North Maluku

North Maluku
Province
Flag Seal
Motto(s):  Marimoi Ngone Futuru (Ternate language: United we strong)
Location of North Maluku in Indonesia
Country	Indonesia
Capital	Sofifi
Government
• Governor	Thayb Armayn
Area
• Total	45,069.66 km2 (17,401.49 sq mi)
Population  (2010)
• Total	1,035,478
• Density	23/km2 (60/sq mi)
Demographics
• Religion	Islam (74.28%), Protestantism (24.9%), Roman Catholicism (0.52%)
• Languages	Indonesian , Ternate
Time zone	WIT (UTC+9)
Website	malukuutaraprov.go.id

North Maluku (Indonesian: Maluku Utara) is a province of northeastern Indonesia. It covers the northern part of the Maluku Islands, which are divided between it and the province of Maluku Province, which used to cover the entire group until North Maluku was split off in 1999. The provincial capital is Sofifi, on Halmahera the largest island, but the largest population center and former capital is the island of Ternate while the largest settlement on Halmahera is Tobelo.

History

In the sixteenth and seventeenth century, the islands of North Maluku were the original "Spice Islands". At the time, the region was the sole source of cloves. The Dutch, Portuguese, Spanish, and local sultanates including Ternate and Tidore fought each other for control of the lucrative trade in these spices. Clove trees have since been transported and replanted all around the world, and the demand for cloves from the original spice islands has ceased, greatly reducing North Maluku's international importance.

The population of North Maluku is 1,035,478 (according to the 2010 Census), making it one of the least-populous provinces in Indonesia.

Geography

The islands of North Maluku are mostly of volcanic origin, with the volcanoes of Dukono on Halmahera, Gamalama on Ternate still active and the whole of Tidore consisting of a large stratovolcano. The rainforests of Halmahera, Morotai, the Obi Islands, the Bacan islands and other islands of North Maluku have been described by the World Wildlife Fund as the "Halmahera rain forests" ecoregion and are home to a number of plant and animal species unique to the islands, which are in the Wallacea transition zone, containing a mixture of species of Asian and Australasian origin. The predominant trees of the forest are Anisoptera thurifera, Hopea gregaria, Hopea iriana, Shorea assamica, Shorea montigena, Shorea selanica, and Vatica rassak.

The endemic mammals found here include the Obi mosaic-tailed rat (Melomys obiensis), Masked flying fox (Pteropus personatus), and three arboreal marsupials, the Ornate (Phalanger ornatus), Rothschild's (P. rothschildi), Blue-eyed (P. matabiru) and Gebe (P. alexandrae) cuscuses. There are over two hundred different birds on the islands, twenty-six of which are endemic, a large number for this small island group. The endemics include four birds which are the only species in their genera, including the elusive Invisible Rail (Habroptila wallacii), the White-streaked friarbird (Melitograis gilolensis), and two birds of paradise, the Paradise-crow (Lycocorax pyrrhopterus) and Wallace's standardwing (Semioptera wallacii). The islands are also home to the largest bee in the world, Wallace's giant bee (Megachile pluto).

The islands have an tropical rainforest climate.

Most of the natural forest remains on these mountainous islands, although much of the coastal and lowland areas have been cleared for clove-planting since the sixteenth century, especially on the islands of Ternate and Tidore. Logging has occurred more recently on Halmahera and Morotai.

Administrative division

North Maluku Province is subdivided into 7 regencies and 2 autonomous cities, listed below with their (provisional) populations at the 2010 Census.

Name	Area (km2)	Population Estimate 2005	Population Census 2010	Capital
Morotai Island Regency (Pulau Morotai)	495.69	*	52,860	Daruba
North Halmahera Regency (Halmahera Utara)	4,951.61	172,298	161,580	Tobelo
West Halmahera Regency (Halmahera Barat)	2,612.24	91,540	100,150	Ternate
Ternate (city)	250.85	156,735	185,660	Ternate
Kepulauan Tidore (city)	9,564.00	78,025	89,510	Tidore
East Halmahera Regency (Halmahera Timur)	6,506.20	56,836	72,770	Maba
Central Halmahera Regency (Halmahera Tengah)	2,276.83	32,071	42,740	Weda
South Halmahera Regency Halmahera Selatan)	8,779.32	170,180	198,030	Labuha
Sula Islands Regency (Kepulauan Sula)	9,632.92	124,182	132,070	Sanana
Total Province	45,069.66	881,867	1,035,478

* The 2000 Census population for Morotai Island Regency is included in the figure for North Halmahera Regency.

Sultanates

The northern part of the Maluku Islands is the location of four major sultanates, locally known as Maluku kie raha (Ternate language: "Four Moluccan mountains"). While they no longer hold official or political power, these sultanates still hold enormous cultural respect.

• Sultanate of Ternate
• Tidore Sultanate
• Bacan Sultanate
• Jailolo Sultanate

Fortresses

North Maluku has many fortresses:

• Tolukko Fortress, is located 3 kilometers (2 miles) from Central Ternate, built by Portuguese in 1540 and renovated in 1610 by Dutch. The construction consists of sea-rock, sand, stone and egg as the adhesive.
• Kotanaka Fortress
• Orange Fortress
• Kalamata Fortress
• Dever Lacting Fortress
• Bernaveld Fortress