Google Maps Indonesia
Mar 21st, 2008, in Internet, by PatungGoogle insults the people of Indonesia with their sub-par maps.
This is Google Maps’ view of East Java. It’s an improvement on not too long ago, when the dot for Malang was bigger than the dot for Surabaya – now they’ve gotten onto equal terms, so moving in the right direction.
But the spelling hasn’t improved yet, – there are old Dutch forms, and some odd ones, like:
- Madium for Madiun
- Badad (is that in Iraq?) for Babat
- Parican for Paciran
Ngunut I’d never heard of until seeing this map, but it well may be deserving of a featured spot on the map down there in Tulungagung, especially considering it is apparently well known as a centre for the making of the khaki trousers that Indonesia’s finest stride about in.
Then there are omissions – Sidoarjo must be (in)famous enough, and certainly big enough, for its own dot at this zoom, red or white, without having to zoom. But after zooming it seems Sidoarjo is no bigger than the dusty little hellhole of Kriam (Krian).
So if the Americans ever decide to go the whole hog in bankrupting themselves and getting in hock to the Saudis, Japanese, and Chinese, forever, and invade Indonesia, they’ll need to have better maps than a $100+ billion market-cap company can manage.
You can click and drag on the map to move it around, and play with the zoom feature. No doubt there are peculiarities whichever direction you go.
28 Comments on “Google Maps Indonesia”
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tomaculum says:
And “Djember” instead of “Jember” (right click and pull to the left).
And the dot of “Nganjuk” is as big as Kertosono’s, Perak’s or Muneng’s.
My God, such of ignorance!!! 🙂 -
Lairedion says:
And the best: Surabaja instead of Surabaya…
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But at the other side, do we know something about Dark Hollow or Salty creek in the USA or about Dirty Creek in Australia or about Amerika in Germany? 🙂
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mark says:
Then why don’t we just make our own digital map like google map instead of complaining ?
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ramster says:
I’d say LOL for Mark. He’s got all the points. Why don’t you people who complain start making a map of your own? Jesus nobody is perfect.
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azizan nasron says:
Sitanala hospital (tangerang, banten, indonesia) is not seem, but that’s helpful my work thank’s
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Patrick says:
Maybe Google is smarter than you all think? Perhaps they are waiting on the Mud Volcano flow to swallow everything up before throwing good money away on making temporary corrections? : > )
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Actually I have on it pretty good authority that Google are going to “do” Indonesia mapwise next year, it’s going to involve drivers traversing the countryside with video cameras attached to the roofs of the cars.
Incidentally, if you zoom in right now it seems that Bandung is south of Trenggalek, he he. I preserved it for posterity.
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timdog says:
Actually… sorry to be all smuggly corrective Patung, but… Actually – [pulls self very upright, strokes chin, twiddles imaginary Victorian-style moustache, affects pompous upper-class English accent] – actually there is a Bandung south of Trenggalek. Not the Bandung, obviously, and quite certainly not worthy of a dot on a Google map (how do they choose these places – is it something to do with alien landing spots… Achmad?). However, it is there. It’s a village in the damp green hills of that neck of the woods. I drove through that way on my motorbike once. Beautiful area, terrible roads…
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kinch says:
I wonder if even TNI has proper maps for all of Java. I seem to recall a few years ago some German published what was advertised as the best Jakarta street map which he had made himself part time. Apparently (like so many other things, like cleaning out canals) nobody had made a half-decent effort since the Dutch left.
Presumably there are very good geological survey maps, but that’s another thing.
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Correct away Timdog, that one was too ‘good’ to be true.
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Dear Sir or Madam,
Just a small additional correction, the 28 kilometers main road connecting Madiun and Ponorogo in East Java, passing through Kaibon at Km 3 – Pagotan market at Km 8 – Uteran or Geger at Km 11 – DOLOPO market at Km 15 (not KRANDEGAN0) – Mlilir market at Km 20 – and Babadan at Km 25.
The name KRANDENGAN as it is stated on the Google Map, therefore, is needed to be revised into DOLOPO ( a village and a sub-district town), since the main road does not pass through the Krandegan village (belong to Kebonsari sub-district), which is about 9 kms away of the main road.
Thank you for your great attention.
Best Regards,
Kardjito DOLOPO -
Well…
Instead of complaining why don’t u fix it your self?
Just send tell google that’s is not a correct term.
I think it’s possible in google earthOr just create your own dot?
In yogyakarta there is a lot of mistake to?
Like why the hell monjali (monumen jogja kembali) do in malioboro?Nah it’s not the best system and some of it are from people who share their bookmarked place so bear with it or create your own!!
Aaa forgot to tell you something!!
Just change your language setting maybe you’ll find/read something different!!!
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Am says:
Do you happen to know a free alternative for google maps indonesia? I’d like to add a directions map but obviously can’t use google maps (still). Any ideas?
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Am…
Saw a road atlas in Kinokuniya earlier this evening that had a CD with it. It seemed like there were a couple of them for different parts of Java. I was mainly looking at the Metropolitan one which covers Jakarta and the surrounding satellite cities.
On Google maps. I thought it was a work in progress which meant if you found errors you emailed Google and then some person in a cubicle somewhere made a correction.
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I wonder if there’s an Indonesian who work at Google.
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Saputra says:
Hey guys, just an update.. Google Maps has upgraded their maps of indonesia.. no directions yet but hopefully soon… please email google for the request, me and my friends have been emailing them about a more detailed map of indonesia and voila!
hopefully with enough emails, there will be directions and STREET VIEW! haha
go check it out guys..
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TheWrathOfGrapes says:
Achmad – where is your Mojo-pahit???
😉
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schmerly says:
Mojo-pahit??? It’s been stolen by, A, the CIA. B, the FBI. or C, other bules!! all under the guidance of the ALIENS!!
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Saputra, yes this post is out of date, the map has changed since I first embedded it in the post, the spelling mistakes have been fixed, although it’s still a bit weird, like there is no Gresik there, and there are obscure towns like Prambon which I;ve never even heard of and “Taman”, which is think is Waru or thereabouts….
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anang says:
Tolong dong tampilkan data map terbaru………….tank you
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dimaz-Jambi-Indonesia says:
Can you show map data Sarolangun latest, please!!!
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Rick says:
Had to laugh at the comments above. The solution is simple … if you don’t like the Google Maps because they are inacurate …. don’t use them. The Google Maps exercise was invented by Americans primarily for Americans. It was not devised for Bataks or Dajaks to find the quick way to their neighbouring village, so they can steal their dogs, to enhance their dinner menu. In your position, specially after the attack on Western tourists in Jakarta and Bali, I would be glad that Google even mentions Indonesia in their setup.
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Ahmad says:
Can you tell me how I can use googlemap aplication in my phonecell without gps???
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billygraham says:
This is the first time I use google. Never used computer until month ago. email address is my bali minder who speaks indo, jap & sort of english. She drives the car and we dont need a map. She is a bloody good driver and knows every back street. I nearly get lost just going to the market even though I have been there many times .she wont let me drive because i couldnt bluff trucks &buses like she does and when th ey abuse hershe hangs out &yells sorry mate .if my hair hadnt been gray before it would be now .i am 82 years old so i am lucky 2 have any . It seems 2 me that some of the people who made comments should realise that even though bali is paradise there is no perfect paradise . i get mad about a lot of things but i dont say much because this voice from next 2 me says dont complain because it will be “embrassing”which is very bad 4 a woman . it seems 2 me that the internet provides an opportunity for a lot of nit pickers. i wonder how many of them have have had trouble because of the maps. Try building a house here and you will really know what trouble is. If you live here its much different 2 being a tourist . i go back 2 sydney in november but i will be back here as soon as i can .
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Dani Mintaraga says:
Can we know the latitude of friends by his cell phone number
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Dave says:
What foolishness is it when Indonesians complain about lousy Indonesian maps, let alone free maps provided by Google, and then go into a tirade about Americans and “western superiority” crap. Guess what … the shit comes from the Indonesians themselves.
If they look very carefully, Google Maps did not survey Indonesia, but gathers and integrate data from various platforms into a usable form for us. In the very map picture shown above, the bottom right corner states that Map data is from TeleAtlas. Teleatlas itself did not map Indonesia, but got the map data from BAKOSURTANAL – the Indonesian government mapping authority – in September 2007.
I was recently in Jakarta and Batam, and despite trying very hard to find a street map that I could buy that would give me detail down to the village level, other than Jakarta, I could never find any street map or street directory. I can’t believe that such a map is unavailable!!!
So who is responsible for the poor maps and non-availability of maps? Indonesians should complain against their own Indonesian government. Yes accurate map data costs money, but the maps are the basis of drawing up the territorial lines, property lines, community borders, etc. If the Indonesian government wants to hog the data and not provide it to their own citizenry, then what the taxes being paid for?
So the best solution I have found for myself is to get any available free satellite photos from various sources including Google Maps, print it onto paper, and trace the roads out with a marker pen. It sure beats any maps that are based on data provided by the Indonesian government.
Instead of complaining, Wikimapia – which relies on Google Maps, but provides an overlay for public contributors to draw and add additional map information – has been the most accurate free public map source (despite the errors).
So stop complaining about Google Maps and western imperialism … that kind of attitude gets nowhere fast…
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And dragging the rest of the world economy in their stupid and short sighted policies, financial as well.
Well, empires come and go”¦ Maybe for them the time to go has come.