Solar eclipses tend to occur near the equator

- Indonesia is a near equatorial country

Eclipses require an observer

- Indonesia has a large population - the fourth most populous country in the world

One requires a vantage point to view the eclipse

- Indonesia has many islands (17, 508) on which one can stand, or boats to travel short distances therefrom

One requires a big footprint

- Indonesia is the 16th largest country in terms of dry land area, but rather bigger in terms of maritime territory.

MOST IMPORTANTLY:-

- Of all the countries in the world, Indonesia spans the largest range of Longitude (50 degrees out of the global ration of 360) at near-equatorial latitudes. No other country is so well -favoured.

This latter point means that Indonesia will *inevitably* "capture" a very large proportion of all potential eclipses