 Banda Api | |
 Map of Banda Islands | |
  Banda Api Location in Indonesia | |
| Geography | |
|---|---|
| Location | Banda Sea |
| Coordinates | 4°31′30″S129°52′17″E / 4.52500°S 129.87139°E |
| Archipelago | Banda Islands |
| Length | 3 km (1.9 mi) |
| Width | 3 km (1.9 mi) |
| Highest elevation | 640 m (2100 ft) |
| Highest point | Gunung Api |
Banda Api (Indonesian api, fire) is an island in the Banda Islands, Indonesia. [1] It is administered as part of the administrative district (kecamatan) within the Central Maluku Regency in the province of Maluku.
The island is almost circular and has a diameter of about 3 kilometres (1.9 mi). The island is at the center of the Banda Islands group, with the neighboring island of Banda Neira is around 100 meters east, and Lontor is around 1 km to the south. The island is dominated by its active volcano, Gunung Api or Vuurberg, with a height of 640 metres (2,100 ft). Banda Api, Lontor and Banda Neira form the rim of a submerged caldera with a diameter of around seven kilometers.
Nutmeg is grown on the island and trade brought the inhabitants great wealth in the premodern period. Until the early 17th century, the Banda Islands were ruled by locals magnates called the Orang Kaya. The Portuguese were the first Europeans to attempt to dominate the spice trade from the 16th century, but were replaced by the Dutch. Initially, the Dutch established friendly relations and a trading outpost in 1599, [2] but in 1609 the Orang Kaya on Banda Neira rebelled against Dutch attempts to coerce a monopoly on the spice trade, killing 30 Netherlanders. [3] This resulted in a brutal campaign against the people of Banda Islands by the Dutch. The Dutch conquest of the Banda Islands cumulated with the Banda Massacre of 1621, in which Jan Pieterszoon Coen, invaded the islands and subsequently began a campaign to commit genocide against the local inhabitants. [4]
To keep the archipelago productive, the VOC repopulated the islands (including Api), mostly with slaves taken from the rest of modern-day Indonesia, India, the coast of China, working under command of Dutch planters (perkeniers). [5] The original natives were also enslaved and were ordered to teach the newcomers about nutmeg and mace agriculture. [6] The treatment of the slaves was severe—the native Bandanese population dropped to one hundred by 1681, and 200 slaves were imported annually to keep the slave population steady at 4,000. [6]
Volcanic eruptions of Gunung Api were sometimes explosive; several lava flows reached the coast. Between 1586 and 1988 the volcano erupted over twenty times. For example, there was a sudden and violent eruption in June 1820, as a result of which the islanders fled to Banda Neira. Accompanied by underground rumbling, a new crater was built in 1890; at the same time there was a series of earthquakes in which many houses were damaged. In May 1901, strong earthquakes were accompanied by detonations and a bright glow at the top of the volcano.
The Dutch continued to rule the island until 1949, although the economic importance of nutmeg and mace declined greatly due to the loss of the Dutch monopoly after the British successfully planted nutmeg trees in other parts of the world (especially Penang and Grenada) following the Invasion of the Spice Islands in the Napoleonic Wars in 1810. Following Indonesian independence, the island has been administered as part of the Indonesian province of Maluku.
Banda Api erupted on May 10, 1988, from a N-SSW-trending fissure that cut across the island, with both explosive activity and lava effusion occurring. [7] ). The height of the eruption pillar was estimated at 3 to 5 kilometers on May 9; satellite measurements indicate an altitude of over 16 kilometers. To the south, north, and northwest of the summit, three craters formed, from which lava flows emerged that all reached the sea. The 1,800 islanders as well as 5,000 of the then 6,000 or so residents of the island of Banda Neira were evacuated to Ambon, some 200 kilometers away. Three people died as a result of the volcanic eruptions and most of the inhabitants chose to relocate to Banda Neira.
The Banda Islands are a volcanic group of ten small volcanic islands in the Banda Sea, about 140 km (87 mi) south of Seram Island and about 2,000 km (1,243 mi) east of Java, and constitute an administrative district (kecamatan) within the Central Maluku Regency in the Indonesian province of Maluku. The islands rise out of 4-to-6-kilometre deep ocean and have a total land area of approximately 172 square kilometres (66 sq mi). They had a population of 18,544 at the 2010 Census and 20,924 at the 2020 Census. Until the mid-19th century the Banda Islands were the world's only source of the spices nutmeg and mace, produced from the nutmeg tree. The islands are also popular destinations for scuba diving and snorkeling. The main town and administrative centre is Banda Neira, located on the island of the same name.
The Maluku Islands or the Moluccas are an archipelago in the eastern part of Indonesia. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located east of Sulawesi, west of New Guinea, and north and east of Timor. Lying within Wallacea, the Moluccas have been considered as a geographical and cultural intersection of Asia and Oceania.
The Ring of Fire is a tectonic belt, about 40,000 km (25,000 mi) long and up to about 500 km (310 mi) wide, which circumscribes the Pacific Ocean. It contains between 750 and 915 volcanoes, around two-thirds of the world total, and 90% of the world's earthquakes, including 81% of its largest, take place within the belt.
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Ambon Island is part of the Maluku Islands of Indonesia. The island has an area of 743.37 km2 (287.02 sq mi) and is mountainous, well watered, and fertile. Ambon Island consists of two territories: the city of Ambon to the south and various districts (kecamatan) of the Central Maluku Regency to the north. The main city and seaport is Ambon, which is also the capital of Maluku province, while those districts of Maluku Tengah Regency situated on Ambon Island had a 2020 Census population of 128,069. Ambon has an airport and is home to the Pattimura University and Open University, state universities, and a few private universities, which include Darussalam University and Universitas Kristen Indonesia Maluku (UKIM).
Mount Merapi, is an active stratovolcano located on the border between the province of Central Java and the Special Region of Yogyakarta, Indonesia. It is the most active volcano in Indonesia and has erupted regularly since 1548. It is located approximately 28 km (17 mi) north of Yogyakarta city which has a population of 2.4 million, and thousands of people live on the flanks of the volcano, with villages as high as 1,700 m (5,577 ft) above sea level.
Mount Rinjani is an active volcano in Indonesia on the island of Lombok. Administratively the mountain is in the Regency of North Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara. It rises to 3,726 metres (12,224 ft), making it the second highest volcano in Indonesia. It is also the highest point in the Indonesian province of West Nusa Tenggara.
Pico do Fogo is an active stratovolcano located on the island of Fogo, Cape Verde, rising to 2,829 metres (9,281 ft) above sea level. The main cone last erupted in 1680, causing mass emigration from the island. A subsidiary vent erupted in 1995. The only deadly eruption was in 1847 when earthquakes killed several people.
Sangeang Api is an active complex volcano on the island of Sangeang in Indonesia. It consists of two volcanic cones, 1,949 metres (6,394 ft) Doro Api and 1,795 m (5,889 ft) Doro Mantoi. Sangeang Api is one of the most active volcanoes in the Lesser Sunda Islands. It erupted in 1988 and the island's inhabitants were evacuated. Between its first recorded eruption in 1512 and 1989 it erupted 17 times. It erupted again during December 2012 and May 2014.
Karangetang is a volcano on the north side of Siau Island off the coast of Sulawesi, Indonesia. The island is inhabited by 22,000 people. It is one of the most active volcanoes in Indonesia having erupted 41 times since 1675. A pyroclastic flow in 1997 killed three people.
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Mount Sinabung is a Pleistocene-to-Holocene stratovolcano of andesite and dacite in the Karo plateau of Karo Regency, North Sumatra, Indonesia, 40 kilometres (25 mi) from the Lake Toba supervolcano. Many old lava flows are on its flanks and the last known eruption, before recent times, occurred 1200 years before present, between 740 - 880 CE. Solfataric activities were last observed at the summit in 1912; recent documented events include an eruption in the early hours of 29 August 2010 and eruptions in September and November 2013, January, February and October 2014. The volcano has recently claimed the life of at least 23 people in a number of events since 2014. Between 2013 and 2014, the alert for a major event was increased with no significant activity. On 2 June 2015, the alert was again increased, and on 26 June 2015, at least 10,000 people were evacuated, fearing a major eruption. The long eruption of Mount Sinabung is similar to that of Mount Unzen in Japan, which erupted for five years after lying dormant for 400 years. A major eruption began on 10 August 2020.
Banda Neira is an island in the Banda Islands, Indonesia. It is administered as part of the administrative Banda Islands District within the Central Maluku Regency in the province of Maluku. To the south is the main town of the same name, which is the largest town in the archipelago with around 7,000 inhabitants.
Fort Belgica is a 17th-century fort in Banda Neira, Banda Islands, Maluku Islands, Indonesia; administratively in Central Maluku Regency, Maluku. The fort acted as a fortification system for the islands of Banda which was the only place in the world during that period where nutmeg was produced.
The Banda Islands were a governorate of the Dutch East India Company. The governorate comprised Banda Neira, Banda Besar, Pulau Ai, Run, Banda Api, and some smaller islands.
Fort Nassau was the first Dutch fort built on Banda Neira Island, the main island of the Banda Islands, part of Maluku in Indonesia, completed in 1609. Its purpose was to control the trade in nutmeg, which at that time was only grown in the Banda Islands.
Banda Besar, historically also known as Lonthoir, is the largest of the Banda Islands in Indonesia. It is administered as part of Banda District, Central Maluku Regency, Maluku Province.
The archaeology of Indonesia is the study of the archaeology of the archipelagic realm that today forms the nation of Indonesia, stretching from prehistory through almost two millennia of documented history. The ancient Indonesian archipelago was a geographical maritime bridge between the political and cultural centers of Ancient India and Imperial China, and is notable as a part of ancient Maritime Silk Road.
The Dutch conquest of the Banda Islands was a process of military conquest from 1609 to 1621 by the Dutch East India Company of the Banda Islands. The Dutch, having enforced a monopoly on the highly lucrative nutmeg production from the islands, were impatient with Bandanese resistance to Dutch demands that the Bandanese sell only to them. Negotiations collapsed after Bandanese village elders deceived and murdered the Dutch representative Pieter Willemsz. Verhoeff. Under the command of Jan Pieterszoon Coen the Dutch resorted to a forcible conquest of the islands, which became severely depopulated as a result of Coen’s massacres, forced deportations, and the resulting starvation and disease.
