Satellite: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX (CC BY 4.0). Outline and points © OpenStreetMap contributors / Natural Earth. North up.
In numbers
473,481km²
Area
5,228km
Coastline
measured on a simplified outline
3,805m
Highest point
Mount Kerinci
60,000,000
People
30°C
Warmest sea
May
287km
To the mainland
When to go to Sumatra
Best for the beach from January to May.
The sea is warmest in May (30 °C) and coolest in January (29 °C). You can swim comfortably all year (21 °C or more).
Averages 1991–2020. Sea: NOAA OISST, the water within 35 km of the coast. Air, rain and sun: NASA POWER. Best months weigh warm afternoons (23–30 °C), sea of 24 °C or more and few wet days.
Island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands
Sumatra is an island in Indonesia. It covers 473,481 km², with 5,228 km of coastline. Its highest point, Mount Kerinci, rises to 3,805 m. About 60,000,000 people live on it. The nearest mainland is 287 km away.
Getting there
- Minangkabau International Airport (PDG)main airport (13 on the island with scheduled flights)Car hire at CGK airport (Jakarta)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- 287 km from the mainlanddistance to the nearest continental coast
- From January to Maybest months to go (from 30 years of averages)
Plan the trip
Ferries, stays and things to do
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
On the island
What you find on Sumatra.
This island is too large to count beaches and viewpoints in a meaningful way.
Cross-checked with our atlases
Sumatra in our other atlases
Everything Coastya, Peakyas, Lakeyas and Cascadyas know about what lies inside Sumatra, each with its own numbers.
7beaches and covesCoastya
76lakesLakeyas
23waterfallsCascadyas
Largest lake
1,129km²
Lake Toba
529 m deep · according to Lakeyas
Warmest lake
30.1°C
Danau Lebar
surface water, warmest month · according to Lakeyas
Beach with the warmest sea
30.3°C
Pantai Indah Sialang Buah
sea in the warmest month · according to Coastya
7 beaches
on Coastya, the beach atlas
- Pantai Indah Sialang Buah30.3°C
- Teluk Sicangcove30.2°C
- Teluk Kapalcove30.1°C
- Pasijalangcove29.8°C
- Lhok Keutapangcove29.8°C
- Teluk Lhok Monmunicove30.1°C
- Teluk Karieng Meurtulangcove30.1°C
76 lakes
on Lakeyas, the lake atlas
- Lake Toba529 m deep1,129km²
- Lake Ranau229 m deep125km²
- Lake Singkarak268 m deep108km²
- Lake Maninjau105 m deep86.9km²
- Lake Laut Tawar80 m deep57.7km²
- Lake Kerinci97 m deep43.6km²
- Lake Diatas44 m deep11.9km²
- Lake Gunung Tujuh40 m deep9.6km²
68 more on LakeyasLakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗
23 waterfalls
on Cascadyas, the waterfall atlas
- Sipisopiso Waterfall
- Anai valley
- Telun Berasap Falls
- Siguragura Waterfall
- Air Terjun Sinar Petir
- Sigerincing Waterfall
- Nyarai Waterfall
- Air Terjun Sampurharima
15 more on CascadyasCascadyas is coming soonOpen Cascadyas ↗
Size, for real
Next to islands you may know.
500 km
All outlines drawn to the same scale (Natural Earth and OpenStreetMap).
Towns on the island
- Medan2,486,283 people
- Palembang1,801,367 people
- Pekanbaru1,167,599 people
- Bandar Lampung1,166,066 people
- Padang942,938 people
- Jambi City635,101 people
- Bengkulu397,321 people
- Dumai349,389 people
- Percut311,063 people
- Binjai279,302 people
- Pematangsiantar279,198 people
- Banda Aceh267,962 people
Month by month
The weather on the island.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon high (°C) | 28 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 27 |
| Night low (°C) | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 23 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 |
| Sea (°C) | 29 | 29 | 30 | 30 | 30 | 30 | 30 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 29 |
| Rain (mm) | 228 | 204 | 271 | 293 | 210 | 177 | 169 | 198 | 241 | 295 | 392 | 301 |
| Wet days | 22 | 19 | 25 | 26 | 21 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 24 | 27 | 25 |
| Sun h/day | 4.6 | 4.4 | 5.4 | 6.1 | 6.5 | 6.6 | 6.3 | 5.8 | 5.0 | 5.1 | 5.5 | 4.9 |
| Wind (km/h) | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
Averages 1991–2020 for the ~55 km NASA POWER cell over the island; the sea from NOAA OISST.
Recent years
Warmer and cooler years at sea.
Each month's sea temperature compared with its 1991–2020 average, in degrees.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | +0.6 | +0.7 | +0.8 | +0.6 | ±0.0 | +0.1 | +0.4 | +0.5 | +0.5 | +0.5 | +0.3 | +0.4 |
| 2021 | +0.2 | +0.2 | +0.1 | +0.2 | +0.3 | +0.1 | +0.2 | ±0.0 | +0.4 | +0.7 | +0.3 | +0.5 |
| 2022 | +0.7 | +0.4 | +0.3 | +0.6 | +0.3 | −0.2 | ±0.0 | +0.2 | +0.1 | ±0.0 | −0.2 | −0.3 |
| 2023 | −0.3 | −0.2 | −0.3 | +0.1 | +0.2 | ±0.0 | +0.1 | +0.1 | −0.4 | −0.5 | −0.1 | −0.1 |
| 2024 | +0.5 | +0.9 | +0.4 | +0.8 | +0.5 | +0.6 | +0.7 | +0.2 | +0.5 | +0.8 | +0.9 | +0.6 |
| 2025 | +0.3 | +0.3 | ±0.0 | −0.1 | ±0.0 | +0.1 | +0.3 | +0.3 | +0.4 | +0.6 | +0.2 | +0.3 |
+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual
Photos
Seen by visitors.
Nearby
More islands nearby.
Bengkalis Island
Indonesia911 km²3 m228 km away
Singapore Island
Singapore658 km²164 m338 km away
Siberut IslandIndonesia30,812 km²147 m286 km away
Malacca Island
Malaysia1.2 km²16 m296 km away
Karimun IslandIndonesia126 km²14 m277 km away
Batam IslandIndonesia427 km²2 m342 km away
SentosaSingapore4.9 km²100 m332 km away
Pulau UbinSingapore10 km²56 m354 km awayAbout these numbers
| Names, area, population | Wikidata (Q3492) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Outline | Natural Earth · public domain |
| Sea temperature | NOAA OISST v2.1 · 1991–2020 |
| Climate | NASA POWER · 1991–2020 |
| Relief, 3D model | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| Beaches, ports, lighthouses, trails | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Towns | GeoNames · CC BY 4.0 |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Beaches, mountains, lakes and waterfalls | Coastya, Lakeyas, Cascadyas — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0; NOAA OISST; HydroLAKES (Messager et al. 2016) · CC BY 4.0, LakeTEMP (Korver et al. 2024) · CC BY 4.0 |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
The family
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