Sumatra

Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km2 (182,812 mi.2), including adjacent islands and archipelagos. The island is divided into ten Indonesian provinces. The most populous city is Medan. Sumatra is an elongated landmass spanning a diagonal northwest–southeast axis, with the equator crossing the island at its centre. It has a tropical rainforest climate. The island is seismically active, and the site of several of the largest volcanic eruptions and earthquakes in history, due to the Great Sumatran fault and Sunda megathrust. The Indian Ocean borders the northwest, west, and southwest coasts of Sumatra, with the island chain of Simeulue, Nias, Mentawai, and Enggano off the western coast. In the northeast, the narrow Strait of Malacca separates the island from the Malay Peninsula, which is an extension of the Eurasian continent. In the southeast, the narrow Sunda Strait, containing the Krakatoa archipelago, separates Sumatra from Java. The northern tip of Sumatra is near the Nicobar Islands, while off the southeastern coast lie the islands of Bangka and Belitung, Karimata Strait and the Java Sea. The Bukit Barisan mountains, which contain several active volcanoes, form the backbone of the island for effectively its entire length, while the northeastern area contains large plains and lowlands with swamps, mangrove forest and complex river systems. The island is rich in biodiversity and endemic species. Tropical rain forest once dominated the landmass, although expansive deforestation and industrial agriculture in the past century has degraded Sumatra's ecosystems and caused severe seasonal haze. Species found in Sumatra now critically endangered include the Sumatran tiger, Sumatran elephant, Sumatran rhinoceros, Sumatran orangutan and Tapanuli orangutan. Sumatra has been inhabited by humans since prehistoric times. The island has been the centre of major regional powers throughout history, incuding the Melayu Kingdom, Srivijaya Empire and Aceh Sultanate. Through global and regional trading ports, Sumatra played a central role in the spread of Islam across Southeast Asia. Parts of the island were subsumed into regional empires such as the Majapahit, and the Dutch East Indies and Japanese Empire before becoming a founding province of Indonesia. Sumatra's diverse population of around 62 million people are from several Indigenous and other ethnic groups, and more than 52 spoken languages. The majority of Sumatrans practice Islam, along with several minority religions.

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