Tao Toba

Tao Toba at the side of Land of Bakara (Image, 2011)

Tao Toba (Tao=Lake, Toba=Toba), located in the middle of the island of Sumatra, is the largest and deepest lake in the world. The extent of approximately 1.707 m2 with a depth of 450 m and even in some places reaches 900m. Tao Toba is formed by volcanic eruption on hundreds thousands years ago. The lake is a huge caldera flooded by water. The source of water Tao Toba are river water discharge comes from the hundreds of rivers and streams and mountain springs located along the river flow.

Toba Batak tribes inhabit the highland areas of rocky mountains of the Bukit Barisan and most live in the valleys around the edge of Lake Toba that has many waterfalls, overgrown with various kinds of plants, mountain steppes. Air Temperatures in this region ranges from 17-29 degrees Celsius.

In the middle of Lake Toba, there are some islands such as: Samosir, Sibandang, Tolping, Maulau, Simamora, Toba and Tulas (island in the middle of the island of Sumatra). The biggest is Samosir Island with an area of 630 km2. In the middle of the island of Samosir there is also a lake, namely Lake Sidohoni. 

Samosir Island before it was made ​​canal in the Tano Ponggol (land severed) by the Dutch in the early 1900s, is not an island but a peninsula connected to the mainland island of Sumatra.