Anambas archipelago is a small archipelago

Archipelago

An archipelago , sometimes called an island group, is a chain or cluster of islands. The word archipelago is derived from the Greek ἄρχι- – arkhi- and πέλαγος – pélagos through the Italian arcipelago...

 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...

, located in the South China Sea

South China Sea

The South China Sea is a marginal sea that is part of the Pacific Ocean, encompassing an area from the Singapore and Malacca Straits to the Strait of Taiwan of around...

 between the Malaysian mainland to the west and the island of Borneo

Borneo

Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is located north of Java Island, Indonesia, at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia....

 to the east. Geographically part of the Tudjuh Archipelago

Tudjuh Archipelago

The Tudjuh Archipelago is a large group of islands in northwestern Indonesia, off of the west and northwest coast of the island of Borneo in the South China Sea. Administratively the islands belong to the Riau Islands province of Indonesia. The Tudjuh Archipelago consists of four island groups,...

], it is administratively a regency and part of the Riau Islands Province.

Anambas have a large reserve of natural gas

Natural gas

Natural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...

 that is exported to countries such as Singapore

Singapore

Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

 and Malaysia. The island of Matak

Matak

Matak is an island in the Anambas Islands of Indonesia, located in the South China Sea between the Malay Peninsula and Borneo. The island is a base for oil companies including Conoco Phillips, Premier Oil and Star Energy, and is served by Matak Airport ....

is the main base for oil exploration.

Other islands are Siantan (Tarempa), Mubur, Jemaja and Kiabu (Airabu).

Further reading

• National Geospatial-intelligence Agency (2005) "Borneo: Northwest Coast and Kepulauan Tudjuh" Sailing directions (enroute): Borneo, Jawa, Sulawesi, and Nusa Tenggara United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency