Maluku IslandsMaluku and North Maluku3,201,000AmbonMount Binaiya3,027 m (9,931 ft)PapuaCentral Papua, Highland Papua, Papua, South Papua, Southwest Papua, and West Papua5,601,900JayapuraPuncak Jaya4,884 m (16,024 ft)
Economy
Seaweed farming has traditionally been a common commercial activity along the coasts of Eastern Indonesia; however, in the 2020s climate change in Indonesia has been causing seaweed farmers in Eastern Indonesia to lose revenue and harvests. In the consumer shopping industry, Eastern Indonesia experienced a rapid increase in online shopping in the 2020s, with overall transactions in the region doubling from 2020 to 2021; this growth has been led by Indonesian e-commerce company Tokopedia, with the top product types sold in the region being health and beauty, fashion, food and beverage, and electronics.
Demographics
Largest cities The following are the four largest cities in Eastern Indonesia by population: + Largest cities in Eastern IndonesiaIndonesia No. City Province Population Image1.MakassarSouth Sulawesi1.571.8142.DenpasarBali725.3143.ManadoNorth Sulawesi478.192 4. Kupang East Nusa Tenggara 442.758 5.MataramWest Nusa Tenggara452.812 6. Jayapura Papua 398.478 7.PaluCentral Sulawesi373.218 8. Ambon Maluku 347.288 9.KendariSoutheast Sulawesi347.381 10. Sorong Southwest Papua 284.410
See also Regions of Indonesia Western Indonesia
References
Bibliography
External links