Indonesia

Indonesian licence plates are black with white letters. The letters usually appear as three white sections through the blur.

Commercial vehicles use yellow licence plates.

Plates in newer coverage can be white too.

NOTE: Malaysian licence plates are also black, but generally have two white sections.

Indonesia drives on the left.

NOTE: Malaysia drives on the left, while the Philippines drives on the right.

Indonesia uses white or yellow centre lines. Outer lines will always be white. The centre lines will be solid or dashed.

In Generation 3 coverage, yellow centre lines are more rare, as Indonesia only recently started using this colour for its road lines.

NOTE: Malaysian road lines are always all white.

Poles in Indonesia are typically round and made out of either steel or concrete. Many of the steel poles are painted black, and also feature the Indonesian flag colours on them. The pole tops are usually either even or uneven, depending on the region.

You can learn more about regional poles in the region-guessing section.

Indonesia commonly uses these black-and-white square or circular bollards, as well as these yellow-and-black ones, which can also have a red reflector. Other designs can also be found.

NOTE: UK-style bollards are mostly found in Kalimantan.

Usually yellow waystones that are angled towards the road, and have a cutout close to the top are unique to Indonesia. They include shorthand for three cities or towns, with the biggest one being on the top in the cutout section.

NOTE: Waystones in the Philippines are perpendicular to the road and have the text facing away from the road.

Indonesian can look very similar to Malaysian, however Indonesian has been influenced by Dutch, and Malaysian by English. These small changes in spelling may help differentiate the two. 

An example is the word television in English, which translates to ‘televisi’ in Indonesian, similar to the Dutch word ‘televisie.’ In Malaysian, it translates to ‘televisyen’, more similar to English.

You can find these rows of red and white banners all around Indonesia. Sometimes, more colourful flags can be found.

Cigarette ads can be found all over Indonesia, usually with a black or red colour scheme and around a price of 18,000 Rp. Keep an eye out for illustrated graphic pictures, and the word ‘PERINGATAN’.

Motorcycles in Indonesia have front licence plates, as opposed to other south-east Asian countries which do not.

The official Indonesian currency is the Rupiah (Rp).

The names of 2nd level subdivisions, named ‘Kabupaten’ or ‘Kab’ for short, translating to regency, can be found all over Indonesia on various signs and billboards. Each province is split up into multiple Kabupatens, totalling to 417 which are covered by street view, and therefore applicable in Geoguessr. These are learnable with enough time and patience.

See the resources section for more information.

You can find the cardinal directions written on many addresses. They are as follows:

• North = Utara

• East = Timur

• South = Selatan

• West = Barat

• Central = Tengah

Indonesia uses two types of pole tops: even and uneven. This refers to the bar that holds the insulators and whether it is symmetrical to the pole itself. Knowing where even and uneven poles are most commonly found is useful for region guessing.

You can find these poles with a triangle attachment under the horizontal bar in the following regions.

NOTE: This does not apply to stacked poles.

On the Lesser Sunda Islands (“Nusas”), you can find poles with an extra support on the pole top. Sometimes, two supports can be present.

Trident style pole tops are most commonly found in Central Java and Yogyakarta, and rarely in South and West Kalimantan, and North Sumatra and Riau.

Bali features both even and uneven poles, as well as the Lesser Sunda island variants. You can also find this unique rectangle attachment on the pole tops in Bali.

Pole tops in North and Central Sulawesi, and Gorontalo commonly feature an extra attachment right under the horizontal bar.

You can often see thin, black poles next to regular poles near the East Peninsula of Central Sulawesi. Two pieces of tape can be seen near the top of the poles, usually light blue and green. These can rarely be seen in northern South East Sulawesi.

These poles are almost exclusive to North Sumatra. The bar which holds the insulators is even, but features uneven insulators with one on one side and two on the other.

Satellite dishes can help you determine whether you are north or south of the equator. For example, if the satellite dish points north, you are most likely south of it, and vice versa. The angle of the satellite dish can also tell you how far away from the equator you are. The more levelled it is, the closer you are.

Central Sulawesi features these unique bollards that are painted black on the bottom, white in the middle, and yellow on the top.

These painted fences are typically found on Sulawesi. They will be mostly painted white with blue or red.

Green paint can often be seen on the side of bridges in South and Central Kalimantan.

Within Indonesia, oil palm plantations are mostly concentrated in Sumatra and Kalimantan. Palm plantations can rarely be seen in Sulawesi.

The majority of rice production is concentrated in Java, but can sometimes be found in other provinces, namely South Sulawesi and South Sumatra. They can rarely be found in other provinces as well. For a full overview, see this map.

The Nusas typically look drier than other regions in Indonesia. The islands get especially dry towards the east, especially in Generation 3. Vegetation tends to look less tropical, but instead more brown with a lack of leaves. Sumba Island is also the driest of the Nusas.

NOTE: While less common, other regions such as Java can look similarly dry. Make sure to look out for other clues before guessing.

This savannah landscape is occasionally seen on North Sumba.

NOTE: In Generation 3, you will always see a white car.

Red soil can often be found on Batam and the Banga Belitung islands, located east of mainland Sumatra.

Tiled roofs are most commonly found on the island of Java, and sometimes nearby regions such as southern Sumatra, the Lesser Sunda Islands, and South Kalimantan.

NOTE: The tiles on roofs in South Kalimantan and Jambi look slightly different. The tiles are usually less rounded but flatter.

Plain sheet metal roofs are more commonly found toward the north, where tiled roofs are not found. They are most commonly found on Kalimantan, Sulawesi and Sumatra.

These horizontal slots inside the triangles of the roofs are almost unique to Southern Sulawesi.

NOTE: They can rarely be found in East Kalimantan and West Nusa.

You can find these distinct roofs with uniquely high-pitched peaks on Sumba.

Architecture in Bali is unique because it was influenced by old Balinese culture and Hinduism. The most important thing to look for are these crown-like roof pinnacles, found everywhere in Bali. Guardian statues and slit-drum towers are common too. Andesite, a dark, volcanic rock, is a common building material in Bali. You can often see gates, walls, and other intricately carved ornaments built from this material.

West Sumatra features these distinct boat-shaped roofs.

North Sumatra features similarly distinct boat-shaped roofs, however the roofs are less angled upward and they do not feature spires.

NOTE: These roofs are most commonly found near Lake Toba, due to its sacred history.

On Kalimantan, you can find these unique roofs made out of wooden chips.

Roofs with gable horns can be found most commonly in South Sulawesi, Riau and Central and South Kalimantan.

NOTE: Horned roofs are often found with Bugis roofs in South Sulawesi. Use this tip along with other clues to determine which region you are in.

A small region of South Sulawesi, around the city of Rante Pao, features these very unique houses, called Tongkonan, that have saddle-shaped roofs. The houses themselves are also elevated from the ground.

In the rare case a licence plate is unblurred, knowing regional licence plate codes can be helpful for region guessing. 1 letter codes can only be seen in Java, and are mostly found in the west. 2 letter codes can still be seen on Java, but in the east.

NOTE: The highlighted areas on the map only refer to the first letter. A detailed map of all the codes can be seen here.

You can click on the image to enlarge it.

Indonesia is religiously a Muslim majority country, so seeing churches, and other Christian signs, is a good clue for these regions.

In North Kalimantan, you can sometimes see a one-sided blur, having a clear view on one side but a hazy view on the other.

NOTE: This blur can only be seen in Generation 4. Similar blurs in Generation 3 can be seen elsewhere around Kalimantan.

A blurry smudge can be seen on many of these roads in southern Sulawesi.

Generation 3 antenna coverage is most commonly found on Java, but can very rarely be seen on Bali in and around Denpasar. It is most commonly seen in East Java, as most of the antenna coverage in the west has been overwritten by Generation 4.

Black Generation 3 coverage can be found almost everywhere in Indonesia, but is most common in Sulawesi.

The region around Lake Toba, in North Sumatra, can be recognized by mountains surrounding the lake and Samosir Island in the middle. Overcast coverage is also common for the region.

In some of the Generation 4 coverage in the city of Batam, a purple tint and a black blurred object can be seen. Although this camera glitch is most commonly found in Batam, you may spot it in nearby regions such as North Sumatra, around Medan. Make sure to look out for other clues before guessing.

Palu Bay is a unique slightly north-west facing bay just north of Palu city, which features mountains to the west of the bay, and a flat, more urbanised landscape to the east.

A smudge can be seen on the road north of Tesso Nilo National Park, curving south west of Langgam. Many oil palms can also be seen on either side of the road.

Steeply pitched roofs made of palm tree leaves can sometimes be seen on Nias Island, south west of North Sumatra.

This rare car can sometimes be seen on Bali. The car is a white SUV with black bars and a wooden plank on the roof.

This rare car can be seen near Jagasatru. A black cab with men sitting in the truck bed can be seen.