The unique geography of island nations enable them to bank lucratively on tourism. These places have stretches of coastlines, tropical climates, and historical and cultural significance – some of the factors that drive tourism. These nations are also strategically located for maritime trade as their economies mostly rely on imports and exports. Some of these nations boast natural resources such as fisheries, arable land, minerals, and forestry.
However, many island countries are more affected than other nations by climate change, which produces problems such as reduced land usage, water scarcity, and sometimes even resettlement issues. Some low-lying island countries are slowly being submerged by steadily rising sea levels. Other adverse effects linked to global warming that have been witnessed in these countries include typhoons, cyclones, tides, floods and droughts, which have had a devastating effect on people’s lives, infrastructure, and agriculture.
Indonesia
Size: 1.9 million square kilometres
Population: 270.6 million
Situated in Southeast Asia, Indonesia lies strategically between the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean. The island country stretches for 1,760 kilometres from north to south and 5,120 kilometres from east to west. The number of islands making up the archipelago has been estimated to be over 18,000. There are five major islands, namely Sulawesi, Borneo, Java, New Guinea, and Sumatra, and two primary archipelagos, the Maluku Islands and Nusa Tenggara, as well as 60 smaller archipelagos. Some of the islands are shared with other countries including Borneo (Brunei and Malaysia), Timor (East Timor), and New Guinea (Papua New Guinea). Java is the most densely populated island in the archipelago, and in the world.
Philippines
Size: 300,000 square kilometres
This story is from the AG 01/2020 - 140 edition of ASIAN Geographic.
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This story is from the AG 01/2020 - 140 edition of ASIAN Geographic.
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