How large is Indonesia?

I often take for granted the extent of Indonesian archipelago, partly because of its maritime feature, which makes Indonesia look dominated by water, rather than land. And map projection does create some distortion so that Indonesia, which is located along the equator, seems tinier than countries far to the north or to the south, such as China or the US.

However, upon Internet research, I found that the flight distance from the westernmost to easternmost towns of the country (popularly called 'dari Sabang sampai Merauke', from Sabang to Merauke) is longer than that in China, the US, or even the whole Europe. Travelling by flight from Banda Aceh in Aceh to Jayapura in Papua takes a longer time than from Lisbon to Moscow, or from San Fransisco to New York city.

I created this infographics as a light reminder and, hopefully, an eye-opener that our homeland is indeed large. And such vast territory consequently brings a demand for an effective government. We should be reminded that Indonesia is unlike China or the US, the territory of which is mostly land area. Indonesia is a huge maritime nation, which poses a challenge of maintaining security over the archipelago, especially in the areas close to the borders.

PS: I gathered the images from various websites since I don't know yet how to work with Photoshop, Corel Draw, and the like. Many thanks to the creators.