The sea will play an increasingly important role in the future of Indonesia, and so, the government will take various steps to enforce its maritime sovereignty, according to President of Indonesia Joko Widodo.

"We have to ensure that our future is the sea. Therefore, we have to enforce maritime sovereignty in accordance with the concept of global maritime axis," Indonesia’s News Agency Antara quoted President Widodo at the commemoration of National Integrity Day on December 15 as saying.

The President emphasised that the Indonesian people must imbibe the spirit of Nusantara Day in order to maintain the nation's unity and to avoid disintegration, the agency reported.

This year's commemoration is also aimed at encouraging people in a bid to make the country a better place in the future.

Indonesia, which is home to several tribes in the Southeast Asian region, is made up of five major islands of Sumatra, Java, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, and Papua, and over 17 thousand smaller islands in its territory that span 3,977 miles between the Asian and Australian continents, and the Indian and Pacific Oceans.

The Nusantara Day has been commemorated since 1999 with official recognition being imprinted in Presidential Decree No. 126/2001.-VNA