The Republic of Indonesia has been independent since 1945 after having been the Dutch East Indies for more than 350 years. It is a huge country, stretching along both sides of the Equator for more than 46 degrees of longitude (roughly 5100 km or 3200 miles). Comprised of some 17,000 islands (more than 6000 inhabited islands), it has hundreds of major aids to navigation. Indonesia is divided into 38 provinces (provinsi) and the provinces are subdivided into county units called regencies (kabupaten). The Riau Islands Province includes four groups of small islands located between Sumatra and Kalimantan (Borneo). The Riau group is south of Singapore and off the east coast of Sumatra; the Lingga group is farther south, straddling the Equator in the Karimata Strait; the Anambas group is off the east coast of West Malaysia; and the Natuna group is northwest of Sarawak in East Malaysia. In all there are more than 3000 islands in the province. This page lists lighthouses of the Anambas and Natuna Islands, part of the archipelago known in Indonesia as the Tudjuh Islands. The southern extension of the South China Sea surrounding these islands and extending south between Malaya and Borneo is now called the Natuna Sea, a name recognized by the International Hydrographic Organization in 1986. Other pages for Riau Islands Province cover Karimun and Batam and Bintan and Lingga. In Indonesian a lighthouse is a mercusuar or a menara suar. Tanjung is a cape, ujung is a headland or point of land, bukit is a hill, sungai is a river, kuala or muara is an estuary or river mouth, pulau is an island, karang is a reef, batu is a rock, laut is a sea, selat is a strait, teluk is a bay, pelabuhan is a harbor, and labuhan is a port. Aids to navigation in Indonesia are operated and maintained by the Directorate of Marine Navigation within the Directorate General of Sea Transportation. ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS World List of Lights. Admiralty numbers are from volume F of the Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals. U.S. NGA List numbers are from Publication 112.
|
Pulau Tokong Nanas Light, Anambas Islands, June 2013 ex-Panoramio photo by Taufik Hidayatullah; used by permission |
Anambas Islands Regency Lighthouses
|
|
Pulau Tokong Belayer Light, Anambas Islands, June 2013 Google Maps photo posted by Taufik Temanggung |
|
Natuna Regency Lighthouses
|
Sekatung Light, Natuna Islands, September 2008 Creative Commons photo by Deni Sambas posted by Garis Depan Nusantara |
|
Tokong Boro Light, Natuna Islands, September 2008 anonymous Creative Commons photo originally posted by Garis Depan Nusantara |
|
|
Information available on lost lighthouses:
Notable faux lighthouses:
Adjoining pages: East: West Kalimantan | South: Bintan and Lingga | West: Malaya East Coast
Return to the Lighthouse Directory index | Ratings key
Posted April 13, 2006. Checked and revised April 9, 2024. Lighthouses: 38. Site copyright 2024 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.