Aru Islands Regency
Aru Islands Regency
Kabupaten Kepulauan Aru | |
---|---|
Motto: Ursia Ulima | |
Coordinates: 6°12′S 134°30′E / 6.200°S 134.500°E | |
Country | Indonesia |
Province | Maluku |
Capital | Dobo |
Government | |
• Regent | Johan Gonga |
• Vice Regent | Muin Sugalrey |
Area | |
• Total | 6,426.77 km2 (2,481.39 sq mi) |
Population (mid 2023 estimate)[1] | |
• Total | 108,834 |
• Density | 17/km2 (44/sq mi) |
Time zone | UTC+09:00 (IEST) |
Area code | (+62) 917 |
Website | keparukab |
The Aru Islands Regency (Indonesian: Kabupaten Kepulauan Aru) is a group of about 95 low-lying islands in the Maluku Islands of eastern Indonesia. It also forms a regency of Maluku Province, with a land area of 6,426.77 km2 (2,481.39 sq mi). At the 2011 Census the Regency had a population of 84,138;[2] the 2020 Census produced a total of 102,237,[3] and the official estimate as at mid 2023 was 108,834.[1] Some sources regard the archipelago as part of Asia, while others regard it as part of Melanesia.
Geography
The Aru Islands are the easternmost archipelago in Maluku province, and are located in the
Aru is covered by a mix of
As part of the political and administrative decentralization of Indonesia since Suharto stepped down in 1998, the Aru Islands were created as a separate regency (kabupaten) on 18 December 2003, headquartered at Dobo, and split off from the Southeast Maluku Regency.
History
The Aru Islands have a long history as a part of extensive trading networks throughout what is now eastern Indonesia. Precolonial links were especially strong to the
The islands were sighted and also possibly visited by some Portuguese navigators, such as Martim Afonso de Melo, in 1522–24, who sighted the islands and wintered on a nearby island or of the Aru archipelago itself, and possibly by Gomes de Sequeira, in 1526, as is pointed out in the cartography of the time.[6] The Spanish navigator Álvaro de Saavedra sighted the islands on 12 June 1528, when trying to return from Tidore to New Spain.[7]
The islands were
After being left to its own devices for many years, Aru was again visited in 1824 by the Dutch naval officer A.J. Bik, who concluded a number of agreements with local chiefs.[10] In 1857 the famous naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace visited the islands. His visit later made him realize that the Aru Islands must have been connected by a land bridge to mainland New Guinea during the ice age.[11]
In the nineteenth century, Dobo, Aru's largest town, temporarily became an important regional trading center, serving as a meeting point for Dutch, Makasarese, Chinese, and other traders. The period from the 1880s to 1917 saw a backlash against this outside influence, by a spiritually-based movement among local residents to rid the islands of outsiders.[citation needed]
Economy
Throughout its history, the Aru Islands exported luxury natural products like birds-of-paradise, turtle shells, and pearls to Asia and later Europe. While the islands were positioned within the global trade network, local Aru society was able to preserve its independence and egalitarianism.[12]
Pearl farming continues to provide a major source of income for the islands. The Aru pearl industry has been criticized in the national media for allegedly maintaining exploitative debt structures that bind the local men who dive for pearls to outside boat owners and traders in an unequal relationship.[13]
Other export products include
In November 2011, the Government of Indonesia awarded two oil-and-gas production-sharing contracts (PSC) about two hundred km (124 mi) west of the Aru Islands to BP. The two adjacent offshore exploration PSCs, West Aru I and II, cover an area of about 16,400 km2 (6,300 sq mi) with water depths ranging from 200 to 2,500 m (660 to 8,200 ft). BP plans to acquire seismic data over the two blocks.[14][15]
Demographics
The islands had a population of 84,138 at the 2010 Census;
The population is mostly Christian with a small Muslim minority. Figures cited by Glenn Dolcemascolo for 1993 were approximately 90% Protestant, 6% Catholic, and 4% Muslim.[16] A more recent report from 2007 suggested that the 4% Muslim figure may only relate to the indigenous population and that the actual percentage of Muslims may be significantly higher.[17]
In 2010 census, religion population consists Protestant (59.84%), Catholic (9.32%), Muslim (29.97%), Hinduism (0.05%), Buddhist (0.03%), Confucianism (0.02%), Other (0.01%), and not asked (0.75%).[citation needed]
Islam is thought to have been introduced to the islands in the late 15th century.[18] By the early 17th century, it was reported by the Dutch that Makassarese seafarers had converted some locals and constructed mosques.[19] However, it only took root in the mid-17th century, primarily in the Ujir-speaking territory on the western side.[20]
The Dutch brought Christianity in the 17th and 18th centuries but much of the conversion of the population to Christianity did not take place until the 20th century.[17]
Administration
At the time of the 2010 Census, the regency was divided into seven
Kode Wilayah |
Name of District (kecamatan) |
English name | Area in km2 |
Pop'n Census 2010 |
Pop'n Census 2020 |
Pop'n Estimate mid 2023 |
Admin centre |
No. of villages |
Post code |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
81.07.01 | Pulau-Pulau Aru | (Northwest Aru) | 907.39 | 36,604 | 49,020 | 52,104 | Dobo | 15 (a) | 97662 |
81.07.04 | Aru Utara | North Aru | 531.28 | 11,529 | 6,195 | 6,426 | Marlasi | 12 | 97660 |
81.07.05 | Aru Utara Timur Batuley | Northeast Aru | 304.78 | (b) | 4,365 | 4,969 | Kobamar | 9 | 97663 |
81.07.06 | Sir-Sir | 528.39 | (b) | 3,197 | 3,509 | Leiting | 9 | 97664 | |
81.07.03 | Aru Tengah | Central Aru | 1,372.06 | 13,824 | 13,345 | 13,824 | Benjina | 22 | 97661 |
81.07.07 | Aru Tengah Timur | East Central Aru | 659.75 | 4,315 | 4,914 | 5,013|Koijabi | 13 | 97665 | |
81.07.08 | Aru Tengah Selatan | South Central Aru | 295.113 | 5,086 | 5,994 | 6,148 | Longgar | 7 | 97669 |
81.07.02 | Aru Selatan | South Aru | 833.12 | 8,694 | 7,497 | 8,207 | Jerol | 15 | 97667 |
81.07.10 | Aru Selatan Utara | Northern South Aru | 478.31 | (c) | 3,668 | 3,871 | Tabarfane | 7 | 97668 |
81.07.09 | Aru Selatan Timur | Southeast Aru | 516.58 | 4,714 | 4,039 | 4,763 | Meror | 10 | 97666 |
Totals | 6,426.77 | 84,138 | 102,237 | 108,834 | Dobo | 119 |
Notes: (a) including 2 kelurahan - Galai Dubu and Siwa Lima. (b) the 2010 population of Aru Utara Timur Batuley and Sir-Sir Districts are included in the figure for Aru Utara District, from which they were split. (c) the 2010 population of Aru Selatan Utara District is included in the figures for the districts from which it was split.
See also
- Islands of Indonesia
- Aru languages
Notes
- ^ a b c d Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 28 February 2024, Kabupaten Kepulauan Aru Dalam Angka 2024 (Katalog-BPS 1102001.8107)
- ^ a b c Biro Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2011.
- ^ a b c Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2021.
- ^ O'Connor et al (eds), p. 2
- ^ A. Ross Gordon and Sonny Djonler, "Oral traditions in cryptic song lyrics; Continuous cultural revitalization in Batuley", Wacana 20-3, 2019.[1] Archived 2020-02-09 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Kratoska, Paul H. (2001). South East Asia, Colonial History: Imperialism before 1800, Volume 1 de South East Asia, Colonial History. Taylor & Francis. pp. 52–56.[2] Archived 2023-04-02 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Brand, Donald D. The Pacific Basin: A History of its Geographical Exploration The American Geographical Society, New York, 1967, p.121
- ^ Hans Hägerdal, "On the margins of colonialism: Contact zones in the Aru Islands", The European Legacy 25-5, 2020, p. 557-8 [3] Archived 2022-03-31 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Hans Hägerdal and Emilie Wellfelt, "Tamalola; Transregional connectivities, Islam, and anti-colonialism on an Indonesian island", Wacana 20-3, 2019.[4] Archived 2020-03-22 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ A.J. Bik, Dagverhaal eener reis, gedaan in het jaar 1824 tot nadere verkenning der eilanden Kefing, Goram, Groot-, Klein Kei en de Aroe eilanden. Leiden: Sijthoff, 1928.
- ^ Alfred Russel Wallace, The Malay Archipelago, Vol. 2. EBook 2008, Chapter 30-33.[5] Archived 2020-02-15 at the Wayback Machine
- ISSN 1084-8770.
- ^ Spyer, Patricia (1997). The eroticism of debt: pearl divers, traders, and sea wives in the Aru Islands, Eastern Indonesia. American Ethnologist 24(3):515-538.
- ^ "Indonesia: Government Awards Two Offshore PSCs to BP". Offshore Energy Today. 21 November 2011. Archived from the original on 23 April 2016. Retrieved 22 November 2011.
- ^ "BP clinches key Indonesian deals". The Scotsman. 22 November 2011. Archived from the original on 13 July 2019. Retrieved 22 November 2011.
- ISSN 1053-2285.
- ^ a b O’Connor (2007), p. 5
- ^ O’Connor (2007), p. 5
- ISSN 1084-8770.
- ^ Emilie Wellfelt and Sonny A. Djonler, "Islam in Aru, Indonesia: Oral traditions and Islamisation processes from the early modern period to the present", Indonesia and the Malay World 47 (138), 2019.[6] Archived 2022-03-31 at the Wayback Machine
References
- O'Connor, Sue; Spriggs, Matthew; Veth, Peter, eds. (2007). Terra Australis 22 - The Archaeology of the Aru Islands, Eastern Indonesia. ISBN 978-1-921313-04-2.
- Hägerdal, Hans; Moeimam, Susi, eds. (2019). "Society and history in Central and Southern Maluku". Wacana; Journal of the Humanities of Indonesia. 20 (3).
- Spyer, Patricia (2000). The memory of trade: Modernity's entanglements on an eastern Indonesian island. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
External links
- J.G.F. Riedel (1886). De sluik- en kruisharige rassen tussen Selebes en Papua. The Hague: Nijhoff, p. 244-271.
- Pieter Bleeker (1858). "De Aroe-eilanden, in vroeger tijd en tegenwoordig", Tijdschrift voor Nederlandsch Indië 20:1, p. 257-275.