Kayoa
Native name: Pulau Urimatiti | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Geography | |
| Coordinates | 00°4′N 127°25′E / 0.067°N 127.417°E |
| Archipelago | Maluku Islands |
| Total islands | 66 |
| Area | 179.97 km2 (69.49 sq mi) |
| Highest elevation | 422 m (1385 ft) |
| Highest point | Mount Tigalalu |
| Administration | |
Indonesia | |
| Province | North Maluku |
| Demographics | |
| Population | 22,864 (mid 2022) |
| Pop. density | 127.0/km2 (328.9/sq mi) |
Kayoa (also Kaioa), or in the native language Pulau Urimatiti, is a group of 66 islands, part of the Maluku Islands. It is located in South Halmahera Regency, part of North Maluku Province of Indonesia.
Geography
The Kayoa Islands are near the southern end of a chain of
| Name of District |
English name |
Area in km2 |
Pop'n Census 2010 |
Pop'n Census 2020 |
Pop'n Estimate mid 2022 |
Admin centre |
No. of villages |
Post code |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kayoa Barat (= Pulau Muari) |
West Kayoa (= Muari Island) |
27.07 | 3,469 | 4,336 | 4,225 | Busua | 4 (a) | 97781 |
| Kayoa | 87.62 | 8,180 | 9,057 | 8,959 | Guruapin | 14 (b) | 97780 | |
| Kayoa Selatan | South Kayoa | 26.06 | 5,856 | 6,822 | 6,825 | Laluin | 6 (c) | 97780 |
| Kayoa Utara | North Kayoa | 39.22 | 2,671 | 2,896 | 2,855 | Laromabati | 6 (d) | 97781 |
Notes: (a) the desa of Bokimiake (with 10.4 km2 and 834 inhabitants in mid 2022), Hatejawa (with 6.1 km2 and 532 persons in mid 2022), Busua (with 6.1 km2 and 2,648 persons in mid 2022), and Fofao (with 4.5 km2 and 334 persons in mid 2022).
(b) the desa of Ligua, Kida, Buli, Lelei, Talimau, Tawabi, Guruapin, Bajo, Gunange, Karamat, Laigoma, Gafiu, Siuko and Dorolamo. (c) the desa of Laluin, Ngute-Ngute, Orimakurunga, Pasir Putih, Posi-Posi and Sagawele.
(d) the desa of Ake Jailolo, Gayap, Laromabati, Modayama, Ngokomalako and Wayasipang.
The islands were for centuries the only place in the world where
The stratovolcano Mount Tigalalu lies at the western end of Kayoa, partly flanked by coral limestones.[7] However, Kayoa Island differs from its neighbours in being composed mainly of sedimentary rather than volcanic rock. Its western side consists of terraces of raised coral limestone with pumice and beach sand.[6]
Languages and archaeology
There are two native languages on Kayoa island, as well as Indonesian. The language named West Makian, spoken by about 12,000 people in Kayoa and its outlying islands, is one of the North Halmahera languages, which appear to fall within the West Papuan family.[8] The language named Taba or East Makian is one of the Austronesian languages.[9]
Archaeological evidence shows a foraging culture on Kayoa before around 3,500 years ago, changing at that time to an agricultural way of life with animals including pigs and dogs, red-slipped pottery, shell bracelets and beads, and polished stone tools such as adzes. This change shows the arrival on Kayoa of a new culture by 1500 BC.[10][11] From 2,000 years ago the islands started to trade spices to India and beyond.[10] Chinese copper money is found in jar burials of between 2,000 and 1,000 years ago in the Uattamdi cave shelter on Kayoa, implying that trade in cloves began early on the island. With the jars are glass beads, pieces of bronze and iron, and large shells from the coral reef. One of the burial vessels has rectangular and triangular patterns like those found at Leang Buidane but not on nearby islands.[6]
Natural history
Naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace visited Kayoa, as described in his 1869 book The Malay Archipelago.[12] He records that
The next day (October 16th [1858]) I went beyond the swamp, and found a place where a new clearing was being made in the virgin forest... I have never in my life seen
tropical luxuriance which one obtains by looking over the drawers of a well-filled cabinet... It was a glorious spot, and one which will always live in my memory as exhibiting the insect-life of the tropics in unexampled luxuriance.— Wallace[13]
References
- ^ "Kayoa". GetaMap.net. Retrieved 22 March 2013.
- ^ Anon (1916). Publications of the United States Hydrographic Office. Hydrographic Office. p. 91.
- ^ Biro Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2011.
- ^ Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2021.
- ^ Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2023.
- ^ ISBN 0306462575.
- ^ "Tigalalu". Global Volcanism Program. Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on 20 February 2013. Retrieved 22 March 2013.
- JSTOR 30027583.
- S2CID 249406196.
- ^ ISBN 9780415117616.
- ISBN 9781576077702. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
- ^ Wallace, 1869. Volume 2, Chapter 23. pp. 28–33.
- ^ Wallace, 1869. Volume 2, pp. 31–32.