Ambelau
Encyclopedia
Island
An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...
in the Banda Sea
Banda Sea
The Banda Sea is a sea in the Maluku Islands of Indonesia, technically part of the Pacific Ocean but separated from it by hundreds of islands, as well as the Halmahera and Ceram Seas...
within Maluku Islands
Maluku Islands
The Maluku Islands are an archipelago that is part of Indonesia, and part of the larger Maritime Southeast Asia region. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone...
of Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
. The island forms an administrative unit which belongs to the South Buru Regency of Maluku province , Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
. The administrative center is Wailua, a settlement located at the south of the island . About half of the island's population is composed of indigenous Ambelau people
Ambelau people
The Ambelau are an ethnic group who form the majority of the population of the Indonesian island of Ambelau. They also live on nearby island Buru and other islands. By ethnography, Ambelau are close to most indigenous peoples of Buru island...
who speak Ambelau language
Ambelau language
Ambelau is an Austronesian language; as of 1989, it was spoken by about 5,700 Ambelau people, of whom more than 5,000 lived on the Indonesian island Ambelau and most others in the village Wae Tawa of the nearby island Buru ....
; the other half are mostly immigrants from the nearby Maluku Islands
Maluku Islands
The Maluku Islands are an archipelago that is part of Indonesia, and part of the larger Maritime Southeast Asia region. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone...
and Java
Java
Java is an island of Indonesia. With a population of 135 million , it is the world's most populous island, and one of the most densely populated regions in the world. It is home to 60% of Indonesia's population. The Indonesian capital city, Jakarta, is in west Java...
.
Geography and geology
The island is located in the Banda Sea at the southern entrance to the strait Manipa, about 20 km south-east of the larger island of BuruBuru
Buru is the third largest island within Maluku Islands of Malay Archipelago. It lies between the Banda Sea to the south and Seram Sea to the north, west of Ambon and Seram islands. The island belongs to Maluku province of Indonesia and includes the Buru and South Buru regencies...
. It has a relatively smooth oval shape with a minor extension in the south-eastern part and the maximum diameter of about 10 km.
The island is of volcanic origin, and is composed of Cenozoic
Cenozoic
The Cenozoic era is the current and most recent of the three Phanerozoic geological eras and covers the period from 65.5 mya to the present. The era began in the wake of the Cretaceous–Tertiary extinction event at the end of the Cretaceous that saw the demise of the last non-avian dinosaurs and...
sedimentary rocks. The relief is mostly mountainous, with the highest points at 608 m (Mt. Baula) and 559 m (Mt. Nona) in the western area. The island rises vertically from the sea, and flat parts are found only on the southern and eastern coasts. Much of the territory, especially in mountainous areas, is covered with wet tropical forests. The island is located in a seismically active zone with frequent earthquakes; a significant recent earthquake occurred in August 2006. Flora and fauna of the island are diverse and are similar to that of Buru. There are abundant coral reefs off the coast of Ambelau.
Administration
The island belongs to the Indonesian province of Maluku. Until 1999 the island belonged to the Central Maluku Regency , then to the Buru Regency , in which it was isolated into a separate administrative unit (Kechamatan Ambelau). In 2008, when the South Buru Regency split up from the Buru Regency, the island became part of it, maintaining its kechamatan status. The island is divided into seven administrative units of lower rank, called village or settlement , namely Kampung Baru, Lumoy, Masawoy, Selasi, Siwar, Ulima and Elara.Phonetics of the local languages reduces the vowel in the second syllable of the island name. As a result, Western sources refer to it as Ambelau, whereas modern Indonesian sources spell the name as Ambalau, particularly in official documents and on the official website of the Buru and South Buru regencies.
Population
The majority of Ambelau population (about 9,600 as of 2009) resides at the coastal plains, in the settlements of Kampungbaru (1,442), Lumoy (about 950 people), Massawa (838), Selasi (1,174), Siwar (1,172), Ulimo (1,407) and Elara (2,610). About half of the population are indigenous Ambelau peopleAmbelau people
The Ambelau are an ethnic group who form the majority of the population of the Indonesian island of Ambelau. They also live on nearby island Buru and other islands. By ethnography, Ambelau are close to most indigenous peoples of Buru island...
, and another half are immigrants from other Maluku Islands
Maluku Islands
The Maluku Islands are an archipelago that is part of Indonesia, and part of the larger Maritime Southeast Asia region. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone...
belonging to Sulawesi (mainly Bugis
Bugis
The Bugis are the most numerous of the three major linguistic and ethnic groups of South Sulawesi, the southwestern province of Sulawesi, Indonesia's third largest island. Although many Bugis live in the large port cities of Makassar and Parepare, the majority are farmers who grow wet rice on the...
) and Javanese ethnicities. The latter moved to the island mainly through the large-scale transmigration programs supported by both the Dutch colonial administration in the 1900s and the Indonesian authorities in the 1950s–1990s. The individual ethnic groups speak different languages and dialects in everyday life, for example Ambelau language
Ambelau language
Ambelau is an Austronesian language; as of 1989, it was spoken by about 5,700 Ambelau people, of whom more than 5,000 lived on the Indonesian island Ambelau and most others in the village Wae Tawa of the nearby island Buru ....
. However, most adults have knowledge of the national Indonesian language
Indonesian language
Indonesian is the official language of Indonesia. Indonesian is a normative form of the Riau Islands dialect of Malay, an Austronesian language which has been used as a lingua franca in the Indonesian archipelago for centuries....
and use it in public or in communication with other tribes. By religion, most Ambelau residents are Sunni Muslims
Sunni Islam
Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam. Sunni Muslims are referred to in Arabic as ʾAhl ūs-Sunnah wa āl-Ǧamāʿah or ʾAhl ūs-Sunnah for short; in English, they are known as Sunni Muslims, Sunnis or Sunnites....
, with a small part of Christians and with some remnants of traditional local beliefs.
Economy
Agriculture dominates the local economy. Cultivation of riceRice
Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and the West Indies...
– the most common crop of the region – is hindered on Ambelau by the hilly terrain and abundance of the wild pig Buru babirusa
Buru Babirusa
The Buru babirusa , also known as the golden babirusa or hairy babirusa, is a wild pig-like animal native to the island of Buru and the two Sula Islands of Mangole and Taliabu, all belonging to Indonesia...
damaging the crops (which is rarely hunted because of the Muslim traditions). The small terrains of fertile land on the coast are used to grow maize
Maize
Maize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...
, sago
Sago
Sago is a starch extracted in the spongy center or pith, of various tropical palm stems, Metroxylon sagu. It is a major staple food for the lowland peoples of New Guinea and the Moluccas, where it is called saksak and sagu. A type of flour, called sago flour, is made from sago. The largest supply...
sweet potato
Sweet potato
The sweet potato is a dicotyledonous plant that belongs to the family Convolvulaceae. Its large, starchy, sweet-tasting, tuberous roots are an important root vegetable. The young leaves and shoots are sometimes eaten as greens. Of the approximately 50 genera and more than 1,000 species of...
, cocoa, coco
Coco
Coco, CoCo, Co-Co or similar can mean:*Co-Co locomotives, a code for a locomotive wheel arrangement with two six-wheeled bogies with all axles powered, with a separate motor per axle*Co-Co , a British pop group...
, allspice
Allspice
Allspice, also called Jamaica pepper, pepper, myrtle pepper, pimenta, or newspice, is a spice that is the dried unripe fruit of Pimenta dioica , a mid-canopy tree native to the Greater Antilles, southern Mexico, and Central America, now cultivated in many warm parts of the world...
and nutmeg
Nutmeg
The nutmeg tree is any of several species of trees in genus Myristica. The most important commercial species is Myristica fragrans, an evergreen tree indigenous to the Banda Islands in the Moluccas of Indonesia...
. Tuna fishing is practiced by the villages of Masawoy and Ulimo. Some agricultural and fish products are exported to the nearby Buru islands, mainly on the markets of the town Namlea.