Ribu
 | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (September 2010) |
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".[2]
There are 7,150 Ribus across the world including 932 Ribus in Canada, 893 Ribus in China and 643 Ribus in the USA.[3] There are 145 countries or territories with at least one Ribu. 1,566 of the 7,150 Ribus are also Ultras.
Between 2019 and 2024, an international project took place to identify all of the Ribus across the world.[4][5] This project culminated in the publication of "The Relative Mountains of Earth: The Ribus" by Daniel Patrick Quinn (published in November 2024 by Pedantic Press) [6] and an official website listing all of the Ribus by continent and region [7] where the latest version of the list can be downloaded and amendments to the database can be proposed.
Famous Ribus include Everest, Matterhorn, Mont Blanc, Vesuvius, Denali, Kilimanjaro, Table Mountain, Gunung Kinabalu, Snowdon and Ben Nevis.
As of late 2024, a follow-up project is underway to identify Ribus of the Moon and Mars [8].
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 as a regional list of peaks in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Timor-Leste via the Gunung Bagging website [9].
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 [9]. 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.
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.[9]
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.[10]
While the term "Ribu" has been adopted to describe "mountains that exceed a prominence of 1,000 meters" also outside Indonesia and Malaysia,[11][12] 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.
- ^ "Google Translate". translate.google.com. Retrieved 2018-07-12.
- ^ "Pedantic Press Books - The Relative Mountains of Earth: The Ribus". pedantic.org.uk. Retrieved 2024-12-21.
- ^ "Worldwide Ribus Project page". Retrieved 10 January 2022.
- ^ "Ribus Project map". Retrieved 10 January 2022.
- ^ "Pedantic Press". pedantic.org.uk. Retrieved 2024-12-21.
- ^ "World Ribus". worldribus.org. Retrieved 2024-12-21.
- ^ "World Ribus - Lunar Ribus". worldribus.org. Retrieved 2024-12-21.
- ^ a b c "Gunung Bagging - Facts". gunungbagging.com. Retrieved 2024-12-21.
- ^ "Gunung Bagging Hall of Fame 2023 - Gunung Bagging". gunungbagging.com. Retrieved 21 December 2024.
- ^ ÖTK Österreichischer Touristenklub. "ISSUU - ÖTK Klubmagazin 4/2012 by ÖTK Österreichischer Touristenklub". Issuu. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
- ^ "Relative Hills Society". Retrieved 15 December 2021.
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)