Over 9,000 small islands in Indonesia still have no names and the government has a program to give them names later this year, an official said.

"The program will be expedited, so all 17,000 islands in Indonesia will have names," Antara news agency on Saturday quoted Soadjuangon Situmorang, director general of general administration at the Ministry of Home Affairs, as saying.

The government has issued a presidential regulation on the National Team for Island Name Standardization to expedite the program, he said on Friday.

The team chaired by the president comprises the minister of defense, minister of foreign affairs, minister of fishery and marine resources as well as the minister of national education.

Source: Xinhua