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Maluku
Maluku (Moluccas), a region of Indonesia formerly
known as the Spice Islands, was once the source
of cloves and nutmeg, spices highly valued for
their aroma, preservative ability, and use in
medicine before people learned how to cultivate
the plants in other parts of the world. Maluku
is a cluster of about one thousand islands totaling
74,504 square kilometers, forming part of the
Malay Archipelago in eastern Indonesia near New
Guinea. The region is divided into two provinces,
Maluku with its capital in Ambon, and North Maluku
(2002 estimated population 913,000), with its
capital in Ternate; other important islands in
the group include Halmahera, Seram, and Buru.
Its
approximately 1000 islands support a population
of less than 1.7 million people. The average population
density figure is 19 people per-square kilometer,
but the distribution is uneven. Air and sea transportation
is the main means, which link the islands together.
The province has 32 seaports and 20 airports,
and only about 160 km of roads. However, good
roads on many of the islands provide easy access
to the often-remote places of tourists' interest.
Maluku
lies in the transition zone between Asiatic and
Australian flora and fauna and has a tropical climate.
Maluku's flora includes meranti trees and many kinds
of orchids; distinctive fauna includes cuscuses,
birds of paradise, wild goats, and parrots. The
economy is based on subsistence agriculture, especially
sago (the sago palm, producing a starch used in
food), and on the export of such products as spices,
cacao, coffee, coconuts, fish, and minerals. Important
indigenous groups include the Ambonese.
A
great variety of endemic plant and animal species
are found in the rugged forest-covered and mountainous
hinterlands of most of the islands. A few of the
best known are the Rucker-tailed kingfisher, the
red-crested Moluccan cockatoo, and various brilliantly
colored lorikeets and parrots. Most of Maluku
sits astride one of the world's most volatile
volcanic belts.
GEOGRAPHICALLY
Maluku province with its capital Ambon, stay at
30 north latitudes 8,300 south latitudes and 1250
- 1350 east longitudes with the area boundaries:
North side: North Maluku Province
South side: Timor Leste and Australia
West Side: Southeast Sulawesi and Central Sulawesi
East Side: Irian Jaya Province
THE
WIDE AREA
The wide area of Maluku province is 712.479,69
km_, with the land wide is 54.185km_ and sea wide
is 658.294,69km_.
The Maluku Province plain is 85.728 km2 width
or 8.572.800 Ha contain of 3 part that is:
- Flat Land: 1.251.630 Ha width (14,6%)
- Wavy Land: 2.417.530 Ha width (28,2%)
- Hilly and Mountainous Land: 4.903.640 Ha width
(57,2%)
Almost, Maluku has no upland. The mountain is
a back that spread in the middle of the island,
forming the mountain with the highest of 3.055
m.
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Information
and pictures courtesy of Indonesia Tourism. |
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