Riau Islands in the context of "Natuna Islands"

Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. Its territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. The country is about one degree of latitude (137 kilometres or 85 miles) north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bordering the Strait of Malacca to the west, the Singapore Strait to the south along with the Riau Islands in Indonesia, the South China Sea to the east and the Straits of Johor along with the State of Johor in Malaysia to the north.

In its early history, Singapore was a maritime emporium known as Temasek; subsequently, it was a major constituent of several successive thalassocratic empires. Its contemporary era began in 1819, when Stamford Raffles established Singapore as an entrepôt trading post of the British Empire. In 1867, Singapore came under direct British control as part of the Straits Settlements. During World War II, Singapore was occupied by Japan in 1942 and returned to Britain as a Crown colony following Japan's surrender in 1945. Singapore gained self-governance in 1959 and in 1963 became part of the new federation of Malaysia, alongside Malaya, North Borneo and Sarawak. Ideological differences led to Singapore's expulsion from the federation two years later; it became an independent sovereign country in 1965. After early years of turbulence and despite lacking natural resources and a hinterland, the nation rapidly developed to become one of the Four Asian Tigers.

Sumatra (/sʊˈmɑːtrə/) 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 km (182,812 mi.), including adjacent islands such as the Simeulue, Nias, Mentawai, Enggano, Riau Islands, Bangka Belitung and Krakatoa archipelago.

Sumatra is an elongated landmass spanning a diagonal northwest–southeast axis. 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 Andaman 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, while the northeastern area contains large plains and lowlands with swamps, mangrove forest and complex river systems. The equator crosses the island at its centre in West Sumatra and Riau provinces. The climate of the island is tropical, hot, and humid. Lush tropical rain forest once dominated the landscape.

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).

The Indonesia–Singapore border is a maritime boundary in the Straits of Singapore between Indonesia's Riau Islands which lie to the south of the border, and the islands of Singapore which lie to the north. The Straits of Singapore is one of the region's busiest waterways as it is the main channel for Singapore's ports.

Only a portion of the maritime border between the two countries has been determined. The remaining parts, especially those lying to the east of the delimited boundary, may require the involvement of Malaysia as the country also possesses territorial waters in the area.

Riau (Jawi: رياو‎) is a province of Indonesia. It is located on the central eastern coast of the island of Sumatra, and extends from the eastern slopes of the Barisan Mountains to the Malacca Strait, including several large islands situated within the Strait. The province shares land borders with North Sumatra to the northwest, West Sumatra to the west, and Jambi to the south, and a maritime border with the Riau Islands and the country of Malaysia to the east. It is the second-largest province in the island of Sumatra after South Sumatra with a total land area of 93,356.32 km², and an estimated population of 7,007,353 in 2024. The province comprises ten regencies and two cities, with Pekanbaru serving as the capital and largest city.

Historically, Riau has been a part of various monarchies before the arrival of European colonial powers. Muara Takus, a Buddhist temple complex believed to be a remnant of the Buddhist empire of Srivijaya c. 11th-12th century, is situated in Kampar Regency in Riau province. Following the spread of Islam in the 14th century, the region was then under control of Malay sultanates of Siak Sri Indrapura, Indragiri, and Johor. The sultanates later became protectorate of the Dutch and were reduced to puppet states of the Dutch East Indies. After the establishment of Indonesia in 1945, Riau belonged to the republic's provinces of Sumatra (1945–1948) and Central Sumatra (1948–1957). On 10 August 1957, the province of Riau was inaugurated and it included the Riau Islands until 2004.

Tanjungpinang, also colloquially written as Tanjung Pinang, is the capital city of the Indonesian province of Riau Islands. It covers a land area of 144.56 km, mainly in the southern part of Bintan Island, as well as other smaller islands such as Dompak Island and Penyengat Island. With a population of 227,663 at the 2020 Census, it is the second largest city of the province, after Batam; the official estimate as at mid 2023 was 234,840 (comprising 118,600 males and 116,250 females). Tanjungpinang is a historic city of the Malay culture, having served as the capital of both Johor Sultanate and Riau-Lingga Sultanate.

Tanjungpinang – whose name is taken from the position of a beach tree that juts into the sea – occupies a strategic location on the south of Bintan Island, guarding the mouth of the Bintan River. Tanjungpinang has ferry and speedboat connections to Batam, Singapore (40 km away), and Johor Bahru. The city is also served by Raja Haji Fisabilillah International Airport, located about 7 km east of the city center.

Batam, officially the City of Batam (Indonesian: Kota Batam, not to be confused with Batam Kota, a district within this city), is the largest city in the Indonesian province of Riau Islands. The city administrative area covers three main islands of Batam, Rempang and Galang (collectively called Barelang), as well as Bulang to the west and several smaller islands.

Batam Island is the core urban and industrial zone, while both Rempang Island and Galang Island maintain their rural character and low-density population; they are connected to Batam Island by short bridges. Bulang Island and the islands to its north lie to the west of Batam Island are part of Belakang Padang District but are also administratively within the city.

Jambi is a province of Indonesia. It is located on the east coast of central Sumatra and stretches to the Barisan Mountains in the west. Its capital and largest city is also called Jambi. It is bordered by the provinces of Riau to the north, West Sumatra to the west, Bengkulu to the southwest, South Sumatra to the south, and shares a maritime border with the Riau Islands to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the east. The province has a land area of 49,026.58 km, and a sea area of 3,274.95 km. Its area is comparable to the European country of Slovakia or Smolensk Oblast. It had a population of 3,092,265 according to the 2010 census and 3,548,228 according to the 2020 census; the official estimate of population as of mid-2024 was 3,745,746 (comprising 1,893,490 males and 1,830,790 females).