Haruku Island is an island in
Central Maluku Regency
Central Maluku Regency ( id, Kabupaten Maluku Tengah) is a regency of Maluku Province of Indonesia. The Regency covers an area of 11,595.57 km2, and had a population of 361,698 at the 2010 Census, and 423,094 at the 2020 Census. The official ...
,
Maluku Province
Maluku is a province of Indonesia. It comprises the central and southern regions of the Maluku Islands. The main city and capital of Maluku province is Ambon on the small Ambon Island. The land area is 62,946 km2, and the total population ...
,
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
- lying east of
Ambon Island, off the southern coast of
Seram
Seram (formerly spelled Ceram; also Seran or Serang) is the largest and main island of Maluku province of Indonesia, despite Ambon Island's historical importance. It is located just north of the smaller Ambon Island and a few other adjacent is ...
and just west of
Saparua
Saparua is an island east of Ambon Island in the Indonesian province of Maluku; the island of Haruku lies between Saparua and Ambon. The main port is in the south at Kota Saparua. The island of Maolana is located near its southwestern side an ...
. It is administered as a single district, ''Kecamatan Pulau Haruku'', with a 2010 census population of 24,207 and a 2020 Census population of 27,390. The inhabitants of Haruku speak the
Haruku language, as well as
Indonesian and
Ambonese Malay
Ambonese Malay or simply Ambonese is a Malay-based creole language spoken on Ambon Island in the Maluku Islands of Eastern Indonesia. It was first brought by traders from Western Indonesia, then developed when the Dutch Empire colonised the Ma ...
.
There are six Christian (Aboru, Haruku, Hulaliu, Kariu, Oma and Wassu) and five Muslim (Kabau, Kailolo, Pelauw, Rohomoni and Samet) villages on the island. As on most of the islands of the Moluccas, spices such as
nutmeg
Nutmeg is the seed or ground spice of several species of the genus ''Myristica''. ''Myristica fragrans'' (fragrant nutmeg or true nutmeg) is a dark-leaved evergreen tree cultivated for two spices derived from its fruit: nutmeg, from its seed, an ...
,
cloves,
cumin and
ginger are grown as
cash crops
A cash crop or profit crop is an agricultural crop which is grown to sell for profit. It is typically purchased by parties separate from a farm. The term is used to differentiate marketed crops from staple crop (or "subsistence crop") in subsiste ...
.
In 1527, the Portuguese were the first Europeans to reach the island. The Dutch followed in 1590 and established Fort New Zealand, whose ruins are now a tourist attraction. During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, the Japanese established a
Prisoner-of-war camp
A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured by a belligerent power in time of war.
There are significant differences among POW camps, internment camps, and military prisons. ...
for captive Australians and British forces on the island, who were used as forced labor to build an airstrip.
References
External links
*
Old map of Manipa, Haruku, Saparua and Nusalaut
{{Maluku-islands , state=expanded
Islands of the Maluku Islands
Landforms of Maluku (province)