The Talaud Islands ( Indonesian: ''Kepulauan Talaud'') also spelled Talaur or Talaut, are a group of

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An isla ...

s situated about 225 miles (360 km) northeast of

Sulawesi Sulawesi (), also known as Celebes (), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the world's eleventh-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Mindanao and the Sulu ...

, in

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 Gui ...

, north-east of the

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 R ...

. The Talaud Islands are also the northernmost region of Eastern Indonesia, bordering south of the Philippines'

Davao Region Davao Region, formerly called Southern Mindanao ( ceb, Rehiyon sa Davao; fil, Rehiyon ng Davao), is an administrative region in the Philippines, designated as Region XI. It is situated at the southeastern portion of Mindanao and comprises fiv ...

. The group, with a total area of 483 square miles (1,251 square km), includes

Karakelong Karakelong is the main island of the Talaud Islands north east of Sulawesi, Indonesia. Its area is . It has a population of 51,506 at the 2010 Census and 59,920 at the 2020 Census.Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2021. Its largest town is Melong ...

(the largest), Salibabu, Kabaruan, and a small number of offshore islets. The seven tiny Nanusa Islands also lie north-east of Karakelong, with Miangas much further north-west. Lokasi Sulawesi Utara Kabupaten Kepulauan Talaud

Lokasi Sulawesi Utara Kabupaten Kepulauan Talaud

Geography

Physical Geography

Pantai di Bitunuris, Kepulauan Talaud, Sulawesi Utara

(*)The islands of the Talaud group are: (ordered from South to North) * Kabaruang Island * Salibabu Island * Sara Besar Island (off Salibabu's east coast) * Nusa Dolong and Nusa Topor (off Karakelong's central west coast) * Karakelong Island * the Nanusa Islands: (ordered S to N) Kakalotan Island, Kakarotan Island, Intata Island, Magupu Island, Karatung Island, Merampit Island (largest) and Garat Island * Miangas (not visible on map) Grouping Talaud together with Sangihe, there are 77 islands in the Talaud-Sangihe archipelagos, of which 56 are inhabited. Compared with the Sangihe archipelago, the islands are low lying and forested, with hills rising to 2,231 feet (680 metres). The coast of Karakelong Island is steep except on the southern shore, which is fringed by a wide reef. The region is regularly rocked by large earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, as the

Molucca Sea Plate Located in the western Pacific Ocean near Indonesia, the Molucca Sea Plate has been classified by scientists as a fully subducted microplate that is part of the Molucca Sea Collision Complex. The Molucca Sea Plate represents the only known example ...

is being consumed in both directions. A notable earthquake was the

2009 Talaud Islands earthquake The 2009 Talaud Islands earthquake occurred on February 12 at 01:34 local time (February 11, 2009 at 17:34 UTC) near Talaud Islands (Indonesian: Kepulauan Talaud), Indonesia. This reverse-type shock had a moment magnitude of 7.2 and a maximum M ...

, which was felt in the nearby Philippines.

Administration and Population

The islands were declared a

regency A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

North Sulawesi North Sulawesi ( id, Sulawesi Utara) is a province of Indonesia. It is located on the Minahasa Peninsula of Sulawesi, south of the Philippines and southeast of Sabah, Malaysia. It borders the Philippine province of Davao Occidental and Socc ...

in 2000 as ''Kabupaten Kepulauan Talaud''. Talaud's capital is

Melonguane Melonguane is a town and district in Talaud Islands Regency The Talaud Islands Regency ( id, Kabupaten Kepulauan Talaud) is a regency of North Sulawesi province, Indonesia. The Talaud Islands form an archipelago situated to the north-east of Sula ...

. The population of the Talaud Islands was 94,520 according to the 2020 census.Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2021. The total population of the Talaud, Sangihe and Sitaro Islands was 304,600 in 2020.Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2021. Both Sangihe and

Talaud The Talaud Islands ( Indonesian: ''Kepulauan Talaud'') also spelled Talaur or Talaut, are a group of islands situated about 225 miles (360 km) northeast of Sulawesi, in Indonesia, north-east of the Sangihe Islands. The Talaud Islands are als ...

have small airstrips serviced by

Express Air Xpress Air was a domestic regular airline that offered direct flights to the eastern parts of Indonesia, with its first flight in 2005, and from 2014 international routes to Malaysia. Beginning with two Boeing 737s, Xpress Air was the first priv ...

and

Wings Air PT Wings Abadi Airlines, operating as Wings Air, is a scheduled commuter passenger low cost airline based in Jakarta, Indonesia. The airline operates out of Sultan Hasanuddin International Airport in Makassar as well as several other airports a ...

.Resmikan Bandara Miangas, Sulawesi Utara
- PresidenRI.go.id - 19 Oktober 2016. Talaud Airport also serves as a transit point for flights to Miangas, one of the Indonesia's outlying islands located close to Davao, Philippines.

People and Culture

COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Markt te Siaoe Talaud-eilanden TMnr 10002728

Most of the population are involved in

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people ...

, which includes

coconut The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family (Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, the seed, or the f ...

vanilla Vanilla is a spice derived from orchids of the genus '' Vanilla'', primarily obtained from pods of the Mexican species, flat-leaved vanilla ('' V. planifolia''). Pollination is required to make the plants produce the fruit from whic ...

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 ...

clove Cloves are the aromatic flower buds of a tree in the family Myrtaceae, ''Syzygium aromaticum'' (). They are native to the Maluku Islands (or Moluccas) in Indonesia, and are commonly used as a spice, flavoring or fragrance in consumer products, ...

ebony Ebony is a dense black/brown hardwood, coming from several species in the genus '' Diospyros'', which also contains the persimmons. Unlike most woods, ebony is dense enough to sink in water. It is finely textured and has a mirror finish when ...

and

ironwood Ironwood is a common name for many woods or plants that have a reputation for hardness, or specifically a wood density that is heavier than water (approximately 1000 kg/m3, or 62 pounds per cubic foot), although usage of the name ironwood in ...

as well as

copra Copra (from ) is the dried, white flesh of the coconut from which coconut oil is extracted. Traditionally, the coconuts are sun-dried, especially for export, before the oil, also known as copra oil, is pressed out. The oil extracted from co ...

and

sago Sago () is a starch extracted from the pith, or spongy core tissue, of various tropical palm stems, especially those of ''Metroxylon sagu''. It is a major staple food for the lowland peoples of New Guinea and the Maluku Islands, where it is c ...

. Numerous

volcano A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates ...

es produce very fertile volcanic soil on many of the islands. Fishing is also an extremely important aspect of Talaud livelihood, culture and economy. The Austronesian Talaud language is spoken on the islands by the native ethnic group, the

. Christianity is the majority religion of the islands (protestantism).

Biodiversity

The Talaud Islands are a hotspot of endemism and zoological diversity, and are situated in the Sulawesi lowland rain forests ecoregion. Endemic mammals include the endangered Talaud flying fox (''Acerodon humilis),'' the critically endangered Talaud bear cuscus (''Ailurops melanotis''), the endangered Short-tailed Talaud mosaic-tailed rat (''Melomys caurinus''), and the endangered

Long-tailed Talaud mosaic-tailed rat The long-tailed Talaud mosaic-tailed rat or the long-tailed Talaud melomys (''Melomys talaudium'') is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is endemic to Karakelong and Salebabu in the Talaud Islands in Indonesia where it occurs in fore ...

(''Melomys talaudium''). Birds endemic to the Talaud Islands include the vulnerable

Talaud bush-hen The Talaud bush-hen (''Amaurornis magnirostris'') is a vulnerable waterbird in the rail and crake family. It is a recently described species from Karakelang Island in the Talaud Islands The Talaud Islands (Indonesian: ''Kepulauan Talaud'') ...

(''Amaurornis magnirostris''), the endangered

Talaud rail The Talaud rail (''Gymnocrex talaudensis'') is a species of bird in the family Rallidae. It is endemic to the Talaud Islands of Indonesia. Its natural habitats are rivers and swamps. It is threatened by habitat loss Habitat destruction (al ...

(''Gymnocrex talaudensis''), the near threatened

Talaud kingfisher The Talaud kingfisher (''Todiramphus enigma'') is a species of bird in the family Alcedinidae. It is endemic to the Talaud Islands north of Sulawesi in Indonesia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and rive ...

(''Todiramphus enigma'') and the vulnerable Red-and-blue lory (''Eos histrio''), which formerly lived across the Talaud and Sangihe islands, now restricted only to Karakelang. The Talaud black birdwing (''Troides dohertyi)'' is a butterfly endemic to the Sangihe and Talaud Islands. Sangihe and Talaud were largely deforested by 1920, and there is minimal natural forest remaining on these islands. A survey has been proposed to determine appropriate locations for additional protected areas around remaining forest (Stattersfield et al. 1998). There is a Wildlife Reserve on Karakelong 46.69 km² (95.25 miles²)

References

External links

WWF Sulawesi Lowland Rainforests Ecoregion
{{authority control Archipelagoes of Indonesia Islands of Sulawesi Landforms of North Sulawesi