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.
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👉 Gaspar Strait in the context of Karimata Strait
The Karimata Strait (alternatively, Carimata or Caramata; Indonesian: Selat Karimata) is a wide strait that connects the South China Sea to the Java Sea, separating the Indonesian islands of Belitung to the west and Borneo (Kalimantan) to the east. It is the widest strait between the South China Sea and the Java Sea (other straits include the Bangka and Gaspar straits), but its numerous islands and reefs reduce its navigability. Its weather and current is influenced by the annual southeast and northwest monsoon.
It was used as an invasion route by the British fleet in the 1811 Invasion of Java in the Dutch East Indies. More recently, it was the site of the crash of Indonesia AirAsia Flight 8501, and the location of the 2016 edition of Sail Indonesia (dubbed "Sail Karimata Strait").
In this Dossier
Gaspar Strait in the context of Bangka Belitung Islands
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).
Gaspar Strait in the context of Natuna Sea
The Natuna Sea (Indonesian: Laut Natuna) is an extensive shallow sea located around the Natuna Regency, extending south of the Riau Islands, east of the Lingga Regency and west of Borneo, to the Bangka Belitung Islands. The islands of the Badas and Tambelan Archipelago are located at its center. Mostly located within Indonesian territorial waters, it is the southernmost portion of the South China Sea, and geologically part of Sunda Shelf. It communicates with the Java Sea to its southeast via the Karimata and Gaspar Strait east and west of Belitung, and with the Strait of Malacca to the west via the Berhala and Singapore Strait.
The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO), in its Limits of Oceans and Seas, 3rd edition (1953), does not list a Natuna Sea. Instead, the area encompassed by the Natuna Sea is considered the southern portion of the South China Sea. The 1986 draft of the IHO's Limits of Oceans and Seas proposed the Natuna Sea, which extends south from the Natuna and Anambas Islands to the Belitung Islands.
Gaspar Strait in the context of Bangka Island
Bangka is an island lying east of Sumatra, Indonesia. It is administered under the province of the Bangka Belitung Islands, being one of its namesakes alongside the smaller island of Belitung across the Gaspar Strait. The 9th largest island in Indonesia, it had a population of 1,146,581 at the 2020 census; the official estimate as at mid 2023 was 1,191,300. It is the location of the provincial capital of Pangkal Pinang, and is administratively divided into four regencies and a city. The island itself and the surrounding sea suffers considerable environmental damage from its thriving tin mining industry which operates on- and offshore.
Gaspar Strait in the context of Lepar Island
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.