Seram is the largest and main island of Maluku province of Indonesia, despite Ambon Island's historical importance. It is located just north of the smaller Ambon Island and a few other adjacent islands, such as Saparua, Haruku, Nusa Laut and the Banda Islands.
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.
The Central–Eastern Malayo-Polynesian (CEMP) languages form a proposed branch of the Malayo-Polynesian languages consisting of over 700 languages.
The Central Malayo-Polynesian languages (CMP) are a proposed branch in the Malayo-Polynesian subgroup of the Austronesian language family. The languages are spoken in the Lesser Sunda and Maluku Islands of the Banda Sea, in an area corresponding closely to the Indonesian provinces of East Nusa Tenggara and Maluku and the nation of East Timor, but with the Bima language extending to the eastern half of Sumbawa Island in the province of West Nusa Tenggara and the Sula languages of the Sula archipelago in the southwest corner of the province of North Maluku. The principal islands in this region are Sumbawa, Sumba, Flores, Timor, Buru, and Seram. The numerically most important languages are Bima, Manggarai of western Flores, Uab Meto of West Timor, and Tetum, the national language of East Timor.
The Central Maluku languages are a proposed subgroup of the Central–Eastern Malayo-Polynesian branch of the Austronesian language family which comprises around fifty languages spoken principally on the Seram, Buru, Ambon, Kei, and the Sula Islands. None of the languages have as many as fifty thousand speakers, and several are extinct.
Lisela or Rana people is an ethnic group mostly living on Indonesian island Buru, as well as on some other Maluku Islands. They belong to the eastern Indonesian anthropological group and are sometimes referred to as northern Buru people. From an ethnographic point of view, Lisela are similar to other indigenous peoples of Buru island. They speak the Lisela language.
Tulehu is an Austronesian language spoken on Ambon Island in eastern Indonesia, part of a dialect chain of Seram Island.
Hitu is an Austronesian language of the Central Malayo-Polynesian subgroup spoken on Ambon Island in eastern Indonesia, part of a dialect chain of Seram Island.
Haruku is an Austronesian language spoken on Haruku Island, just east of Ambon Island in eastern Indonesia, part of a dialect chain around Seram Island.
Luhu is an extinct Austronesian language spoken in the west of Seram Island in eastern Indonesia. It was spoken in Luhu village on Hoamoal Peninsula at the western end of Seram, and in Boano and Kelang islands, off the western tip of Seram Island.
Manipa is an Austronesian language of eastern Indonesia. It is primarily spoken in the island of Manipa, which is located between Buru island and Seram island in the province of Maluku.
Geser is an Austronesian language of the east end of Seram and the Gorom Islands, Indonesia. It is closely related to Watubela.
Watubela is an Austronesian language of the Maluku Islands, Indonesia. It is closely related to Geser.
Boano (Buano) is an Austronesian language spoken in eastern Indonesia. It is spoken in Boano island, off the western end of Seram Island.
Sepa-Teluti is an Austronesian language of Seram Island in eastern Indonesia.
Serua is an extinct Austronesian language originally spoken on Serua Island in Maluku, Indonesia. Speakers were relocated to Seram due to volcanic activity on Serua. The language continues in communities in Waipia in Seram, where the islanders were resettled, along with those also from Nila and Teun. Here, the older generation retained the island language as a strong form of identity. It was found to be extinct in 2024.
Paulohi is a nearly extinct Austronesian language spoken on Seram Island in eastern Indonesia.
Latu is an Austronesian language spoken on Seram Island in the Moluccas in eastern Indonesia. It is linguistically close to Saparua.
Kamarian is an extinct Austronesian language. It was spoken at the southwestern coast of Seram Island in the Moluccas in eastern Indonesia.
Masiwang River is a river of eastern Seram Island, Maluku province, Indonesia, about 2700 km northeast of the capital Jakarta.
