Sumatera or Sumatra is the sixth largest island in the world located in Indonesia, with an area of 443,065.8 km2. Island population is about 42,409,510 inhabitants (2000). The island is also known by other names, namely Pulau Percha, Andalas, or Suwarnadwipa (Sanskrit, meaning "golden island"). Then in Padang Roco inscription carved 1286 years swarnnabhūmi (Sanskrit, meaning "land of gold") and Bhumi Malay ("Land of the Malays") to refer to this island. Later in the script Negarakertagama of the 14th century also re called "Earth Malay" (Malay) for the island.
Sumatra Island is located in the western part of the archipelago nation. In the north bordering the Bay of Bengal, on the east by the Strait of Malacca, on the south by the Straits of Sunda, and on the west by the Indian Ocean. In the east of the island, found many swamps drained by large rivers that empty in there, such as shavings (North Sumatra), the Siak River (Riau), Kampar, Inderagiri (West Sumatra, Riau), Batang Hari (West Sumatra, Jambi), Musi, Ogan, Lematang, Komering (South Sumatra), and Way Sekampung (Lampung). While some of the rivers that empty into the western coast of Sumatra island include Rod Tarusan (West Sumatra), and Ketahun (Bengkulu).
In the western part of the island, lies the Bukit Barisan mountain range that stretches from north to south. Along the line of the hill there are volcanoes that are still active, as Geureudong (Aceh), Sinabung (North Sumatra), Marapi, Gutter (West Sumatra), Mount Kaba (Bengkulu), and Kerinci (West Sumatra, Jambi). On the island of Sumatra, there are also several lakes, including Lake Sea Fresh (Aceh), Lake Toba (North Sumatra), Lake Batur, Maninjau Lake, Lake Above, Below Lake, Lake Talang (West Sumatra), Lake Kerinci (Jambi) and Lake Ranau (Lampung and South Sumatra).
