The Mentawai Islands Regency are a chain of about seventy islands and islets approximately 150 kilometres off the western coast of Sumatra in Indonesia. Siberut at 4,030 square kilometres is the largest of the islands. The other major islands are Sipura, North Pagai and South Pagai. The islands lie off the Sumatran coast, across the Mentawai Strait. The indigenous inhabitants of the islands are known as the Mentawai people. The Mentawai Islands have become a noted destination for surfing, with over 40 boats offering surf charters to international guests.
Siberut is the largest and northernmost of the Mentawai Islands, lying 150 kilometres west of Sumatra in the Indian Ocean. A part of Indonesia, the island is the most important home for the Mentawai people. The western half of the island was set aside as the Siberut National Park in 1993. Much of the island is covered with rainforest, but is subject to commercial logging.
Sipore located off Sumatra in Indonesia, is the smallest and most developed of the four Mentawai Islands at only 845 km2. The regency capital of the Mentawai Islands, Tuapejat, is found on Sipore. An estimated 10-15% of the original rainforest remains on this island.
Siberut National Park comprises 1,905 km2 (47%) of the island of Siberut in the Mentawai Islands of West Sumatra, Indonesia. The whole island including the national park is part of the World Network of Biosphere Reserves.
The Pagai Island macaque, also known as the Pagai macaque or Bokkoi, is an Old World monkey endemic to the Mentawai Islands off the west coast of Sumatra. It is listed as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List due to its ever-shrinking habitat. Macaca pagensis formerly included the overall darker Siberut macaque as a subspecies, but this arrangement is polyphyletic, leading to the two being classified as separate species. Both were formerly considered subspecies of the southern pig-tailed macaque.
The Mentawai scops owl is endemic to larger islands of Mentawai, off west Sumatra, Indonesia.
South Pagai is one of the Mentawai Islands off the west coast of Sumatra in Indonesia. It is south of North Pagai Island. The September 2007 Sumatra earthquakes were located near here, producing coastal uplift, enlarging nearby islands and even produced 6 new ones. The 2010 Mentawai earthquake and tsunami also struck of its south-west coast, causing a tsunami.
The Mentawai long-tailed giant rat is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is endemic to the Mentawai Islands archipelago off the west coast of Sumatra, in Indonesia. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry forest. It is threatened by habitat loss.
The Mentawai rat is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is found only in the Mentawai Islands of Indonesia, on the islands of Siberut, Sipora, Pagai Utara, and Pagai Selatan.
The Mentawai langur is a species of primate in the family Cercopithecidae. It is endemic to the Mentawai Islands in Indonesia.
The Mentawai squirrel is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae. It is one of 20 or so species endemic to the Mentawai Islands off the west coast of Sumatra. There are three subspecies: C. m. melanogaster, C. m. mentawi, and C. m. atratus. This small isolated population is listed as "Vulnerable" by the IUCN due to habitat loss.
The Northwest Sumatra–Barrier Islands languages are a group of languages spoken by the Batak and related peoples in the interior of North Sumatra and by the Nias, Mentawai people, and others on the Barrier islands off the western coast of Sumatra.
SurfAid International is an international charitable organization working in the Mentawai Islands of Indonesia. It was founded by Dr. Dave Jenkins of New Zealand in 2000. In 1999 he was on a surfing trip in the area and saw the health problems of the local people. SurfAid's early efforts were focused on providing health education to the people and mosquito nets to prevent the spread of malaria.
The 2010 Mentawai earthquake occurred with a moment magnitude of 7.8 on 25 October off the western coast of Sumatra at 21:42 local time. The earthquake occurred on the same fault that produced the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. It was widely felt across the provinces of Bengkulu and West Sumatra and resulted in a substantial localized tsunami that struck the Mentawai Islands.
Palitai is the traditional knife of the Mentawai people, originating from the Mentawai Islands off West Sumatra, Indonesia.
Salukat or Saloekat is a traditional quiver of the Mentawai people originating from the Mentawai Islands, Indonesia.
The Protestant Christian Church in Mentawai is a Lutheran denomination in Indonesia. It is a member of the Lutheran World Federation, which it joined in 1984.
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