History
Prior to the Spanish captain's passage through the strait in 1724, Captain Hurle, returning from China in the British East India Company ship Macclesfield, had passed through, in March 1701. [1]
Over time, the strait came to be part of the main shipping route between Singapore and the Sunda Strait (which separates Sumatra from Java, and is an entrance to the Indian Ocean). The waters in and around the strait had many navigational hazards, and the strait itself, although frequently used, was considered to be especially perilous. [2] According to the Great Britain Hydrographic Department's The China Sea Directory, vol. 1 (1878):
"Many fine ships have been lost in Gaspar strait; not a few on the Alceste reef, from wrongly estimating their distance from the land; but the majority of instances from causes which might have been guarded against by the exercise of due care and judgment." [2]
On 6 February 1822, the Tek Sing , a large three-masted Chinese ocean-going junk, sank in an area of the South China Sea known as the Belvidere Shoals, near the northern entrance to the strait. [3]
In 1854, the British Admiralty first issued an Admiralty chart of the strait. It was based on surveys conducted by the United States Navy. The chart was continually updated, most notably following surveys conducted by W. Stanton, a Royal Navy a sailing master, in 1861, and with the assistance of Dutch charts, prepared by the then colonial ruler of the then Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia). [2]
Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km2 (182,812 mi.2), including adjacent islands such as the Simeulue, Nias, Mentawai, Enggano, Riau Islands, Bangka Belitung and Krakatoa archipelago.
The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by South China, in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Philippines, and in the south by Borneo, eastern Sumatra and the Bangka Belitung Islands, encompassing an area of around 3,500,000 km2 (1,400,000 sq mi). It communicates with the East China Sea via the Taiwan Strait, the Philippine Sea via the Luzon Strait, the Sulu Sea via the straits around Palawan, and the Java Sea via the Karimata and Bangka Straits. The Gulf of Thailand and the Gulf of Tonkin are part of the South China Sea.
The Karimata Strait is a wide strait that connects the South China Sea to the Java Sea, separating the Indonesian islands of Belitung to the west and Borneo (Kalimantan) to the east. It is the widest strait between the South China Sea and the Java Sea, but its numerous islands and reefs reduce its navigability. Its weather and current is influenced by the annual southeast and northwest monsoon.
The Bangka Belitung Islands is a province of Indonesia. Situated off the southeastern coast of Sumatra, the province comprises two main land masses — the islands of Bangka and Belitung — and numerous smaller islands. Bangka Belitung is bordered by the Bangka Strait to the west, the Natuna Sea to the north, the Java Sea is to the south and the Karimata Strait to the east; the two principal islands are separated by the Gaspar Strait, within which lie lesser islands such as Lepar, Pongok and Mendanau.
Bangka is an island lying east of Sumatra, Indonesia. It is administered under the province of the Bangka Belitung Islands, being one of its namesakes alongside the smaller island of Belitung across the Gaspar Strait. The 9th largest island in Indonesia, it had a population of 1,146,581 at the 2020 census; the official estimate as at mid 2023 was 1,191,300. It is the location of the provincial capital of Pangkal Pinang, and is administratively divided into four regencies and a city. The island itself and the surrounding sea suffers considerable environmental damage from its thriving tin mining industry which operates on- and offshore.
Belitung is an island on the east coast of Sumatra, Indonesia in the Java Sea. It covers 4,859 km2 (1,876.1 sq mi), and had a population of 309,097 at the 2020 Census; the official estimate as at mid 2023 was 320,500. Administratively, it forms two regencies within the province of Bangka-Belitung Islands. The island is known for its pepper and for its tin. It was in the possession of the United Kingdom from 1812 until Britain ceded control of the island to the Netherlands in the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824. Its main town is Tanjung Pandan. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization has declared 17 tourist attractions in the Belitung Geopark as world geoparks.
Pangkalpinang, colloquially written as Pangkal Pinang, also known as Pin-kong in Hakka, is the capital and largest city of the Bangka Belitung Islands Province in Indonesia. It is located on Bangka Island's east coast, the city is divided into seven districts (kecamatan) and has 42 wards (kelurahan).
Bangka Strait is the strait that separates the island of Sumatra from Bangka Island in the Java Sea, Indonesia. The strait is about 134 miles (216 km) long, with a width varying from about 30 miles (48 km) to 9 miles (14 km).
Singkep is an island in the Lingga Archipelago in Indonesia. Its area is 757 square kilometres (292 sq mi). It is separated from the east coast of Sumatra by the Berhala Strait. It is surrounded by islands Posik to the west, I. Serak to the SW, I. Lalang to the South, and I. Selayar of Riau Islands between Lingga and Singkep.
The Tek Sing was a large three-masted Chinese ocean-going junk which sank on 6 February 1822, in an area of the South China Sea known as the Belvidere Shoals. The vessel was 50 meters in length, 10 meters wide and had a burden of about 800–900 tons. Its tallest mast was estimated to be 27 metres (90 ft) in height. The ship was manned by a crew of 200 and carried approximately 1,600 passengers. The great loss of life associated with the sinking has led to the Tek Sing being referred to in modern times as the "Titanic of the East". It is one of the few "Asian vessels discovered in Southeast Asia [whose name is known]"; generally, neither the name nor the date is known. The Tek Sing is an exception." Generally, shipwrecks are named either after a landmark or location near which they or the cargo they held were found.
Muntok or, more commonly, Mentok is a town in the Indonesian province of Bangka-Belitung on the island of Sumatra. The capital of West Bangka Regency, it is the site of the biggest tin smelter on the world. Mentok refers to the tip of the island.
West Bangka Regency is a regency (kabupaten) of Bangka Belitung Islands Province, Indonesia. It comprises the northwestern part of Bangka Island, together with a number of small islands off its coast. The regency covers an area of 2,820.61 km2 and had a population of 175,110 at the 2010 Census, rising to 204,612 at the 2020 census; the official estimate as at mid 2022 was 209,791 - comprising 108,102 males and 101,689 females. The town of Muntok is its regency seat.
South Bangka Regency is a regency (kabupaten) of Bangka Belitung Islands Province, Indonesia, with the town of Toboali as its regency seat. It also includes several small islands off the coast of Bangka in the Gaspar Strait, such as Lepar and Pongok. The regency covers an area of 3,607.08 km2 and had a population of 172,476 at the 2010 Census and 198,189 at the 2020 Census; the official estimate as at mid 2022 was 202,263.
The Belitung shipwreck is the wreck of an Arabian dhow which sank around 830 AD. The ship completed the outward journey from Arabia to China, but sank on the return journey from China, approximately 1.6 kilometres (1 mi) off the coast of Belitung Island, Indonesia. It is unclear why the ship was south of the typical route when it sank. Belitung is to the south-east of the Singapore Strait by 610 kilometres (380 mi), and this secondary route is more normal for ships travelling between China and the Java Sea, which is south of Belitung Island.
The Natuna Sea is an extensive shallow sea located around the Natuna Regency, extending south of the Riau Islands, east of the Lingga Regency and west of Borneo, to the Bangka Belitung Islands. The islands of the Badas and Tambelan Archipelago are located at its center. Mostly located within Indonesian territorial waters, it is the southernmost portion of the South China Sea, and geologically part of Sunda Shelf. It communicates with the Java Sea to its southeast via the Karimata and Gaspar Strait east and west of Belitung, and with the Strait of Malacca to the west via the Berhala and Singapore Strait.
Lepar is an island in Indonesia, located off the southeastern coast of Bangka. Administratively part of South Bangka in Bangka Belitung province, it is the third-largest island in the province after its much larger namesakes Bangka and Belitung, with an area of 169 square km. Lepar sits in the Gaspar Strait which separates the two larger islands. It stretches about 22 km east–west and 17 km north–south, with the towns of Tanjunglabu, Tanjungsangkar and Penutuk being the main population centers. It is governed as its own district of Lepar Pongok, which used to include a nearby, medium-sized island of Pongok until 2012 when it separated as its own district of Pongok Islands.
Pongok, sometimes known as Liat, is an Indonesian island which is part of the Pongok Islands District of the South Bangka Regency, Bangka Belitung Province. It comprises over 95% of the district's area and most of its population, with an area of 48.3 square km. It is the 5th largest island in the province, being far smaller than Bangka and Belitung in addition to the islands of Lepar and Mendanau.
Mendanau is an island in the Bangka Belitung province of Indonesia. Located about 6 km off the west coast of Belitung and 20 km from the town of Tanjung Pandan, it is the fourth largest island in the province after Bangka, Belitung and Lepar with an area of approximately 113 square kilometers. Administratively it forms - with about 27 satellite islands - the Selat Nasik District of Belitung Regency, and it is home to 5,674 people at the 2020 Census, mostly spread in 3 settlements.
Celagen is a small island in Bangka-Belitung Province of Indonesia, which consists of one of the two administrative villages of the Pongok Islands District in South Bangka Regency. It is located just around 200 meters west of the larger, more populated island of Pongok and is just separated from the main settlement at Pongok by a small strait. It is located 2 hours from mainland Bangka. With an area of just 354 hectares, it is inhabited by 1,311 people, one-fifth of the district population, living in 358 households.
