The Simeulue people (other names include Simalur, Simeuloë, Simulul, Long Bano and Devayan) are an

indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention *Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band *Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...

group of people inhabiting Simeulue Island off the west coast of Sumatra,

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 ...

. They are mostly found in Teupah Barat, Simeulue Timur, Simeulue Tengah, Teupah Selatan and

Teluk Dalam Teluk Dalam (also written as Telukdalam) is a town and district in the South Nias Regency, North Sumatra province, Indonesia. Following the splitting off of parts of the original district to form new districts, it is now mainly confined to the to ...

districts. The Simeulue people speak

Simeulue Simeulue is an island of Indonesia, off the west coast of Sumatra. It covers an area of 1754 square kilometres (677 square miles), including minor offshore islands. It had a population of 80,674 at the 2010 census and 92,865 at the 2020 census ...

, a Northwest Sumatra–Barrier Islands language closely related to Sikule (which is also spoken in Simeulue island) and

Nias Nias ( id, Pulau Nias, Nias language: ''Tanö Niha'') (sometimes called Little Sumatra in English) is an island located off the western coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. Nias is also the name of the archipelago () of which the island is the centre, ...

(spoken in neighbouring

Nias island Nias ( id, Pulau Nias, Nias language: ''Tanö Niha'') (sometimes called Little Sumatra in English) is an island located off the western coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. Nias is also the name of the archipelago () of which the island is the centre, ...

). The language also has a strong Acehnese and Malay influence. The Simeulue people became more widely known worldwide after the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami because of their high survival rate. Their survival was credited to their tradition of oral history. A previous tsunami in 1908 had affected the island, and stories told about it served as disaster preparation. Only 7 people of the total population (78,000 at the time) died in the December 26, 2004 tsunami.

References

Ethnic groups in Indonesia Ethnic groups in Sumatra Muslim communities of Indonesia Indigenous peoples of Southeast Asia {{Indonesia-stub