Pangkalpinang, Babel, Jan 23 (ANTARA Babel) - The province of Bangka-Belitung (Babel) will participate in "Visit Sail Karimata 2015", local culture and tourism office chief Yan Megawandi said here on Wednesday.
"We are going to participate in a big event of Visit Sail Karimata in 2015 that will involve four provinces," Yan said.
He explained that the Visit Sail Karimata 2015 is part of a cooperation among the provinces of Bangka-Belitung, West Kalimantan, Jambi, and Riau Islands.
"Those four provinces are directly adjacent to Karimata strait, and that is why the idea to hold Sail Karimata 2015 originates," Yan went on.
He noted that due to its strategic location, Karimata strait has tourism potential that can be developed to attract flow of tourists to Bangka-Belitung, West Kalimantan, Jambi, and Riau Islands provinces.
The Karimata Strait connects the South China Sea to the Java Sea, dividing the islands of Sumatra from Kalimantan.
The strait is about 150 km wide, as measured from the east coast of the island of Belitung to the west coast of Kalimantan, while Belitung is separated from Bangka Island to the west by the much narrower Gaspar Strait.
Bangka lies close to the east coast of Sumatra, separated from it by the Bangka Strait, and the Karimata islands lie in the eastern part of the Karimata strait, northeast of Belitung and off-shore from the west coast of Kalimantan.
