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. The island of Java (Jawa in Indonesian) is the heart of the country and home to 57% of the population. In fact, with more than 140 million residents it is the world's most populous island. The national capital, Jakarta, is on the northwestern coast of Java. Indonesia is divided into 38 provinces (provinsi) and the provinces are subdivided into county units called regencies (kabupaten). This page includes lighthouses of the northeastern mainland regencies of East Java (Jawa Timur) Province; this includes lights of the Java Sea to the north of Java and the Madura Strait to the northeast. In addition to the east end of Java, East Java Province also includes the island of Madura and a number of nearby smaller islands; their lighthouses are described on a separate page. More than 700 languages are spoken in Indonesia. The official national language, Indonesian (Bahasa Indonesia), was standardized from a form of Malay that served as a lingua franca across the archipelago. 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. The original Dutch names of historic lighthouses, if known, are shown in curly brackets {}. 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. DSI numbers, if known, are the Indonesian light list numbers. Admiralty numbers are from volume Q of the Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals. U.S. NGA List numbers are from Publication 112.
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North Coast (Java Sea) Lighthouses
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![]() Van der Wijck Monument Light, Brondong, August 2022 Google Maps street view |
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![]() Sangkapura Light, Pulau Bawean, September 2023 Google Maps street view |
Northeast Coast (Madura Strait) Lighthouses
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![]() Gresik Light, Surabaya, June 2021 Google Maps photo by Chan Hasiboean |
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![]() Jamrud Wharf Light (lower right), Surabaya, November 2019 ex-Google Maps photo by Daerah Rantau |
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![]() Pasuruan Light, Pasuruan, March 2024 Google Maps street view |
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![]() Besuki Light, Situbondo, May 2024 Google Maps street view |
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Information available on lost lighthouses:
Notable faux lighthouses:
Adjoining pages: North: Kalimantan (Borneo) | Northeast : Madura | Northwest: North Central Java
Return to the Lighthouse Directory index | Ratings key
Posted April 13, 2006. Checked and revised September 12, 2024. Lighthouses: 31. Site copyright 2024 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.