Therefore, the official number of our islands may increase from 13,466 to around 17,000."Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Geospatial Information Agency will verify some 3,000 unnamed islands in Indonesia and put their coordinate on the map.
"Therefore, the official number of our islands may increase from 13,466 to around 17,000," Head of Indonesia Geospatial Information Agency Dr. Priyadi Kardono said here Friday, after a coordination meeting with the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry officials.
The archipelago country is said to have some 17,000 islands, but Geospatial Information Agency has done the verification of only 13,466 islands so far.
Around 3 thousand islands still need to be verified and named.
Kardono remarked that Indonesia has the most number of islands in the world and has the second longest coastline after Canada.
According to the agency, the length of Indonesian coastline has increased from some 91,000 kilometers to 99,093 kilometers after the latest verification process using a 1:250,000 scale.
The length of the coastline may increase further if the agency conducts the mapping using a scale of 1:25,000 for Java and Bali and 1:50,000 for Sumatra, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, and Papua.
"With the mapping of all the coastal areas using more detailed scales, the length of Indonesian coastline may increase to 100 thousand kilometers," Kardono explained.
During the coordination meeting, the officials of Geospatial Information Agency and the Marine Affairs and Fisheries Ministry signed a Memorandum of Understanding for utilizing geospatial information, such as the map of fish, coral, and mangrove distribution, for the management of marine and fisheries natural resources.
"As part of a plan to develop 24 major harbors, the agency will map the Indonesian coastal areas using a very detailed scale of 1:10,000," Kardono revealed.
The mapping is expected to finish in seven months and will involve the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology, Indonesian Institute of Sciences, and Hydro-Oceanography Office. It is estimated to cost two billion rupiah per location.
On the occasion, Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Susi Pudjiastuti noted that although Indonesia has the longest coastline, it only ranks fifth in seafood exports in the South Asian region. The Philippines is ranked number one.
(Reporting by Dewanti Lestari/Uu.A059/INE/KR-BSR/F001)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
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