Fam Islands (Indonesian : Kepulauan Fam) are a group of islands in the Raja Ampat Archipelago, which are administered as part of the Indonesian province of Southwest Papua. [1] [2] [3] The main islands are Fam, Penemu (aka Piaynemo, Fam Besar), Inus and Yar. [4] They lie northwest of Batanta island, in the straits between Waigeo and Batanta and New Guinea. [5]
West Papua, formerly Irian Jaya Barat, is an Indonesian province located in Indonesia Papua. It covers most of the two western peninsulas of the island of New Guinea: the eastern half of the Bird's Head Peninsula and the whole of the Bomberai Peninsula, along with nearby smaller islands. The province is bordered to the north by the Pacific Ocean, to the west by Southwest Papua Province, the Halmahera Sea and the Ceram Sea, to the south by the Banda Sea, and to the east by the province of Central Papua and the Cenderawasih Bay. Manokwari is the province's capital and largest city. With an estimated population of 569,570 in mid-2023, West Papua is the least populous province in Indonesia after South Papua, following the separation off in 2022 of the western half of the Bird's Head Peninsula to create the new province of Southwest Papua, containing 52% of what had been West Papua's population. Its population density is similar to Russia.
Waigeo is an island in the Southwest Papua province of eastern Indonesia. The island is also known as Amberi or Waigiu. It is the largest of the four main islands in the Raja Ampat Islands archipelago, between Halmahera and about 65 kilometres to the northwest coast of New Guinea. The Dampier Strait separates it from Batanta, and the Bougainville Strait from the Kawe Islands to its northwest. The "inner sea" that nearly cleaves the island in two is Mayalibit Bay, also known as the Majoli Gulf.
The South Halmahera–West New Guinea (SHWNG) languages are a branch of the Malayo-Polynesian languages, found in the islands and along the shores of the Halmahera Sea in the Indonesian province of North Maluku and of Cenderawasih Bay in the provinces of Papua and West Papua. There are 38 languages.
The red bird-of-paradise, also called the cendrawasih merah, is a bird-of-paradise in the genus Paradisaea, family Paradisaeidae.
The Bird's Head Peninsula or Doberai Peninsula is a large peninsula that makes up the northwest portion of the island of New Guinea, comprising the Indonesian provinces of Southwest Papua and West Papua. It is often referred to as The Vogelkop, and is so named because its shape looks like a bird's head on the island of New Guinea. The peninsula at the opposite end of the island is called the Bird's Tail Peninsula. The peninsula just to the south is called the Bomberai Peninsula.
Raja Ampat, or the Four Kings, is an archipelago located off of the northwest tip of Bird's Head Peninsula, Southwest Papua province, Indonesia. It comprises over 1,500 small islands, cays, and shoals around the four main islands of Misool, Salawati, Batanta, and Waigeo, and the smaller island of Kofiau.
Misool, formerly spelled Mysol or Misol, is one of the four major islands in the Raja Ampat Islands in Southwest Papua, Indonesia. Its area is 2,034 km2. The highest point is 561 m and the main towns are Waigama, located on the island's northwest coast, and Lilinta on the island's southeast coast.
Salawati is one of the four major islands in the Raja Ampat Islands in Southwest Papua, Indonesia. Its area is 1,623 km2. Salawati is separated from New Guinea to the southeast by the Sele Strait, and from Batanta to the north by the Pitt Strait.
Batanta is one of the four major islands in the Raja Ampat Islands in Southwest Papua province, Indonesia. Its area is 479.5 km2 and its highest point is 1184 m. The Pitt Strait separates it from Salawati Island, while the Dampier Strait separates it from Waigeo Island.
Dampier Strait in the Indonesian province of Southwest Papua is a strait that separates the Raja Ampat islands of Waigeo and Batanta. It is named after British navigator William Dampier.
The Coral Triangle (CT) is a roughly triangular area in the tropical waters around Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Solomon Islands, and Timor-Leste. This area contains at least 500 species of reef-building corals in each ecoregion. The Coral Triangle is located between the Pacific and Indian oceans and encompasses portions of two biogeographic regions: the Indonesian-Philippines Region, and the Far Southwestern Pacific Region. As one of eight major coral reef zones in the world, the Coral Triangle is recognized as a global centre of marine biodiversity and a global priority for conservation. Its biological resources make it a global hotspot of marine biodiversity. Known as the "Amazon of the seas", it covers 5.7 million square kilometres (2,200,000 sq mi) of ocean waters. It contains more than 76% of the world's shallow-water reef-building coral species, 37% of its reef fish species, 50% of its razor clam species, six out of seven of the world's sea turtle species, and the world's largest mangrove forest. The epicenter of that coral diversity is found in the Bird’s Head Seascape of Indonesian Papua, which hosts 574 species. Within the Bird’s Head Seascape, the Raja Ampat archipelago is the world’s coral diversity bull’s eye with 553 species. In 2014, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) reported that the gross domestic product of the marine ecosystem in the Coral Triangle is roughly $1.2 trillion per year and provides food to over 120 million people. According to the Coral Triangle Knowledge Network, the region annually brings in about $3 billion in foreign exchange income from fisheries exports, and another $3 billion from coastal tourism revenues.
The Raja Ampat–South Halmahera languages are a branch of Malayo-Polynesian languages of eastern Indonesia. They are spoken on islands in the Halmahera Sea, and on its margins from the south-eastern coast of Halmahera to the Raja Ampat Islands off the western tip of New Guinea.
Persatuan Sepakbola Indonesia Raja Ampat, commonly known as Persiram Raja Ampat, or Persiram, was an Indonesian professional football club based in Raja Ampat Islands, West Papua. They last competed in the Indonesia Super League before being acquired by PS TNI in 2016. Their nicknames are Dewa Laut and Laskar Bahari.
Raja Ampat Regency is a regency of Southwest Papua Province of Indonesia. The regency, which was formed by separating the archipelago from Sorong Regency, based on the Law 26 of 2002, was inaugurated on 12 April 2003. It consists of a number of groups of islands situated off the north-west end of West Papua; the four main islands from south to north are Misool, Salawati, Batanta, and Waigeo. At present, the regency covers a land area of 7,559.60 km2, with a total area stated as 67,379.61 km2. It had a population of 42,508 at the 2010 Census and 64,141 at the 2020 Census; the official estimate as at mid 2023 was 68,501. The principal town lies at Waisai on Waigeo Island.
Ambel (Amber), also known as Waigeo after the island where it is primarily spoken, is a heavily Papuan-influenced Austronesian language spoken on the island of Waigeo in the Raja Ampat archipelago near the northwestern tip of West Papua, Indonesia. It is spoken by approximately 1,600 people. It is endangered, as the population is shifting to Papuan Malay and few people born after the year 2000 have any knowledge of the language.
Salawati is an Austronesian language spoken on the west of Salawati Island, in the Raja Ampat Islands in Indonesian New Guinea.
Pitt Strait (Indonesia), falls within the waters of the Indonesian province of Southwest Papua. The strait separates the Raja Ampat islands of Batanta and Salawati and links the Ceram Sea to the Pacific Ocean. To its west lies Dampier Strait, which separates Batanta island from Waigeo island. The Sagewin Strait name refers to Sagewin Island, which lies at the south east side of Pitt Strait, close to Salawati.
Southwest Papua is the 38th province of Indonesia to be created, and was split off from West Papua on 8 December 2022. Despite being named southwest, it is a misnomer and this province is actually located in the northwest edge of Papua. The province comprises the Greater Sorong area which consists of Sorong City, Sorong Regency, South Sorong Regency, Maybrat Regency, Tambrauw Regency, and Raja Ampat Regency. The Bill (RUU) on the Establishment of the Southwest Papua Province was passed into law and therefore it became the 38th province in Indonesia with effect from 8 December 2022.
The Salawati Kingdom is the Islamic kingdom that once stood in Salawati Island, Raja Ampat Regency, Southwest Papua. The center of the Salawati kingdom was located in the Samate village which is currently located in the North Salawati district.