9,000 Islands to be Named: Indonesia

How would you be landing on a tiny island and asking one of its residents what its name was and only received a shrug in reply.

Well, it seems that there are countless islands in the massive archipelago of Indonesia that are nameless according to a report in Channel News Asia:

Indonesia is to give individual names to each of the thousands of tiny islands in the country that remain nameless, a report said Saturday.

Home affairs official Soadjuangon Situmorang told state-news agency Antara that the government had formed a national team to name 9,500 islands by the end of this year.

The team will be led by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and will include the defence and foreign ministers.

In total, Indonesia consists of 17,540 islands, which combine to cover 1.9 million square kilometres (742,308 square miles).

The government hopes to improve security and territorial claims through the naming operation.

– AFP/ir