The Obi Islands (also known as Ombirah,

Indonesian Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to: * Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia ** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago ** Indonesian ...

: ''Kepulauan Obi'') are a group of 42 islands in the

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

n province of

North Maluku North Maluku (; ) is a province of Indonesia. It covers the northern part of the Maluku Islands, bordering the Pacific Ocean to the north, the Halmahera Sea to the east, the Molucca Sea to the west, and the Seram Sea to the south. It shares marit ...

, north of

Buru Buru (formerly spelled Boeroe, Boro, or Bouru) is the third largest island within the Maluku Islands of Indonesia. It lies between the Banda Sea to the south and Seram Sea to the north, west of Ambon Island, Ambon and Seram Island, Seram island ...

and Ceram, and south of

Halmahera Halmahera, formerly known as Jilolo, Gilolo, or Jailolo, is the largest island in the Maluku Islands. It is part of the North Maluku Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia, and Sofifi, the capital of the province, is located on the west coa ...

. With a total area of 2,817.72 km², they had a population of 41,455 at the 2010 Census and 50,760 at the 2020 Census.Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2021. The official estimate as at mid 2023 was 53,182.Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 28 February 2024, ''Kabupaten Halmahera Selatan Dalam Angka 2024'' (Katalog-BPS 1102001.8204)

Geography

Obi Island, also called Obira Island, is the largest island in the Obi Islands archipelago. It is surrounded by many smaller islands, including Bisa Island (174.42 km²), Obilatu Island (65.30 km²), Gomumu Island and Pasir Raja, Tapat Island, Belang-belang Island, Tobalai Island, Latu Island, Woka Island, and Tomini Island. Obi Island is bordered by the Maluku Sea to the west, the

Seram Sea The Seram Sea or Ceram Sea () is one of several small seas between the scattered islands of Indonesia. It is a section of the Pacific Ocean with an area of approximately located between Buru and Seram, which are two of the islands once called th ...

to the south, and the Obi Strait to the north and east. The major islands closest to it are Bacan Island to the north and Ambon to the south. Obi Island's topography is generally in the form of hills with a short coastline. The hilly surface results in many springs and rivers. Lake Kapi, in the west, is its largest lake. The area was historically abundant in

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 ...

and fish.

History

The Obi Islands were an independent kingdom during the 14th century, who were near-equal in importance with the other Malukuan kingdoms (

Jailolo Jailolo is a stratovolcanic complex on a peninsula ( Jailolo Bay), west of Halmahera island. It has lava flows on the eastern flank, a small caldera at the west and south-west sides of the mountain, and hot springs along the north-west coast of ...

Bacan The Bacan Islands (; ), formerly also known as the Bachans, Bachians, and Batchians, are a group of islands in the Moluccas in Indonesia. They are mountainous and forested, lying south of Ternate and southwest of Halmahera. The islands are adm ...

Ternate Ternate (), also known as the City of Ternate (; ), is the List of regencies and cities of Indonesia, city with the largest population in the province of North Maluku and an island in the Maluku Islands, Indonesia. It was the ''de facto'' provi ...

Tidore Tidore (, lit. "City of Tidore Islands") is a city, island, and archipelago in the Maluku Islands of eastern Indonesia, west of the larger island of Halmahera. Part of North Maluku Province, the city includes the island of Tidore (with three sm ...

), and often intermarried with the family of Ternate. However, at some point Obi became subject to Bacan. A decline in Bacan's population possibly caused the transfer of Obi's population to Bacan, which left the islands uninhabited by the mid-17th century. On 9 May 1682, Obi, Obilatu, Gomumu, Tapat, and Bisa were sold by the Sultan of Bacan to the

VOC VOC, VoC or voc may refer to: Science and technology * Open-circuit voltage (VOC), the voltage between two terminals when there is no external load connected * Variant of concern, a category used during the assessment of a new variant of a virus * ...

for 620

rijksdaalder The ''rijksdaalder'' (; "Imperial dollar") was a Dutch coin first issued by the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands in the late 16th century during the Dutch Revolt which featured an armored half bust of William the Silent. It was the Dutch ...

. The islands became a center for the

Tobelo Tobelo is a town and a district on the eastern Indonesian island of Halmahera. It is the capital of the regency (''kabupaten'') of North Halmahera, part of the province of North Maluku. The town was formalised as the capital of North Halmahera in ...

chiefs, and many Tobelo and Galela people moved to the islands. In 1876, the islands were declared

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

property.

Administration

The Obi Islands are part of

South Halmahera Regency South Halmahera Regency (; ) is a regency of North Maluku Province, Indonesia. It lies partly on Halmahera Island (occupying most of the southern peninsula of that island) and partly on smaller islands to the west and south of Halmahera. It cover ...

. The archipelago is directly bordered by the rest of

Province to the north and west, by

Maluku Province Maluku is located in Eastern Indonesia and geographically located in West-Melanesia, between Sulawesi and Western New Guinea, and comprises the central and southern regions of the Maluku Islands. It is directly adjacent to North Maluku, South ...

in the south and by

West Papua Province West Papua (), formerly Irian Jaya Barat (West Irian), is an Indonesian Provinces of Indonesia, province located in Indonesia Western New Guinea, Papua. It covers most of the two western peninsulas of the island of New Guinea: the eastern half ...

in the east. The total area of the main island is about . Obi Island and the surrounding small islands are divided into five administrative districts (''kecamatan''), which are sub-divided into 34 administrative villages (''desa'' and ''kelurahan''), with villages further subdivided into hamlets. Of the five districts, three comprise the main Obi Island, although each district also includes neighbouring smaller islands - Obi District includes the southern part of Bisa Island to the north of Obi Island, Obi Timur District includes Tobalai Island to the east, and Obi Selatan Island also includes Gomumu Island and Pasir Raja to the south. The other two districts include no part of Obi Island; Obi Barat District includes Obilatu and Belang-belang Islands to the west of Obi Island, together with the southern part (''Tapa desa'') of Tapat Island, while Obi Utara District includes the main part of Bisa Island to the north of Obi Island, together with the northern part (''Pasir Putih desa'') of Tapat Island.

Demographics

The population of the Obi Islands Group was 53,182 people in mid 2023,Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 28 February 2024, ''Kabupaten Halmahera Selatan Dalam Angka 2024'' (Katalog-BPS 1102001.8204) with a population density of about 18.9 people per square kilometre.Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 28 February 2024, ''Kabupaten Halmahera Selatan Dalam Angka 2024'' (Katalog-BPS 1102001.8204) All inhabitants on the Obi Island are migrants, as these islands had no indigenous population. The first groups to settle on Obi Island were the Buton, followed by immigrants from Tobelo-Galela,

Makian Makian (also Machian), known to local people as Mount Kie Besi, is a volcanic island, one of the Maluku Islands within the province of North Maluku in Indonesia. It lies near the southern end of a chain of volcanic islands off the western coast ...

Kayoa Kayoa (also Kaioa), or in the native language Pulau Urimatiti, is a group of 66 islands, part of the Maluku Islands. It is located in South Halmahera Regency, part of North Maluku Province of Indonesia. Geography The Kayoa Islands are near the ...

South Sulawesi South Sulawesi () is a Provinces of Indonesia, province in the South Peninsula, Sulawesi, southern peninsula of Sulawesi, Indonesia. The Selayar Islands archipelago to the south of Sulawesi is also part of the province. The capital and largest ci ...

and

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

. Almost all of the residents are scattered along the coast with the highlands mostly uninhabited jungle. However, there are some worker settlements in hilly areas which have mines and temporary settlements for clove farmers used during clove harvesting season. Infrastructure, especially in terms of modern medical facilities, is lacking. The languages spoken on the islands are Galela and

, which belong to the

West Papuan language The West Papuan languages are a proposed language family of about two dozen non-Austronesian languages of the Bird's Head Peninsula (Vogelkop or Doberai Peninsula) of far western New Guinea, the island of Halmahera and its vicinity, spoken by ...

family.

Villages

The five districts are sub-divided into villages (rural ''desa'' and urban ''kelurahan''), listed below with their areas and their populations at the 2020 CensusBadan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2021. and according to the official estimates for mid 2023.Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 28 February 2024, ''Kabupaten Halmahera Selatan Dalam Angka 2024'' (Katalog-BPS 1102001.8204) The administrative centres of the five districts are denoted by asterisks.

Economy

The dominant plantation products in the Obi Islands are cloves, nutmeg, coconut, and pepper. The main economic potential of the islands s in the mining sector. The island has resources of gold, coal, nickel, cement, and petroleum. In 2016, provincial governor

Abdul Ghani Kasuba Abdul Ghani Kasuba (21 December 1951 – 14 March 2025) was an Indonesian politician and the governor and lieutenant governor of North Maluku. Kasuba denoted South Halmahera Regency as a region he wanted to develop as the province's tourism hub ...

successfully negotiated for the China-based Jinchun Group to build a 620 million dollar nickel smelter on the main island.China`s Jinchun to in vest Rp9 trillion in North Maluku
Antara, 16 July 2016. Accessed 18 September 2017. Some mining companies in this islands are: * Halmahera Persada Lygend * Halmahera Jaya Feronikel * Megah Surya Pratiwi * Trimegah Bangun Persada * Wanatiara Persada

References

External links

* {{Authority control Archipelagoes of Indonesia Islands of the Maluku Islands Landforms of North Maluku Populated places in Indonesia