Large Sunda Islands: description, photo

Where are the Great Sunda Islands? They belong to the Malay Archipelago. There were islands in the region of South-East Asia, between the two oceans - Pacific and Indian. In the north, they border on the peninsula of Malacca.

a brief description of

The area of the islands is slightly more than 1.5 million square meters. Km. They consist of 4 large islands, as well as a large number of small islands, such as Java, Sumatra, Sulawesi, and others. The large Sunda Islands are the largest island group on the planet. About 180 million people live on the islands.

Let's take a closer look at some of the islands in this group.

Kalimantan

The largest of the Great Sunda Islands is Kalimantan (another name is Borneo). Its area is 743 thousand square meters. Km. He is one of the three largest islands in the world. Another feature of the island is that its territory is divided at once between several countries: Brunei, Malaysia and Indonesia. Kalimantan is washed immediately by 4 seas and 2 straits. If we compare all the Great Sunda Islands, then only in Kalimantan the flat terrain prevails. Nevertheless, the mountain relief is also present on this part of the land. The highest peak of the island is Kinabalu (more than 4 thousand meters). Also in the territory of Borneo is located the active volcano Bombalay. The river system is comparatively densely represented. The largest river is Capua. It has a length of more than one thousand kilometers. Other large rivers are Barito, Mahakam, Rajang.

Sumatra

To the west of Kalimantan is the island of Sumatra. In a system such as the Great Sunda Islands, it ranks second in size, and in the world ranking - the sixth. Its area is more than 470 thousand square meters. Km. Territorially belongs to the state of Indonesia. The equator borders the central part of the island, dividing this part of the land into two identical parts, located in different hemispheres. Sumatra has an elongated shape. In the southwestern part of the island, mountainous terrain predominates, where a large number of active volcanoes are present. Sumatra is a seismically active region of the planet. Earthquakes are not uncommon here. The highest point is the volcano Kerinchi (3,800 m). The rest of the island is the plain. In Sumatra, there are many rivers.

Sulawesi

The third largest island - Sulawesi, has an area of 174 thousand square meters. Km. Located to the east of Kalimantan. It is washed by two seas - Banda and Sulawesi, and also by the Makasar Strait. The very form of this island is unique and interesting. It consists of four pronounced, elongated peninsulas connected in the western part. These so-called branches are mostly of the plain type. The population lives on these territories. The central part is mountainous, and therefore the connection between the peninsulas is rather complicated.

Java

Describing the Great Sunda Islands, one can not help talking about Java. This is the smallest of all that is included in this system. Java has an area of about 130 thousand square meters. Km. The island is very stretched from east to west. Its length is more than one thousand kilometers. This land area belongs to the state of Indonesia, the capital is located on this island. Its central territory is occupied by mountains, the rest is jungle. The population lives mainly on the coast of the island, as in the distance from it the conditions for the normal life of people are simply absent.

Conclusion

Large Sunda Islands belong to the equatorial climatic zone, and also have a rich flora and fauna. This territory is not deprived of minerals. There are large reserves of tin and oil. The population is engaged in tropical farming, actively exporting spices, rubber, rice, tea and products from coconut palms.