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1) The Congo Pedicle is a foot-like panhandle region in the southeastern corner of the DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO and situated near ZAMBIA. The pedicle area features a national park known as Demalisques de Leshwe, possibly named after the genus (damaliscus) of which animal?
A — sloth
B — aardvark
C — antelope
D — penguin
2) True or false: There is an island named Komodo in INDONESIA.
3) The third highest mountain the world is Kangchenjunga, a Himalayan peak standing over 8,500 meters and 28,000 feet tall. Kangchenjunga is situated on the border between INDIA and what mountainous country flying a double pennant shaped flag?
A — ARGENTINA
B — BANGLADESH
C — SWITZERLAND
D — NEPAL
ANSWERS
Question 1:
C . . . . . antelope
Question 2:
True . . . . . it is home to the world-renown Komodo dragon!
Question 3:
D . . . . . Nepal
The eastern coast of Borneo will likely have a newly constructed city that will serve as the future capital of INDONESIA. The city will be named Nusantara, a Javanese word meaning "archipelago" or "outer islands." Nusantara may be officially open in the latter portion of the year 2024. One reason why the government is making the move is the concern that the country's longtime capital city, Jakarta, is sinking which might affect physical structures. Jakarta also endures bouts of flooding and frequent traffic congestion.
The world's first “piggy banks” — made of terracotta — date back to the 12th century and were discovered at the Trowulan archaeological site on the world’s most populated island. Which island in Southeast Asia is home to this discovery? The answer is listed below!
A — Tioman, MALAYSIA
B — Java, INDONESIA
C — Marinduque, THE PHILIPPINES
Answer:
B — Java, Indonesia
As of December 2022, Trowulan is featured on UNESCO's Tentative Lists (↗), meaning the historic place is eligible for designation as a World Heritage Site if UNESCO approves.
People all across INDONESIA celebrated their country's Independence Day on Monday, August 17th. Indonesia proclaimed independence from The Netherlands in 1945. Happy belated Independence Day!
Location of Bandung city: western Java island in southwestern INDONESIA.
Population: 2,800,000 in city limits, 8,600,000 in metro area
(GeoFact of the Day estimate, 2018)
Location of Yogyakarta Special Region: southern shore on Java island in southwestern INDONESIA.
Population: approximately 3,650,000 (GeoFact of the Day estimate, 2018)
Location of the City of Yogyakarta: near the southern shore on Java island in southwestern INDONESIA.
Population: approximately 400,000 (GeoFact of the Day estimate, 2018)
Flag Inscription: KOTA PRADJA JOGJAKARTA (City of Yogyakarta)
The following items are major exports of INDONESIA: automotive components, bauxite, cement, clothing, coal, cocoa, coffee, electrical appliances, electronics, fertilizer, footwear, gold, handicrafts, jewelry, medical devices, medicinal herbs and spices, natural gas, nickel, palm oil, petroleum, plywood, processed food, rubber and rubber products, seafood, silver, textiles, tin, and tropical fruit. According to the International Monetary Fund (data.imf.org), countries and territories buying and importing most of those exports (February 2017 statistics) include China (top importer), the United States, Japan, India, Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea, the Philippines, Thailand, Taiwan, the Netherlands, Vietnam, Australia, Germany, Hong Kong, Pakistan, Spain, the United Kingdom, Italy, and the United Arab Emirates.
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ for INDONESIA in Southeast Asia lists 3 extinct and 1 extinct-in-the-wild species* since the beginning of IUCN recordkeeping, 201 critically endangered species, and 285 endangered species. Some of Indonesia’s extinct species are the Buhler’s Coryphomys rat, Dipterocarpus cinereus tree, and Macrobrachium leptodactylus shrimp. Kalimantan Mango is the extinct-in-the-wild species listed for Indonesia.
The country's critically endangered species include the Banggai Crow, Green Sawfish, Pondicherry Shark, Sumatran Rhinoceros, and Yellow-crested Cockatoo. Endangered species include the Bornean Flat-headed Frog, Elegant Sunbird, Mottled Eagle Ray, Narrow Sawfish, and White-winged Duck.
* Indonesia is known for its biodiversity and plenty of species we do not know about, so there may be many extinct species we are unaware about.
A spice producer in the Moluccas archipelago in eastern INDONESIA, Seram or Ceram island (Pulau Seram or Pulau Ceram in the Indonesian language) has towns and communities such as Amahai, Hoti, Opin, Taniwel, Tehoru, Wahai, Waru, and Werinama.
An island* filled with marshland and rainforests, Yos Sudarso (Kimaam) island in eastern INDONESIA boasts its close proximity to two oceans: Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean. Historically known as Frederik Hendrik and Kolepom, the island is currently named in memory of Indonesian naval officer Yos Sudarso. The leaf-shaped island is located northeast of the Arafura Sea, an extremely eastern extension of the Indian Ocean. Pearls are harvested from clams living in the Arafura Sea. On land, residents on Yos Sudarso and the larger New Guinea island to the northeast harvest mostly coconuts for export and local consumption. The Muli river and strait separates Yos Sudarso from New Guinea as well as the smaller Komoran island to the southeast. Tanjung Vals (Cape Vals) serves as Yos Sudarso's southwestern point. Communities on the island include Kaba, Kimaam (Kimaan), Kladar, Pembre, Wan, and Yomuka. * Pulau is the Indonesian word for "island".
In the western extent of the Pacific Ocean, the Java Sea is a water body surrounded by islands in INDONESIA, an Asian country with a rapidly growing population. The Java Sea is north of Bali and Java - two the most well-known islands of Indonesia - and north of Madura. The sea is east of Sumatra, the largest island to be exclusively in Indonesia. It is south of islands like Bangka, Laut, and Borneo, which is larger than Sumatra but shared by the countries of Brunei and Malaysia. A group of islands, Kepulauan Masalumbu, sit in the center of the sea.
Peninsula Week Post #3
The island of Celebes in INDONESIA has its share of peninsulas. The most remarkable peninsula, since it is extremely long and relatively thin, is Minahasa Peninsula. A vertical extension of the peninsula is attached to the northern part of the island. It then veers off to the right, and this part of the peninsula is almost 400 miles long. Minahasa Peninsula separates the Molucca Sea (southeast of the peninsula) from the Celebes Sea that is located north of the peninsula. Other surrounding bodies of water include Gulf of Tomini (south) and Makassar Strait (west). Cities located on Minahasa Peninsula include Atinggola, Bitung, Gorontalo, Manado, and Tondano.
Quite a few capitals previously had different names. The following is a list of many, definitely not all, of the capitals that had different names in the past — they are categorized by continent.
AFRICA
Bujumbura, BURUNDI's former capital (Gitega is the new capital since 2019), was called Usumbura until 1962.
N'Djamena, CHAD's capital, was called Fort Lamy until 1973.
Kinshasa, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO's capital, was called Léopoldville until 1966.
Banjul, the capital of GAMBIA, was named Bathurst until 1973.
Antananarivo, MADAGASCAR's capital, was named Tananarive until 1975.
Maputo, MOZAMBIQUE's capital, was named Lourenço Marques until Mozambique's independence in 1976.
Harare, ZIMBABWE's capital, was named Salisbury until 1982.
ASIA
Tbilisi, GEORGIA's capital, was known as Tpilisi (Georgian) or Tiflis (Russian) until 1936.
Jakarta, INDONESIA's highly-populated capital, was known as Sunda Kelapa, then Jayakata, then Batavia, then Djakarta from 1949 to 1972.
Tokyo, JAPAN's capital located on the island of Honshu, was previously named Edo until 1868.
Astana, KAZAKHSTAN's capital, was known as Tselinograd, then Aqmola.
Bishkek, KYRGYZSTAN's capital, was named Pishpek until 1926 and Frunze until 1991, the fall of the Soviet Union.
Ulaanbaatar, MONGOLIA's capital, was known as Ugra until 1924.
Dushanbe, TAJIKISTAN's capital, was called Dyushambe until 1929 and received the name Stalinagrad until 1961.
Ankara, TURKEY's capital, was called Angora until 1930.
Ashgabat, TURKMENISTAN's capital, was called Poltoratsk from 1919 until 1927.
EUROPE
Belgrade, SERBIA's capital, was known as Singidunum in ancient times.
Podgorica, MONTENEGRO's capital, was known as Birziminium before the 11th century, Ribnica during the Middle Ages, and Titograd from 1946 to 1992. The capital possessed the name Podgorica in 1326 until 1946, resuming in 1992.
SOUTH AMERICA
Sucre, one of two capitals of BOLIVIA and named in honor of Antonio José de Sucre, was called Chuquisaca until 1825.
Credit goes to the New Oxford American Dictionary, 2nd Edition, which conveniently listed former capital names.
The 10 largest islands in the world are as follows:
1. Greenland (Denmark) - 840,000 square miles
2. New Guinea (Indonesia & Papua New Guinea) - 305,000 sq. mi.
3. Borneo (Brunei, Indonesia, & Malaysia) - 286,000 sq. mi.
4. Madagascar - 226,656 sq. mi.
5. Baffin Island (Canada) - 195,928 sq. mi.
6. Sumatra (Indonesia) - 164,000 sq. mi.
7. Honshu (Japan) - 88,000 sq. mi.
8. Great Britain (United Kingdom) - 84,400 sq. mi.
9. Victoria Island (Canada) - 83,896 sq. mi.
10. Ellesmere Island (Canada) - 75,767 sq. mi.
*** Source for area data: Langenscheidt's Pocket World Atlas. Hammond World Atlas Corporation, 2002.
INDONESIA is a predominantly Muslim country possessing around 17,000 islands and is located in Southeastern Asia. There are three bordering countries: East Timor, Malaysia, and Papua New Guinea. The capital of Indonesia is Jakarta; it is located on the western part of Java island. The currency is the Indonesian Rupiah; the ISO 4217 code is IDR.
Islands
People live on about 6,000 out of the 17,000 islands of Indonesia. Indonesia occupies the western half of New Guinea, the second largest island in the world. Borneo is the third largest island in the world, while Sumatra is the sixth largest. Other major islands include Celebes, Java, and Timor.
People
The population of Indonesia, as of October 2012, is 240,000,000. The four largest ethnic groups are Javanese (45%), Sundanese (14%), Madurese (8%), and Malay (8%). Almost 90% of Indonesians are Muslims; others are Protestants, Roman Catholics, Hindu, Buddhist, etc. The official language is Bahasa Indonesia, which is modified from Malay.
Discover more about Borneo, New Guinea, and Sumatra by visiting The Largest Islands feature on my Islands page.
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