Ambelau

Last updated
Ambelau
Native name:
Pulau Ambalau
Ambelau.png
Indonesia location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Ambelau
Location in Indonesia
Geography
Location Southeast Asia
Coordinates 3°51′20″S127°11′30″E / 3.85556°S 127.19167°E / -3.85556; 127.19167
Archipelago Greater Sunda Islands
Area306 km2 (118 sq mi)
Highest elevation608 m (1995 ft)
Highest pointGunung Baula
Administration
Province Maluku
RegencySouth Buru Regency
Largest settlementWailua
Demographics
Population9225 (mid 2023 estimate)
Pop. density30.1/km2 (78/sq mi)
Languages Ambelau language
Additional information
Time zone
Map of Buru island with Ambelau to the south-east Buru tpc 1967.jpg
Map of Buru island with Ambelau to the south-east

Ambelau or Ambalau is a volcanic island in the Banda Sea within Maluku Islands of Indonesia. The island forms an administrative district (Indonesian : Kecamatan Ambalau) which is part of the South Buru Regency (Indonesian : Kabupaten Buru Selatan) of Maluku province (Indonesian : Provinsi Maluku), Indonesia. It has a land area of 306 km2, and had a population of 6,846 at the 2010 Census; [1] the official estimate as at mid 2023 was 9,225. [2] The administrative center is Wailua, a settlement located at the south of the island. About half of the island's population is composed of indigenous Ambelau people who speak the Ambelau language; the other half are mostly immigrants from the nearby Maluku Islands and Java.

Contents

Geography and geology

The island is located in the Banda Sea at the southern entrance to the strait Manipa, about 20 km south-east of the larger island of Buru. It has a relatively smooth oval shape with a minor extension in the south-eastern part and the maximum diameter of about 10 km. [3]

The island is of volcanic origin, and is composed of Cenozoic sedimentary rocks. The relief is mostly mountainous, with the highest points at 608 m (Mt. Baula) and 559 m (Mt. Nona) in the western area. [4] The island rises vertically from the sea, and flat parts are found only on the southern and eastern coasts. Much of the territory, especially in mountainous areas, is covered with wet tropical forests. [5] The island is located in a seismically active zone with frequent earthquakes; two significant recent earthquakes occurred in August 2006 [6] and January 2016 when eight people were hurt and about 120 houses were damaged in two villages. [7] Flora and fauna of the island are diverse and are similar to that of Buru. There are abundant coral reefs off the coast of Ambelau. [5]

Administration

The island belongs to the Indonesian province of Maluku. Until 1999 the island belonged to the Central Maluku Regency (Indonesian : Kabupaten Maluku Tengah), then to the Buru Regency (Indonesian : Kabupaten Buru), in which it was isolated into a separate administrative district (Kecamatan Ambalau). [8] In 2008, when the South Buru Regency split up from the Buru Regency, the island became part of it, maintaining its kecamatan status. [9] The island is divided into seven administrative units of lower rank, called village (Indonesian : desa) or settlement (Indonesian : kelurahan), namely Kampung Baru, Lumoy, Masawoy, Selasi, Siwar, Ulima and Elara. [3] [5]

Phonetics of the local languages reduces the vowel in the second syllable of the island name. As a result, Western sources refer to it as Ambelau, whereas modern Indonesian sources spell the name as Ambalau, particularly in official documents and on the official website of the Buru and South Buru regencies. [3]

Population

Map of Ambelau Ambelau Island-fr.svg
Map of Ambelau

The majority of Ambalau's population (6,846 at the 2010 census, rising to 9,225 as at mid 2023) resides on the coastal plains, in the settlements of Kampung Baru (969), Lumoy (1,209), Masawoy (750), Selasi (606), Siwar (890), Ulima (970) and Elara (1,452). [5] About half of the population are indigenous Ambelau people, and another half are immigrants from other Maluku Islands belonging to Sulawesi (mainly Bugis) and Javanese ethnicities. The latter moved to the island mainly through the large-scale transmigration programs supported by both the Dutch colonial administration in the 1900s and the Indonesian authorities in the 1950s–1990s. The individual ethnic groups speak different languages and dialects in everyday life, for example Ambelau language. However, most adults have knowledge of the national Indonesian language and use it in public or in communication with other tribes. By religion, most Ambalau residents are Sunni Muslims, with a small part of Christians and with some remnants of traditional local beliefs. [5]

Economy

Agriculture dominates the local economy. Cultivation of rice – the most common crop of the region – is hindered on Ambelau by the hilly terrain and abundance of the wild pig Buru babirusa damaging the crops (which is rarely hunted because of the Muslim traditions). The small terrains of fertile land on the coast are used to grow maize, sago sweet potato, cocoa, coconut, allspice and nutmeg. Tuna fishing is practiced by the villages of Masawoy and Ulimo. Some agricultural and fish products are exported to the nearby Buru islands, mainly on the markets of the town Namlea. [5]

History

In the pre-colonial period the island was densely populated by the indigenous Ambelau people. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the Sultanate of Ternate declared its sovereignty over the island; however, this had little more than symbolic meaning as the island never came under its direct control. The Portuguese adventurers who entered the archipelago at the end of the 16th century concluded an agreement with Ternate on the joint development of Ambalau, but little came of this arrangement. [10]

Ambalau fell into the zone of influence of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) by the middle of the 17th century. It is known that in the 1660s the island was often raided by pirates from Papua, who captured islanders for sale into slavery. It was their systematic attacks on Ambalau that prompted the VOC to send several punitive expeditions against Papua. However, the main interest of the VOC was in the spice trade, and active economic exploitation of a small inaccessible island was considered unprofitable. The VOC concentrated plantations on a few well-developed and well-protected, and by the end of the 17th century had relocated significant part of the local population to neighboring Buru as labor on its clove plantations. In administrative terms, Ambalau was included in the Governorate of Ambon, whose leader was based in Ambon and who reported directly to the Governor-General of the Netherlands East Indies.

The island did not receive significant attention in the later stage of Dutch colonization either. After the capture of the Netherlands East Indies by Japan during World War II in 1942, Ambalau, together with the rest of the Moluccas, was assigned to the zone of occupation of the Japanese 2nd Fleet. The occupation formally ended in August 1945; however, the newly proclaimed Republic of Indonesia was unable to establish its power in such a remote region, and in early 1946 the Netherlands regained control of Ambalau without resistance. A few months later, Ambalau, along with all the Moluccas, Sulawesi and the Lesser Sunda Islands, was included in the quasi-independent State of East Indonesia. In December 1949. The decision to incorporate East Indonesia into the Republic of Indonesia in April 1950 was opposed by many inhabitants, leading to the proclamation of the Republic of South Moluccas, which included Ambalau. The succession was crushed by the Indonesian military by the end of 1950 and Ambalau was proclaimed part of the Republic of Indonesia.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Provinces of Indonesia</span> First-level administrative divisions of Indonesia

Provinces are the first-level administrative divisions of Indonesia. It is formerly called the first-level provincial region before the Reform era. Provinces have a local government, consisting of a governor and a regional legislative body. The governor and members of local representative bodies are elected by popular vote for five-year terms, but governors can only serve for two terms. Provincial governments have the authority to regulate and manage their own government affairs, subject to the limits of the central government. The average land area of all 38 provinces in Indonesia is about 50,120.23 km2 (19,351.53 sq mi), and an average population of about 7,345,233 people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Maluku</span> Province of Indonesia

North Maluku is a province of Indonesia. It covers the northern part of the Maluku Islands, bordering the Pacific Ocean to the north, the Halmahera Sea to the east, the Molucca Sea to the west, and the Seram Sea to the south. It shares maritime borders with North Sulawesi, Southeast Sulawesi and Central Sulawesi to the west, Maluku to the south, Southwest Papua to the west, and Palau and the Philippines to the north. The provincial capital is Sofifi on the largest island of Halmahera, while the largest city is the island city of Ternate. The population of North Maluku was 1,038,087 in the 2010 census, making it one of the least-populous provinces in Indonesia, but by the 2020 Census the population had risen to 1,282,937, and the official estimate as at mid 2023 was 1,328,594.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Morotai Island Regency</span> Regency in North Maluku, Indonesia

Morotai Island Regency is a regency of North Maluku province, Indonesia, located on Morotai Island. It covers an area of 2,336.6 km2 including the smaller Rao Island to the west of Morotai. The population was 52,860 at the 2010 census and 74,436 at the 2020 census; the official estimate as at mid 2023 was 80,566.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buru</span> Island in Maluku, Indonesia

Buru is the third largest island within the Maluku Islands of Indonesia. It lies between the Banda Sea to the south and Seram Sea to the north, west of Ambon and Seram islands. The island belongs to Maluku province and includes the Buru and South Buru regencies. Their administrative centers, Namlea and Namrole, respectively, have ports and are the largest towns of the island, served by Namlea Airport and Namrole Airport respectively.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maluku (province)</span> Province of Indonesia

Maluku is a province of Indonesia. It comprises the central and southern regions of the Maluku Islands. The largest city and capital of Maluku province is Ambon on the small Ambon Island. It is directly adjacent to North Maluku, Southwest Papua, and West Papua in the north, Central Sulawesi, and Southeast Sulawesi in the west, Banda Sea, Australia, East Timor and East Nusa Tenggara in the south and Arafura Sea, Central Papua and South Papua in the east. The land area is 57803.81 km2, and the total population of this province at the 2010 census was 1,533,506 people, rising to 1,848,923 at the 2020 census, the official estimate as at mid 2023 was 1,908,753. Maluku is located in Eastern Indonesia.

Indonesia is divided into provinces. Provinces are made up of regencies and cities (kota). Provinces, regencies, and cities have their own local governments and parliamentary bodies.

In Indonesia, village or subdistrict is the fourth-level subdivision and the smallest administrative division of Indonesia below a district, regency/city, and province. Similar administrative divisions outside of Indonesia include barangays in the Philippines, Muban in Thailand, civil townships and incorporated municipalities in the United States and Canada, communes in France and Vietnam, dehestan in Iran, hromada in Ukraine, Gemeinden in Germany, comuni in Italy, or municipios in Spain. The UK equivalent are civil parishes in England and communities in Wales. There are a number of names and types for villages in Indonesia, with desa being the most frequently used for regencies, and kelurahan for cities or for those communities within regencies which have town characteristics. According to the 2019 report by the Ministry of Home Affairs, there are 8,488 urban villages and 74,953 rural villages in Indonesia. North Aceh Regency contained the highest number of rural villages (852) amongst all of the regencies of Indonesia, followed by Pidie Regency with 730 rural villages and Bireuen Regency with 609 rural villages. Prabumulih, with only 12 rural villages, contained the fewest. Counted together, the sixteen regencies of Indonesia containing the most rural villages—namely, North Aceh (852), Pidie (730), Bireuen (609), Aceh Besar (604), Tolikara (541), East Aceh (513), Yahukimo (510), Purworejo (469), Lamongan (462), South Nias (459), Kebumen (449), Garut (421), Bojonegoro (419), Bogor (416), Cirebon (412), and Pati (401)—contain one-third of all the rural villages in Indonesia. Five of these are located in Aceh, two in Highland Papua, three in Central Java, two in East Java, three in West Java, and one in North Sumatra. An average number of rural villages in the regencies and 15 cities of Indonesia is 172 villages. A village is the lowest administrative division in Indonesia, and it is the lowest of the four levels. The average land area of villages in Indonesia is about 25.41 km2 (9.81 sq mi), while its average population is about 3,723 people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rantepao</span>

Rantepao is a town and the capital of North Toraja Regency, which is known for being the cultural center of the Toraja ethnic group. National and regional tourism offices have developed the city as the starting point for visiting Tana Toraja, since the area was opened for tourism in the 1970s.

South Halmahera Regency is a regency of North Maluku Province, Indonesia. It lies partly on Halmahera Island and partly on smaller islands to the west and south of Halmahera. It covers a land area of 8,779.32 km2, and at the 2010 Census it had a population of 198,911 people, while the 2020 Census showed that this had risen to 248,395 and the official estimate in mid 2023 was 255,384 The capital lies at the town of Labuha on Bacan Island.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Buru Regency</span> Regency in Maluku, Indonesia

South Buru Regency is a regency of Maluku, Indonesia. It was created on 24 June 2008 by being split off from the existing Buru Regency. It is located on the island of Buru, of which it comprises the southern 40%. The Regency covers an area of 5,060 km2, and it had a population of 53,671 at the 2010 Census, rising to 75,410 at the 2020 Census; the official estimate as at mid 2023 was 79,017. The principal town lies at Elfule in Namrole District.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southeast Maluku Regency</span> Regency in Maluku, Indonesia

Southeast Maluku Regency is a regency of Maluku, Indonesia. It is coincident with the Kei Islands, except that the city of Tual, although within the Kei Islands geographically and the seat of the Regency's administration, is since 17 July 2007 technically independent of the Regency. The land area of the Regency is 1,031.01 km2, while the sea area administered by the Regency was 3,181 km2; it had a population of 96,442 at the 2010 Census; this increased to 121,511 at the 2020 Census, and the official estimate as at mid 2023 was 129,034.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tanimbar Islands Regency</span> Regency in Maluku, Indonesia

Tanimbar Islands Regency is a regency of Maluku province, Indonesia, consisting primarily of the Tanimbar Islands. The Regency covers a land area of 10,102 km2, and it had a population of 105,341 at the 2010 Census and 123,572 at the 2020 Census; the official estimate as at mid 2022 was 124,787. The principal town and administrative centre lies at Saumlaki in Tanimbar Selatan District.

In Indonesia, district is the third-level administrative subdivision, below regency or city. The local term kecamatan is used in the majority of Indonesian areas. The term distrik is used in provinces in Papua. In the Special Region of Yogyakarta, the term kapanewon is used for districts within the regencies, while the term kemantren is used for districts within Yogyakarta, the province's only city. According to Statistics Indonesia, there are a total of 7,252 districts in Indonesia as at 2019, subdivided into 83,820 administrative villages. An average number of districts in the provinces of Indonesia is 190 districts, with an average area of 262.62 km2 (101.40 sq mi), and an average population of about 38,488 people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Muna Regency</span> Regency in Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia

West Muna Regency is a new regency of Southeast Sulawesi Province of Indonesia,and is situated in the northwest corner of Muna Island and smaller ilsands of its coast. It was established under Act No.14 of 2014, dated 23 July 2014 by separation from the Muna Regency. It covers an area of 906.28 km2, and the districts comprising it had a population of 71,632 at the 2010 Census; the 2020 Census resulted in a population of 84,590, and the official estimate as at mid 2022 was 85,706, comprising 42,242 males and 43,464 females. The administrative centre lies at Laworo in the Tiworo Islands District.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Central Buton Regency</span> Regency in Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia

Central Buton Regency is a new regency of Southeast Sulawesi established by separation from Buton Regency under Act No.15 of 2014, dated 23 July 2014. It covers an area of 837.16 km2 comprising the southern parts of Muna Island and Kabaena Island, together with several small offshore islands adjacent to these two main islands, but with no territory located on Buton Island. It had a population of 86,112 at the 2010 Census and 114,773 at the 2020 Census; the official estimate as at mid 2023 was 121,369. The administrative centre lies at Labungkari in Lakudo District.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Buton Regency</span> Regency in Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia

South Buton Regency is a regency located on Buton Island in Southeast Sulawesi Province of Indonesia. This regency was formed from the southern part of Buton Regency, from which it was separated by Act No.16 of 2014, dated 23 July 2014. It covers an area of 546.58 km2, and the population of the districts now comprising the new regency was 74,974 at the 2010 Census and 95,261 at the 2020 Census; the official estimate as at mid 2023 was 101,635. The regency capital is located in Batauga.

This is a list of emblems or coat of arms used in Indonesia. Indonesia is divided into 38 provinces, and each province is divided into regencies (kabupaten) and cities (kota). There are 416 regencies and 98 cities. Each province, regency, and city has its own emblem.

In Indonesian law, the term "city" is generally defined as the second-level administrative subdivision of the Republic of Indonesia, an equivalent to regency. The difference between a city and a regency is that a city has non-agricultural economic activities and a dense urban population, while a regency comprises predominantly rural areas and is larger in area than a city. However, Indonesia historically had several classifications of cities.

References

  1. Biro Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2011.
  2. Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 28 February 2024, Kabupaten Buru Selatan Dalam Angka 2024 (Katalog-BPS 1102001.8109)
  3. 1 2 3 "Pemekaran BURSEL" (in Indonesian). Pemerintah Kabupaten Buru (Official site of Buru Regency). 29 November 2007. Archived from the original on 2024-05-25. Retrieved 27 March 2010.
  4. National Geospatial-intelligence Agency (2004). Prostar Sailing Directions 2004 New Guinea Enroute. ProStar Publications. p. 46. ISBN   978-1-57785-569-9.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Local knowledge and fisheries management" (PDF). Center for Coastal and Marine Resources Studies, Bogor Agricultural University. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-23. Retrieved 2010-11-03.
  6. "Tremor jolts Banda Sea". Antara. 15 August 2006.
  7. "Indonesia earthquake injures eight, damages houses". Agence France Presse . January 17, 2016. Retrieved January 17, 2016.
  8. "Undang-Undang Republik Indonesia (UU) Nomor 46 tahun 1999 (46/1999) tentang Pembentukan Propinsi Maluku Utara, Kabupaten Buru, dan Kabupaten Maluku Tenggara Barat (Indonesian Law No. 46 of 1999 establishing provinces North Maluku, Buru and North-eastern Mauluku)" (PDF) (in Indonesian). LL Sekretariat Negara.[ permanent dead link ]
  9. "Undang-Undang Republik Indonesia Nomor 32 Tahun 2008 tentang Pembentukan Pembentukan Kabupaten Buru Selatan di Provinsi Maluku (Indonesian Law No. 32 of 2008 establishing south Buru district in the Maluku province)" (PDF) (in Indonesian). LL Sekretariat Negara. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-08-27. Retrieved 2010-11-03.
  10. Sharing the Earth 2006, p. 135.

Sources