The Indonesia–Singapore border is a
maritime boundary
A maritime boundary is a conceptual division of Earth's water surface areas using physiographical or geopolitical criteria. As such, it usually bounds areas of exclusive national rights over mineral and biological resources,VLIZ Maritime Boun ...
in the
Straits of Singapore
The Singapore Strait is a , strait between the Strait of Malacca in the west and the South China Sea in the east. Singapore is on the north of the channel, and the Indonesian Riau Islands are on the south. The two countries share a maritime ...
between
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...
's
Riau Islands
The Riau Islands () is a provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia consisting of a group of islands located in the western part of the country. It was established in 2002 after being separated from the neighboring Riau Province. The capit ...
which lie to the south of the
border
Borders are generally defined as geography, geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by polity, political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other administrative divisio ...
, and the islands of
Singapore
Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...
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
Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...
as the country also possesses territorial waters in the area.
Border
Agreements
The Agreement Stipulating the Territorial Sea Boundary Lines between Indonesia and the Republic of Singapore in the Strait of Singapore signed by Indonesia and Singapore on 25 May 1973 determines the common
territorial sea
Territorial waters are informally an area of water where a sovereign state has jurisdiction, including internal waters, the territorial sea, the contiguous zone, the exclusive economic zone, and potentially the extended continental shelf ( ...
border as a series of straight lines connecting six coordinate points located in the Straits of Singapore. Indonesia ratified the agreement on 3 December 1973 while Singapore ratified the agreement on 29 August 1974.
The distance of the border is . Three of the six coordinates lie equidistant from Indonesian and Singaporean shores while the remaining are negotiated points with two lying closer to the Indonesian shores. Point 2 lies towards the landward side of Indonesia's baseline.
On 10 March 2009, Indonesia and Singapore signed the Treaty between the Republic of Indonesia and the Republic of Singapore Relating to the Delimitation of the Territorial Seas of the Two Countries in the Western Part of the Strait of Singapore 2009 in Jakarta. The treaty, signed by their respective Foreign Ministers at that time, namely
Hassan Wirajuda
Noer Hassan Wirajuda (born 9 July 1948 in Tangerang, West Java, Indonesia) is an Indonesian politician who was the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Indonesia), foreign minister of Indonesia from 2001 to 2009. He served during the presidencies of Mega ...
and
George Yeo
George Yeo Yong-Boon ( zh, s=杨荣文, p=Yáng Róngwén; born 13 September 1954) is a Singaporean former politician and brigadier-general who served as Minister for Foreign Affairs between 2004 and 2011.
Yeo served in the Singapore Army an ...
, extended the
delimitation
Electoral boundary delimitation (or simply boundary delimitation or delimitation) is the drawing of boundaries of electoral precincts and related divisions involved in elections, such as Federated state, states, counties or other municipalities ...
of their common maritime boundary by a further 12.1 km westwards from Point 1 determined in the 1973 agreement, to Point 1C. The treaty came into force upon
ratification
Ratification is a principal's legal confirmation of an act of its agent. In international law, ratification is the process by which a state declares its consent to be bound to a treaty. In the case of bilateral treaties, ratification is usuall ...
through an exchange of Instruments of Ratification on 31 August 2010 in Singapore by then Indonesian Foreign Minister
Marty Natalegawa
Raden Mohammad Marty Muliana Natalegawa (born 22 March 1963 in Bandung, West Java), is an Indonesian diplomat and was the Minister for Foreign Affairs in the Second United Indonesia Cabinet. He served as Indonesia's Permanent Representative ...
and his Singaporean counterpart
George Yeo
George Yeo Yong-Boon ( zh, s=杨荣文, p=Yáng Róngwén; born 13 September 1954) is a Singaporean former politician and brigadier-general who served as Minister for Foreign Affairs between 2004 and 2011.
Yeo served in the Singapore Army an ...
.
The new western end-point Point 1C is deemed to be located near but is not the tri-point for Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore and tri-lateral negotiations will be further needed to determine where the maritime boundaries of the three countries meet.
The 2009 extension uses the basepoints of Pulau Nipah in Indonesia and Singapore's Sultan Shoal, which has virtually been surrounded by reclaimed land. This is significant in legal terms as it indicated that Singapore was willing to not assert the use of the shores of reclaimed land as its baseline. Also significant for Indonesia is that its basepoints, of which Pulau Nipah is one, together with the
baselines which were drawn according to the archipelagic baseline principle, were recognised by Singapore.
The three coordinates under the 2009 treaty are based on the
World Geodetic System
The World Geodetic System (WGS) is a standard used in cartography, geodesy, and satellite navigation including GPS. The current version, WGS 84, defines an Earth-centered, Earth-fixed coordinate system and a geodetic datum, and also describ ...
1984 (WGS'84).
Undefined border
With the signing of the 2009 maritime boundary agreement, the
delimitation
Electoral boundary delimitation (or simply boundary delimitation or delimitation) is the drawing of boundaries of electoral precincts and related divisions involved in elections, such as Federated state, states, counties or other municipalities ...
of the "western segment" of the Indonesia-Singapore boundary was deemed completed, save for the gap between the new western end point and the eventual western tri-point of the boundaries of Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. This final gap will require trilateral negotiations among the three countries which are not expected to take place soon as it is dependent on the delimitation of the
Indonesia–Malaysia maritime boundary in the southern portion of the
Straits of Malacca
The Strait of Malacca is a narrow stretch of water, long and from wide, between the Malay Peninsula to the northeast and the Indonesian island of Sumatra to the southwest, connecting the Andaman Sea (Indian Ocean) and the South China Sea (Pa ...
, as well as the delimitation of the remaining portion of the
Malaysia–Singapore border in the western part of the
Straits of Singapore
The Singapore Strait is a , strait between the Strait of Malacca in the west and the South China Sea in the east. Singapore is on the north of the channel, and the Indonesian Riau Islands are on the south. The two countries share a maritime ...
.
The remaining portion of the undefined boundary is called the "eastern segment" as it lies to the east of the boundary delimited by the 1973 agreement, in the eastern portion of the Straits of Singapore between Singapore and Indonesia's
Riau Islands
The Riau Islands () is a provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia consisting of a group of islands located in the western part of the country. It was established in 2002 after being separated from the neighboring Riau Province. The capit ...
. Singapore has indicated that this segment would be made up of two portions. The first, between Singapore island off the Changi Coast and Indonesia's
Batam
Batam, officially the City of Batam (, not to be confused with ''Batam Kota'', a kecamatan, district within this city), is the largest List of regencies and cities of Indonesia, city in the Indonesian province of Riau Islands. The city administra ...
island, will run from the eastern terminus determined in the 1973 agreement to an Indonesia-Malaysia-Singapore tri-point. Another portion will be located further east between
Pedra Branca, which the International Court of Justice awarded to Singapore in 2008 in a dispute with Malaysia, and Indonesia's
Bintan island. A stretch of the
Indonesia–Malaysia border will lie in between the two portions. Tri-lateral negotiations among Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore would be needed to determine the three tri-points.
The signing of the 2009 treaty has given momentum for talks to determine the eastern segment to begin. During a press conference after the exchange of the Instruments of Ratification for the 2009 treaty, Singaporean Foreign Minister George Yeo said Indonesia and Singapore were going to begin the process of demarcating the portion of their common border between Singapore and Batam.
The solving of the sovereignty dispute between Malaysia and Singapore over
Pedra Branca,
Middle Rocks
The Middle Rocks (; Jawi: باتون تڠه; ) are two uninhabited small rocks separated by of open water at the eastern opening of the Strait of Singapore on the western edge of the South China Sea. The islands were disputed territory betw ...
and South Ledge has also resulted in Malaysia and Singapore starting technical negotiations to determine their common border, which is necessary before the tripoints can be determined.
History
The Indonesia–Singapore border came into being as part of the imaginary line created by the
1824 treaty between Great Britain and the Netherlands which divided up the Malay archipelago into spheres of influence between the two colonial powers. The current border in the Straits of Singapore is based on this line whereby territories north of the line were placed under British influence (and ultimately colonisation) while those south of the line were under Dutch influence. Singapore was already a British settlement at that time and was allowed to remain so.
The line became the boundary between British Malaya and the Dutch East Indies, and later between the colony of Singapore and independent Indonesia, the successor state of the Dutch East Indies.
Between 16 September 1963 and 4 August 1965, the border became part of the maritime frontier between
Indonesia and Malaysia when Singapore joined the Federation of
Malaysia
Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...
as a constituent state. It then became independent on 9 August 1965.
Above ground, Singapore currently controls the
Flight Information Region (FIR) above the Riau Islands, which is similar to other cases where countries often administer the FIR of another country.
Crossings
*
Tanah Merah -
Bintan
*
Singapore Cruise Centre
The Singapore Cruise Centre ( abbrev: SCC; Chinese: 新加坡邮轮中心) is a cruise terminal located in the south of Singapore next to HarbourFront Centre in the vicinity of HarbourFront and in Keppel Harbour, near HarbourFront MRT s ...
-
Batam
Batam, officially the City of Batam (, not to be confused with ''Batam Kota'', a kecamatan, district within this city), is the largest List of regencies and cities of Indonesia, city in the Indonesian province of Riau Islands. The city administra ...
See also
*
Indonesia–Malaysia border
*
Malaysia–Singapore border
*
Riau Islands Flight Information Region
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Indonesia-Singapore Border
Singapore
Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...
Borders of Singapore