North Maluku

North Maluku (Indonesian: Maluku Utara) is a province of Indonesia. It covers the northern part of the Maluku Islands. The provincial capital is Sofifi, on Halmahera, and the largest population center is the island of Ternate.

The Maluku Islands was formerly administered as a single province, however, in 1999 it was split into two provinces, with North Maluku being created out of the northern section of the province of Maluku.

History

In the sixteenth and seventeenth century, the islands of North Maluku were the original "Spice Islands". At the time, the region was the sole source of cloves. The Dutch, Portuguese, Spanish, and local sultanates including Ternate and Tidore fought each other for control of the lucrative trade in these spices. Clove trees have since been transported and replanted all around the world, and the demand for cloves from the original spice islands has ceased, greatly reducing North Maluku's international importance.

The population of North Maluku was 1,038,087 at the 2010 Census^[1] making it one of the least-populous provinces in Indonesia; at the latest estimate (January 2014) the population had risen to 1,141,561.

Geography

The islands of North Maluku are mostly of volcanic origin, with the volcanoes of Dukono on Halmahera, Gamalama on Ternate still active and the whole of Tidore consisting of a large stratovolcano. The rainforests of Halmahera, Morotai, the Obi Islands, the Bacan islands and other islands of North Maluku have been described by the World Wildlife Fund as the "Halmahera rain forests" ecoregion and are home to a number of plant and animal species unique to the islands, which are in the Wallacea transition zone, containing a mixture of species of Asian and Australasian origin. The predominant trees of the forest are Anisoptera thurifera, Hopea gregaria, Hopea iriana, Shorea assamica, Shorea montigena, Shorea selanica, and Vatica rassak.

The endemic mammals found here include the Obi mosaic-tailed rat (Melomys obiensis), masked flying fox (Pteropus personatus), and three arboreal marsupials, the ornate (Phalanger ornatus), Rothschild's (P. rothschildi), blue-eyed (P. matabiru) and Gebe (P. alexandrae) cuscuses. There are over two hundred different birds on the islands, twenty-six of which are endemic, a large number for this small island group. The endemics include four birds which are the only species in their genera, including the elusive invisible rail (Habroptila wallacii), the white-streaked friarbird (Melitograis gilolensis), and two birds of paradise, the paradise-crow (Lycocorax pyrrhopterus) and Wallace's standardwing (Semioptera wallacii). The islands are also home to the largest bee in the world, Wallace's giant bee (Megachile pluto).^[2]

The islands have an tropical rainforest climate.

Most of the natural forest remains on these mountainous islands, although much of the coastal and lowland areas have been cleared for clove-planting since the sixteenth century, especially on the islands of Ternate and Tidore. Logging has occurred more recently on Halmahera and Morotai.

Administrative divisions

North Maluku Province was subdivided into seven regencies and two autonomous cities, listed below with their areas and their populations at the 2010 Census and at the latest (2014) Estimates. An eighth regency, covering Taliabu Island, was formed in 2013 from the westernmost island in the Sula Islands Residency.

Name	Area (km²)	Population 2010 Census	Population 2014 Estimate	Capital
Ternate (city)	111.39	185,705	204,215	Ternate
Kepulauan Tidore (city)	1,645.73	90,055	99,031	Soasiu
Central Halmahera Regency (Halmahera Tengah)	2,653.76	42,815	47,083	Weda
East Halmahera Regency (Halmahera Timur)	6,571.37	73,109	80,396	Maba
Morotai Island Regency (Pulau Morotai)	2,476.00	52,697	57,950	Daruba
North Halmahera Regency (Halmahera Utara)	3,896.90	161,847	177,980	Tobelo
South Halmahera Regency (Halmahera Selatan)	8,148.90	198,911	218,738	Labuha
Sula Islands Regency (Kepulauan Sula)	4,774.25	132,524	145,734	Sanana
Taliabu Island Regency (Pulau Taliabu)	#	#	#	Bobono
West Halmahera Regency (Halmahera Barat)	1,704.20	100,424	110,434	Jailolo
Total Province	31,982.50	1,038,087	1,141,561

# The figures for the new Taliabu Island Regency (created in 2013) are included in those for Sula Islands Regency.

Sultanates

The northern part of the Maluku Islands is the location of four major sultanates, locally known as Maluku kie raha (Ternate language: "Four Moluccan mountains"). While they no longer hold official or political power, these sultanates still hold enormous cultural respect.

Sultanate of Ternate
Sultanate of Tidore
Bacan Sultanate
Jailolo Sultanate

Fortresses

North Maluku has many fortresses:^[3]^[4]

Tolukko Fortress, is located 3 kilometers (2 miles) from Central Ternate, built by Portuguese in 1540 and renovated in 1610 by Dutch. The construction consists of sea-rock, sand, stone and egg as the adhesive.
Kotanaka Fortress
Orange Fortress
Kalamata Fortress
Dever Lacting Fortress
Bernaveld Fortress

References

1 2 Central Bureau of Statistics: Census 2010, retrieved 17 January 2011 (Indonesian)
↑ "Halmahera rain forests". Terrestrial Ecoregions. World Wildlife Fund.
↑ "Benteng Tolukko Buah Karya Nenek Moyang". September 10, 2012.
↑ "Wonderful Indonesia - Memorial Museum of the Sultanate of Ternate". Indonesia.travel. 1970-01-01. Retrieved 2016-05-01.

Regencies and cities of North Maluku

Capital: Sofifi

Regencies	Halmahera Barat Halmahera Selatan Halmahera Tengah Halmahera Timur Halmahera Utara Morotai Island Sula Islands Taliabu Island

Cities	Ternate Tidore

Islands of Maluku

North Maluku province	Bacan Halmahera Kayoa Moti Makian Morotai Obi Sula Ternate Tidore

Maluku province	Ambelau Ambon Aru Boano Buru Babar Banda Damar Haruku Kai Kelang Leti Liran Manipa Manuk Nila Nusa Laut Romang Saparua Seram Serua Tanimbar Tayandu Watubela Wetar

Provinces of Indonesia

Sumatra	Aceh Bangka–Belitung Islands Bengkulu Jambi Lampung North Sumatra Riau Riau Islands South Sumatra West Sumatra

Java	Banten Central Java East Java Jakarta West Java Yogyakarta

Kalimantan	Central Kalimantan East Kalimantan North Kalimantan South Kalimantan West Kalimantan

Lesser Sunda	Bali East Nusa Tenggara West Nusa Tenggara

Sulawesi	Central Sulawesi Gorontalo North Sulawesi Southeast Sulawesi South Sulawesi West Sulawesi

Maluku	Maluku North Maluku

Western New Guinea	Papua West Papua

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