Natuna Islands
Encyclopedia
The Natuna Islands archipelago (272 islands) is located in the Natuna Sea in the larger 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,...
, off the northwest coast 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....
. The islands are administratively part of the Riau Islands province 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...
and are the northernmost non-disputed island group of Indonesia. The Natuna islands are divided into three groups: North Natuna, which includes Laut Island (Pulau Laut); Middle Natuna, which includes Natuna Besar
Natuna Besar
Natuna Besar is the main island of the Natuna Besar Archipelago, as well as the Natuna Islands, which are part of the Riau Islands Province, Indonesia. The Natuna archipelago is one of the northernmost island groups of Indonesia...
; and South Natuna
South Natuna
South Natuna is an archipelago off the west coast of the island of Borneo, the southernmost group of the Natuna Islands in the South China Sea. Geographically it is part of the Tudjuh Archipelago, and administratively part of the Riau Islands province of Indonesia. The archipelago is spread out...
, which includes Subi Besar.
Economy
Despite important natural gasNatural 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...
reserves, most of the locals work as fishermen
Fisherman
A fisherman or fisher is someone who captures fish and other animals from a body of water, or gathers shellfish. Worldwide, there are about 38 million commercial and subsistence fishermen and fish farmers. The term can also be applied to recreational fishermen and may be used to describe both men...
or farmer
Farmer
A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, who raises living organisms for food or raw materials, generally including livestock husbandry and growing crops, such as produce and grain...
s. There is no significant tourism industry.
Geography
The Natuna Islands are a 272-island archipelagoArchipelago
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 Natuna Sea between Peninsular Malaysia
Peninsular Malaysia
Peninsular Malaysia , also known as West Malaysia , is the part of Malaysia which lies on the Malay Peninsula. Its area is . It shares a land border with Thailand in the north. To the south is the island of Singapore. Across the Strait of Malacca to the west lies the island of Sumatra...
to the west and 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. The Natuna Sea itself is a section of 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...
.
Natural resources
Natuna has large reserves of natural gasNatural 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...
(estimated to 1.3 billion m³) that is exported to neighboring 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...
. Matak Island now serves as an offshore exploitation base.
Ecology
The Natuna Islands have a remarkable avifaunaBird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
with 71 species of bird registered, including the near-threatened Lesser Fish-eagle, the Natuna Serpent-eagle or the rare Silvery Pigeon
Silvery Pigeon
The Silvery Pigeon , also known as Silvery Wood-pigeon or Grey Wood-pigeon is a species of pigeon found in Indonesia and Malaysia...
. Among other species endangered species, we find the Green Iora
Iora
The ioras are a family, Aegithinidae, of small passerine bird species found in India and southeast Asia. The family has only four species in a single genus, Aegithina. They are one of only three bird families that are entirely endemic to the Indomalayan ecozone...
, the Brown Fulvetta
Fulvetta
Fulvetta is a songbird genus. Originally proposed in 1877, it was recently reestablished for the typical fulvettas, which were long included with their presumed relatives in the Timaliidae genus Alcippe...
or the Green Broadbill
Broadbill
The broadbills are a family of small passerine birds, Eurylaimidae. The Smithornis and Pseudocalyptomena species occur in sub-Saharan Africa; the rest extend from the eastern Himalayas to Sumatra and Borneo. The family possibly also includes the Sapayoa from the Neotropics and the asities from...
.
Colorful coral reef is found in the neighboring waters. Natuna Banded Leaf Monkey is among the 25 most endangered primates on Earth.
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