Indonesia is a huge country of Southeast Asia, stretching along both sides of the Equator for more than 46 degrees of longitude (roughly 5100 km or 3200 miles). It occupies 17,504 islands, by official count, including more than 6000 inhabited islands. It is the world's fourth most populous nation with a population currently estinated at about 280 million. More than half of the population lives on the island of Java. Other major islands include Sumatra in the west, Borneo (shared with Malaysia and Brunei) in the northwest, Sulawesi in the northeast, and the eastern half of New Guinea in the far east. Other well known islands include Bali, Lombok, Sumbawa, Flores, and Timor (shared with independent East Timor) along the south side of the country. The unification of the country was accomplished over many years of struggle by Dutch colonial authorities. The Dutch East India Company was founded in 1602 to establish and extend Dutch administration, and after the company folded in 1800 the Netherlands established the Dutch East Indies colony and gradually extended its boundaries to include the present territory of Indonesia. During World War II Japan occupied the islands from March 1942 to the end of the war in 1945. The Republic of Indonesia proclaimed its independence immediately after the war ended and following some conflict the Netherlands accepted the country's independence in 1949. Sumatra (Sumatera in the Indonesian spelling) is the world's sixth largest island and the westernmost of the major islands of Indonesia. It is separated from Malaysia to the north by the Malacca Strait, from Borneo to the northeast by the broad Karimata Strait, and from Java to the southeast by the Sunda Strait. Its south coast faces the open Indian Ocean. Indonesia is divided into 38 provinces (provinsi) and the provinces are subdivided into county units called regencies (kabupaten). Sumatra includes eight of the provinces. The Mentawai Islands are a chain of islands lying about 150 km (90 mi) off the coast of West Sumatra Province and organized as a regency of that province. Populated with about 90,000 residents, the islands are a favorite of surfers. From south to north the four major islands are South Pagai, North Pagai, Sipura, and Siberut. Mainland lighthouses of West Sumatra Province are described on the Western Sumatra 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. 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 Q of the Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals. U.S. NGA List numbers are from Publication 112.
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![]() Pelabuhan Tua Pejat Light, Tua Pejat, Pulau Sipura, March 2018 Google Maps photo by Albertus Joni Sagari |
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![]() Peelabuhan Sioban Light, Pulau Sipura, August 2023 Initial frame from Google Maps video by Jow Lepard |
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Information available on lost lighthouses:
Notable faux lighthouses:
Adjoining pages: North: Nias | East: Western Sumatra
Return to the Lighthouse Directory index | Ratings key
Posted April 13, 2006. Checked and revised April 17, 2025. Lighthouses: 38. Site copyright 2025 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.