Indonesia is the world’s largest archipelago nation. Its innumerable islands sprawl for almost 5,000 kilometres along the equator. The country is divided into three time zones. Western Indonesian Time or Waktu Indonesia Barat (abbreviated WIB) takes in the islands of Sumatra and Java. It is one hour ahead of Central Indonesian Time or Waktu Indonesia Tengah (abbreviated WITA) which encompasses Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Bali, Lombok and the Lesser Sunda Islands (Nusa Tenggara) including Timor. One hour ahead of this central time zone is Eastern Indonesian Time or Waktu Indonesia Timur (abbreviated WIT) which takes in the myriad islands of Maluku and the vast, jungle-covered mountains and swamps of West Papua.
So when it is seven o’clock in Jakarta (in the western time zone) it is eight o’clock in Bali (in the central time zone) and nine o’clock in Ambon (in the eastern time zone).
By the way, Indonesia does not have “daylight saving time” such as is the norm in countries in northern and southern latitudes during the long days of summer. Because Indonesia lies on the equator the length of a day does not vary much in the course of a year. And because of its equatorial location the country zips around at the farthest extremity of the earth’s diameter, so it jumps quickly across the boundary between day and night. Dawn and twilight are quite sudden affairs in Indonesia compared with the long transitions characteristic of countries in the northern and southern zones of the globe, especially in summer.
