The Sabalana Islands (''Kepulauan Sabalana'') are an
atoll
An atoll () is a ring-shaped island, including a coral rim that encircles a lagoon. There may be coral islands or cays on the rim. Atolls are located in warm tropical or subtropical parts of the oceans and seas where corals can develop. Most ...
in the
Flores Sea
The Flores Sea covers of water in Indonesia. The sea is bounded on the north by the island of Celebes and on the south by Sunda Islands, the Sunda Islands of Flores and Sumbawa.
Geography
The seas that border the Flores Sea are the Bali Sea ...
in Indonesia, lying just north of the
Lesser Sunda Islands
The Lesser Sunda Islands (, , ), now known as Nusa Tenggara Islands (, or "Southeast Islands"), are an archipelago in the Indonesian archipelago. Most of the Lesser Sunda Islands are located within the Wallacea region, except for the Bali pro ...
, closer to
Sumbawa
Sumbawa, is an Indonesian island, located in the middle of the Lesser Sunda Islands chain, with Lombok to the west, Flores to the east, and Sumba further to the southeast. Along with Lombok, it forms the province of West Nusa Tenggara, but th ...
than
Sulawesi
Sulawesi ( ), also known as Celebes ( ), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the List of islands by area, world's 11th-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Min ...
. They are west of
Tanahjampea Island and north-east of the
Tengah Islands (Central Islands). Administratively, the atoll belongs to the province of
South Sulawesi
South Sulawesi () is a Provinces of Indonesia, province in the South Peninsula, Sulawesi, southern peninsula of Sulawesi, Indonesia. The Selayar Islands archipelago to the south of Sulawesi is also part of the province. The capital and largest ci ...
. The total area, including the large
lagoon
A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into ''coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons'') an ...
, is 2694 km
2, making Sabalana one of the largest atolls by total area. The land area of the largest individual island, Pulau Sabalana, measures about 7 km
2, followed by Pulau Banawaja with 3 km
2 and Pulau Sabaru with 1.4 km
2.
The Sabalana Islands were formerly known as the Postillon Islands.
The individual islets are listed, clockwise from the northernmost to the southernmost (the western rim of the atoll is free of islets):
#Pulau Djailamu
#Pulau Sabaru
#Pulau Balobaloang-besar
#Pulau Balobaloang-ketjil
#Pulau Sumanga
#Pulau Makaranangang
#Pulau Laija
#Pulau Sanane-ketjil
#Pulau Sanane-besar
#Pulau Sabalana
#Pulau Banawaja (easternmost)
#Pulau Pamolikang
#Pulau Santigiang
#Pulau Soroabu
#Pulau Meong
#Pulau Matalang
#Pulau Balalohong
#Pulau Manukang
#Pulau Sadulangang
#Pulau Sarege
References
External links
1:250,000 topographic map (northern part)1:250,000 topographic map (southern part)1:1000,000 topographic map (International Map of the World)
Archipelagoes of Indonesia
Landforms of South Sulawesi
{{SSulawesi-geo-stub