Rupat is an island in the

Strait of Malacca The Strait of Malacca is a narrow stretch of water, 500 mi (800 km) long and from 40 to 155 mi (65–250 km) wide, between the Malay Peninsula (Peninsular Malaysia) to the northeast and the Indonesian island of Sumatra to the southwest, connec ...

, and forms part of

Bengkalis Regency Bengkalis Regency is a regency of Indonesia in the Riau province. The regency, which includes the whole of Bengkalis and Rupat Islands in the Strait of Malacca, has been established since 1956. The regency was formerly divided into 13 districts (o ...

within

Riau Riau is a province of Indonesia. It is located on the central eastern coast of Sumatra along the Strait of Malacca. The province shares land borders with North Sumatra to the northwest, West Sumatra to the west, and Jambi to the south. Acco ...

Province of

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 ...

. It lies just off the eastern coast of Sumatra, across from Dumai city, from which it is separated by the Rupat Strait ( id, Selat Rupat). Its area is 1,490 km². With a population of 43,570 at the 2010 Census, the island is sparsely populated, with a population density of 29¼ per km². Rupat was one of thousands of abandoned islands, but now the population is growing year after year. It makes them expand the area for the settlement. There is a proposal by the Malaysian government with Chinese financial backing to build a bridge from Melaka to Rupat and Dumai, to be called the

Malacca Strait Bridge The Central Spine Road 2 or Malacca Strait Bridge ( Indonesian: ''Jembatan Selat Malaka'', Malaysian: ''Jambatan Selat Melaka'' or ''JSM'' and ''Jembatan Selmal'') is a proposed bridge that would connect Teluk Gong, near Masjid Tanah, Malacca ...

, though Jakarta seems to prefer to build the Sunda Strait Bridge first.

Raptor bird migration

Together with

Sangihe Islands The Sangihe Islands (also spelled "Sangir", "Sanghir" or "Sangi") – id, Kepulauan Sangihe – are a group of islands which constitute two regencies within the province of North Sulawesi, in northern Indonesia, the Sangihe Islands Rege ...

, Rupat Island is located in the East Asian-Australasian Flyway, a corridor used by Raptors for migration. 24 of the 56 kinds of Asian Raptors can be found in both locations. From September to November, up to 2,000 Raptors migrate into Rupat Island every day, while migration out happens from February to April.

References

Islands of Sumatra {{Riau-geo-stub