The Riau Islands is a province of Indonesia. It comprises a total of 1,796 islands scattered between Sumatra, Malay Peninsula, and Borneo including the Riau Archipelago. Situated on one of the world's busiest shipping lanes along the Malacca Strait and the South China Sea, the province shares water borders with neighboring countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, and Brunei. The Riau Islands also has a relatively large potential of mineral resources, energy, as well as marine resources. The capital of the province is Tanjung Pinang and the largest city is Batam.
The Riau Archipelago is a geographic term for the core group of islands within the Riau Islands Province in Indonesia, and located south of Singapore and east of Riau on Sumatra. Before the province of Riau Islands was formed, there was no ambiguity in term; however, in Indonesian language, both the archipelago and administrative province are referred to as simply "Kepulauan Riau". The province may have the word "Provinsi" preceding it for clarity. Additionally the term BBK for Batam Bintan Karimun may refer to the archipelago.
Batam is the largest city in the province of Riau Islands, Indonesia. The city administrative area covers three main islands of Batam, Rempang, and Galang, as well as several small islands. Batam Island is the core urban and industrial zone, while both Rempang Island and Galang Island maintain their rural character and are connected to Batam Island by short bridges. Batam is an industrial boomtown, an emerging transport hub, and part of a free trade zone in the Indonesia–Malaysia–Singapore Growth Triangle, located 20 km (12 mi) off Singapore's south coast and also part of the Indonesia–Malaysia–Thailand Growth Triangle.
Bintan Island or Negeri Segantang Lada is an island in the Riau archipelago of Indonesia. It is part of the Riau Islands province, the capital of which, Tanjung Pinang, lies in the island's south and is the island's main community.
The Orang Laut are several seafaring ethnic groups and tribes living around Singapore, peninsular Malaysia and the Indonesian Riau Islands. The Orang Laut are commonly identified as the Orang Seletar from the Straits of Johor, but the term may also refer to any Malay origin people living on coastal islands, including those of Mergui Archipelago islands of Myanmar and Thailand, commonly known as Moken.
The Singapore Strait is a 114-kilometer-long (71 mi), 16-kilometer-wide (9.9 mi) strait between the Strait of Malacca in the west and the South China Sea in the east. Singapore is on the north of the channel, and the Indonesian Riau Islands are on the south. The two have a maritime border along the strait.
Galang is an island of 80 km2 located 25 mi (40 km) southeast of Batam, belonging to a group of three islands called Barelang. Part of the Riau Archipelago, Indonesia, Galang is located just south of Batam and Rempang which themselves are just south of Singapore and Johor. Administratively, all three islands form part of the city of Batam; the nearest other city to Galang is Tanjungpinang on Bintan island, about a 30-minute boat ride away. The island is connected by the Barelang Bridge to Rempang and Batam.
Tanjungpinang, also written as Tanjung Pinang, is the capital city of the Indonesian province of Riau Islands. It covers a land area of 144.56 km2, mainly on the southern Bintan Island, as well as other smaller islands such as Dompak Island and Penyengat Island. With a population of 227,663 at the 2020 Census, it is the second largest city of the province, after Batam. Tanjungpinang is a historic city of the Malay culture, having served as the capital of both Johor Sultanate and Riau-Lingga Sultanate.
MV Harpa was an oil tanker of the Anglo-Saxon Petroleum Company and was in service with the British Merchant Navy during World War II.
Rupat is an island in the Strait of Malacca, and forms part of Bengkalis Regency within Riau Province of Indonesia. It lies just off the eastern coast of Sumatra, across from Dumai city, from which it is separated by the Rupat Strait. Its area is 1,490 km². With a population of 43,570 at the 2010 Census, the island is sparsely populated, with a population density of 29¼ per km². Rupat was one of thousands of abandoned islands, but now the population is growing year after year. It makes them expand the area for the settlement.
Rempang is an island, located 2.5 km South-East of Batam, 165.83 km2. belonging to a group of three islands called Barelang A member of the Riau Archipelago, in the Riau Islands province of Indonesia, Rempang is located just south of Batam and north of Galang which themselves are just south of Singapore and Johor. The nearest city to Rempang is Tanjung Pinang on Bintan, situated about half hour boat ride from Batam.
The Indonesia–Singapore border is a maritime boundary in the Straits of Singapore between Indonesia's Riau Islands which lie to the south of the border, and the islands of Singapore which lie to the north. The Straits of Singapore is one of the region's busiest waterways as it is the main channel for Singapore's ports.
Selat Panjang is the capital of Kepulauan Meranti Regency, which is part of the province of Riau in Indonesia. The regency is a new regency in Riau province which was established in 2009 after being separated from Bengkalis Regency. The city is located on Tebing Tinggi Island, which is separated by a narrow channel from Sumatra, and across the Strait of Malacca from Singapore.
Penyengat Island, Pulau Penyengat in Indonesian is an island in Riau Islands Province, Indonesia. It lies just off Bintan Island, close to Tanjung Pinang, the capital of Riau Islands Province. The island has historical significance, dating back to the 18th Century, when it was established as a fort as part of the Sultanate of Johor-Riau by the Bugis. The island contains the tomb of Raja Ali Haji, a 19th-century Islamic historian and scholar. It is a small island that is approximately 6 km from the town of Tanjung Pinang, Riau Islands province. This island measures approximately 2500 meters x 750 meters, and is approximately 35 km from the island of Batam. This island can be reached by using a boat or better known by pompong boat. By using pompong boat, it takes approximately 15 minutes drive.
The Singapore Strait crossing is a proposed tunnel, bridge or combination of the two spanning the Singapore Strait and linking Singapore with the Riau archipelago of Indonesia, most likely with the island of Batam. In the early 1990s the Riau Islands experienced a major economic boom in response to the development of an industrial estate on Batam, located 15 km (9 mi) southeast of Singapore. Singapore and Batam currently are connected only by ferry service.
The 2014 Liga Nusantara Riau Islands season is the first edition of Liga Nusantara Riau Islands is a qualifying round of the 2014 Liga Nusantara.
Nurdin Basirun is an Indonesian politician who had served as the Governor of Riau Islands since May 2016 until July 2019. Before serving as governor, he was briefly vice governor, and had served ten years as the regent of Karimun. In 2019, he was arrested by the Corruption Eradication Commission for receiving bribes.
Ansar Ahmad is an Indonesian politician who served as the governor of Riau Islands following the 2020 gubernatorial election. He had previously served as a member of the People's Representative Council, and before that he served 10 years as regent of Bintan Regency.
The Batam-Bintan Bridge, also known as the Babin Bridge is a proposed series of cable-stayed bridges crossing the Riau Strait between the islands of Batam and Bintan in the Riau Islands of Indonesia, near Singapore. Construction is scheduled to start in 2022 at a cost of 13.66 trillion rupiah, which was planned to be provided under a joint government-enterprises financing scheme. It was targeted to be finished at 2024.
