Ribu
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A Ribu (pronounced ree-boo) is a mountain with a topographic prominence of at least 1,000 metres (3,281 ft).[1] "Ribu" is a Malay and Indonesian word meaning "thousand".
There are 7,150 Ribus across the world[2] including 932 Ribus in Canada, 893 Ribus in China and 643 Ribus in the USA. There are 145 countries or territories with at least one Ribu. 1,566 of the world's 7,150 Ribus are also Ultras, peaks with at least 1,500 metres (4,921 ft) of topographic prominence.
Number of Ultras and Ribus per country or territory
[edit]The following data is taken from "The Relative Mountains of Earth" and correct as at December 2024.
| Country or Territory | Number of Ultras | Number of Ribus |
|---|---|---|
| Afghanistan | 15 | 94 |
| Albania | 6 | 20 |
| Algeria | 3 | 12 |
| Angola | 2 | 8 |
| Antarctica | 45 | 116 |
| Argentina | 60 | 235 |
| Armenia | 2 | 5 |
| Australia | 2 | 14 |
| Austria | 13 | 57 |
| Azerbaijan | 2 | 7 |
| Bhutan | 6 | 18 |
| Bolivia | 15 | 84 |
| Bosnia and Herzogovina | 0 | 6 |
| Brazil | 9 | 52 |
| Bulgaria | 4 | 9 |
| Cambodia | 2 | 2 |
| Cameroon | 2 | 16 |
| Canada | 139 | 932 |
| Cabo Verde | 2 | 4 |
| Chad | 2 | 6 |
| Chile | 78 | 381 |
| China | 189 | 893 |
| Colombia | 21 | 54 |
| Comoros | 2 | 2 |
| Costa Rica | 3 | 9 |
| Côte d'Ivoire | 0 | 1 |
| Croatia | 0 | 3 |
| Cuba | 1 | 3 |
| Cyprus | 1 | 1 |
| Czechia | 0 | 1 |
| Democratic Republic of the Congo | 5 | 11 |
| Djibouti | 1 | 3 |
| Dominica | 0 | 1 |
| Dominican Republic | 3 | 5 |
| Ecuador | 15 | 30 |
| Egypt | 2 | 10 |
| El Salvador | 4 | 9 |
| Equatorial Guinea | 2 | 2 |
| Eritrea | 2 | 7 |
| Ethiopia | 19 | 53 |
| Fiji | 0 | 3 |
| France | 10 | 48 |
| French Polynesia | 1 | 8 |
| French Southern & Antarctic Lands | 1 | 3 |
| Georgia | 3 | 20 |
| Germany | 1 | 11 |
| Greece | 18 | 59 |
| Greenland | 50 | 244 |
| Guatemala | 6 | 15 |
| Guinea | 0 | 3 |
| Guyana | 0 | 1 |
| Haiti | 2 | 4 |
| Heard Island and McDonald Islands | 1 | 1 |
| Honduras | 8 | 23 |
| Iceland | 1 | 8 |
| India | 51 | 187 |
| Indonesia | 86 | 235 |
| Iran | 54 | 212 |
| Iraq | 2 | 11 |
| Ireland | 0 | 1 |
| Italy | 22 | 98 |
| Jamaica | 1 | 1 |
| Japan | 21 | 54 |
| Kazakhstan | 6 | 23 |
| Kenya | 6 | 25 |
| Kosovo | 0 | 4 |
| Kyrgyzstan | 12 | 67 |
| Lao | 5 | 47 |
| Lebanon | 2 | 3 |
| Lesotho | 1 | 2 |
| Libya | 0 | 1 |
| Madagascar | 3 | 7 |
| Malawi | 1 | 5 |
| Malaysia | 10 | 36 |
| Mexico | 27 | 148 |
| Mongolia | 18 | 42 |
| Montenegro | 0 | 5 |
| Montserrat | 0 | 1 |
| Morocco | 5 | 14 |
| Mozambique | 1 | 12 |
| Myanmar | 16 | 79 |
| Namibia | 1 | 5 |
| Nepal | 25 | 78 |
| New Caledonia | 1 | 5 |
| New Zealand | 10 | 81 |
| Nicaragua | 2 | 9 |
| Niger | 0 | 3 |
| Nigeria | 0 | 8 |
| North Korea | 1 | 11 |
| North Macedonia | 4 | 7 |
| Norway | 6 | 92 |
| Oman | 4 | 10 |
| Pakistan | 47 | 174 |
| Panama | 2 | 9 |
| Papua New Guinea | 30 | 84 |
| Peru | 22 | 96 |
| Philippines | 29 | 66 |
| Poland | 0 | 2 |
| Portugal | 2 | 7 |
| Puerto Rico | 0 | 1 |
| Romania | 4 | 8 |
| Russia | 68 | 437 |
| Rwanda | 2 | 3 |
| Saint Helena | 1 | 1 |
| Saint Kitts and Nevis | 0 | 1 |
| Saint Vincent & the Grenadines | 0 | 1 |
| Samoa | 1 | 2 |
| Sao Tome and Principe | 1 | 1 |
| Saudia Arabia | 2 | 23 |
| Serbia | 0 | 5 |
| Sierra Leone | 1 | 2 |
| Slovakia | 1 | 3 |
| Slovenia | 2 | 7 |
| Solomon Islands | 2 | 10 |
| Somalia | 1 | 1 |
| Somaliland | 0 | 2 |
| South Africa | 2 | 25 |
| South Georgia & South Sandwich Is. | 2 | 6 |
| South Korea | 2 | 8 |
| South Sudan | 2 | 6 |
| Spain | 7 | 33 |
| Sri Lanka | 1 | 4 |
| Sudan | 3 | 13 |
| Suriname | 0 | 1 |
| Sweden | 2 | 15 |
| Switzerland | 8 | 36 |
| Syria | 1 | 4 |
| Taiwan | 2 | 9 |
| Tajikistan | 20 | 77 |
| Tanzania | 11 | 31 |
| Thailand | 4 | 34 |
| Timor-Leste | 2 | 6 |
| Tonga | 0 | 1 |
| Turkey | 24 | 104 |
| Turkmenistan | 2 | 2 |
| Uganda | 5 | 10 |
| Ukraine | 1 | 2 |
| United Kingdom | 0 | 3 |
| United States of America | 129 | 643 |
| Uzbekistan | 1 | 7 |
| Vanuatu | 1 | 6 |
| Venezuela | 17 | 62 |
| Vietnam | 10 | 58 |
| Yemen | 4 | 16 |
| Zimbabwe | 1 | 2 |
Regional origins of the project
[edit]The project began in Indonesia in 2009[3] as a regional list of peaks in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Timor-Leste via the Gunung Bagging website.
In this region, three categories of Ribus are known according to the absolute height of the peak. The "Sangat Tinggi" (Indonesian for "very high") category is for peaks higher than 3,000 meters, "Tinggi Sedang" (Indonesian for "medium height") for peaks between 2,000 and 3,000 meters, and "Kurang Tinggi" (Indonesian for "less high") for peaks with an elevation of between 1,000 and 2,000 meters.
There are 235 Ribus in Indonesia and 36 Ribus in Malaysia, including 3 Ribus on the border of Malaysian Sarawak and Indonesian Kalimantan and counted in both countries. Timor-Leste has 6 Ribus. Some are popular hikes, such as Gunung Rinjani, Gunung Semeru, and Gunung Kerinci, while others are much more obscure, and some do not even have official names.[citation needed]
Some famous Indonesian mountains, such as Gunung Bromo and Gunung Tangkuban Perahu, are not Ribus because they are connected to higher peaks by high passes and therefore do not achieve enough topographic prominence. However, a subsidiary category of Spesial (Indonesian for "special") peaks contains those deemed of such significant touristic interest that they merit inclusion, albeit subjectively, in a secondary list. At the moment, the Gunung Bagging website counts 100 Indonesian and 42 Malaysian Spesials.[citation needed]
The list of the Indonesian Ribus was compiled by Andy Dean and Daniel Patrick Quinn. As of December 2024, nobody is known to have completed the regional list.[citation needed]
While the term "Ribu" has been adopted to describe "mountains that exceed a prominence of 1,000 meters" also outside Indonesia and Malaysia,[4] the "Spesial" category remains acknowledged only there.
See also
[edit]- List of peaks by prominence
- Ultra prominent peak
- List of the Indonesian ribus and spesials
- List of volcanoes in Indonesia
References
[edit]- ^ Jardine, David (2009). "The Ascents of Dan". Tempo: (1007) p.63.
- ^ "Climbing the Ribus - The World's Peaks of 1000m Prominence". UKHillwalking. Retrieved 13 January 2025.
- ^ "New bagging list offers eastern promise to walkers". grough.co.uk. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
- ^ ÖTK Österreichischer Touristenklub. "ISSUU - ÖTK Klubmagazin 4/2012 by ÖTK Österreichischer Touristenklub". Issuu. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
External links
[edit]- The Relative Mountains of Earth: The Ribus, published in November 2024. ISBN 978-1-9163662-3-7
- World Ribus
- List of the Indonesian Ribus and Spesials on the Gunung Bagging website
- Feature in the Jakarta Post (newspaper)
- Interview with list compiler Dan Quinn in the Jakarta Globe (newspaper)
- Article in the magazine of the ÖTK on the issue of Ribu-bagging (German)