At 1,100 miles long and 270 miles wide (1,770 by 434 kilometers), Sumatra is the sixth-largest island in the world, and home to 50 million people. Originally named "Samudra", for ocean, Sumatra sits astride the Straits of Malacca, a maritime choke point through which all seaborne traffic to and from East Asia must pass. Long contested by a variety of colonial powers, including the Dutch, British, Japanese, and Chinese, Sumatra today is a major tourist destination. While it sustained severe damage and loss of life in the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, Sumatra has since begun a slow recovery, and tourism is again on the rise.
Particularly noteworthy sights and activities include a visit to Bukittingi, home of the matriarchal Minangkabau people; touring coffee plantations and sampling the notoriously expensive kopi luwak; and a wildlife safari in Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park.