Bangka Island in the context of "Pongok Island"

The Bangka Belitung Islands (Indonesian: Kepulauan Bangka Belitung) is a province of Indonesia. Situated off the southeastern coast of Sumatra, the province comprises two main land masses — the islands of Bangka and Belitung — and numerous smaller islands. Bangka Belitung is bordered by the Bangka Strait to the west, the Natuna Sea to the north, the Java Sea is to the south and the Karimata Strait to the east; the two principal islands are separated by the Gaspar Strait, within which lie lesser islands such as Lepar, Pongok (or Liak) and Mendanau.

The province's capital and largest city is Pangkalpinang. The province shares maritime borders with South Sumatra to the west, Riau Islands to the north, Banten, the Special Capital Region of Jakarta, West Java, and Central Java to the south, and West Kalimantan to the east. Bangka Belitung covers a land area of 16,690.13 km (6,444.10 sq mi) and had a population of 1,455,678 according to the 2020 census; the official estimate as at mid 2024 was 1,531,530 (comprising 786,010 males and 745,520 females).

Bangka Strait is the strait that separates the island of Sumatra from Bangka Island (Indonesian: Pulau Bangka) in the Java Sea, Indonesia. The strait is about 134 miles (216 km) long, with a width varying from about 30 miles (48 km) to 9 miles (14 km).

South Sumatra (Indonesian: Sumatera Selatan) is a province of Indonesia, located in the southeast of the island of Sumatra. The capital and largest city of the province is the city of Palembang, and the province covers territory historically administered by the Palembang Sultanate. The province borders the provinces of Jambi to the north, Bengkulu to the west and Lampung to the south, as well a maritime border with the Bangka Belitung Islands to the east. It is the largest province in the island of Sumatra, and it is slightly smaller than Portugal, the department of Boquerón in Paraguay, the Altai Republic in Russia or the U.S. state of Maine. The Bangka Strait in the east separates South Sumatra and the island of Bangka, which is part of the Bangka Belitung Islands province.

The province has an area of 86,771.68 km (33,503 sq mi) and had a population of 8,467,432 at the 2020 census; the official estimate as at mid-2024 was 8,837,301 (comprising 4,499,011 males and 4,338,290 females). The province is rich in natural resources, such as petroleum, natural gas and coal. The province is inhabited by many different Malay sub ethnic groups, with Palembangese being largest ethnic group. Most speak the Palembang language, which is mutually intelligible to both Indonesian and local Palembang Malay. Other ethnic groups include the Javanese, Sundanese, Minangkabau and Chinese. Most are concentrated in urban areas and are largely immigrants from other parts of Indonesia.

The Gaspar Strait (Indonesian: Selat Gaspar) is a strait separating the Indonesian islands Belitung (formerly English: Billiton) and Bangka. It connects the Java Sea with the South China Sea.

Lepar (Indonesian: Pulau Lepar) is an island in Indonesia, located off the southeastern coast of Bangka. Administratively part of South Bangka in Bangka Belitung province, it is the third-largest island in the province after its much larger namesakes Bangka and Belitung, with an area of 169 square km. Lepar sits in the Gaspar Strait which separates the two larger islands. It stretches about 22 km east–west and 17 km north–south, with the towns of Tanjunglabu, Tanjungsangkar and Penutuk being the main population centers. It is governed as its own district of Lepar Pongok, which used to include a nearby, medium-sized island of Pongok until 2012 when it separated as its own district of Pongok Islands.

Mendanau is an island in the Bangka Belitung province of Indonesia. Located about 6 km off the west coast of Belitung and 20 km from the town of Tanjung Pandan, it is the fourth largest island in the province after Bangka, Belitung and Lepar with an area of approximately 113 square kilometers. Administratively it forms - with about 27 satellite islands - the Selat Nasik District of Belitung Regency, and it is home to 5,674 people at the 2020 Census, mostly spread in 3 settlements.

Pangkalpinang, colloquially written as Pangkal Pinang, also known as Pin-kong in Hakka, is the capital and largest city of the Bangka Belitung Islands Province in Indonesia. It is located on Bangka Island's east coast, the city is divided into seven districts (kecamatan) and has 42 subdistricts (kelurahan).

It covers an area of 89.40 square kilometres (34.52 sq mi) and it had a population of 174,838 at the 2010 Census and 218,568 at the 2020 Census; the official estimate as at mid 2022 was 226,297. The city's average population density was about 2,165 per square kilometre in mid 2022. The Rangkui River divides the city into two parts, and Jalan Merdeka is its geographic center.