Salawati () is one of the four major islands in the

Raja Ampat Islands Raja Ampat (), or the Four Kings, is an archipelago located off of the northwest tip of Bird's Head Peninsula (on the island of New Guinea), Southwest Papua , Southwest Papua province, Indonesia. It comprises over 1,500 small islands, cays, and sh ...

Southwest Papua Southwest Papua (; ) is the 38th provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia to be created, and was split off from West Papua (province), West Papua on 8 December 2022. Despite being named "southwest", this is actually a misnomer and this prov ...

(formerly West Papua),

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, ...

. Its area is 1,902.1 km² (including smaller offshore islands). Salawati is separated from

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

to the southeast by the Sele Strait (a.k.a. Galowa Strait, Revenges Strait), and from

Batanta Batanta is one of the four major islands in the Raja Ampat Islands in Southwest Papua province, Indonesia. Its area is 479.52 km2 (including smaller offshore islands) and its highest point is 1184 m. The Pitt Strait (Indonesia), Pitt Strai ...

to the north by the Pitt Strait (a.k.a. Sagewin Strait).

History

Islam first arrived in the Raja Ampat archipelago in the 15th century due to political and economic contacts with the Bacan Sultanate.Wanggai, Toni V. M. (2008)
Rekonstruki sejarah umat Islam di tanna Papua
econstruction of the History of lslam in Papua Syariff Hidayatullah State Islamic University Jakarta (in Indonesian). Retrieved 2022-03-13. During the 16th and 17th centuries, the

Sultanate of Tidore The Sultanate of Tidore (Jawi script, Jawi: ; sometimes ) was a sultanate in Southeast Asia, centered on Tidore in the Maluku Islands (presently in North Maluku, Indonesia). It was also known as Duko, its ruler carrying the title Kië ma-kolano ( ...

had close economic ties with the island.Slama, Martin (2015),
Papua as an Islamic Frontier: Preaching in 'the Jungle' and the Multiplicity of Spatio-Temporal Hierarchisations", ''From 'Stone-Age' to 'Real-Time': Exploring Papuan Temporalities, Mobilities and Religiosities''
ANU Press, pp. 243–270, The name of the island comes from '' Shalawat'' which was spoken by the Sultan of Bacan as he arrived on the island and memorialized as 'Salawati'. During this period, Islam became firmly established, and local chiefs began adopting Islam. On this island also once stood an Islamic kingdom named Salawati Kingdom which was founded by Fun Malaban. The southern part of the island is the region of the former Sailolof Kingdom based in Sailolof, which was founded by Fun Mo, a

Moi Moi or MOI may refer to: People * Moi (name), a list of people with the given name or surname * Moisés Delgado (born 1994), Spanish footballer commonly known as simply Moi * Moisés Rodríguez (born 1997), Spanish footballer commonly known as ...

not related to the other kings but later married Pinfun Libit, daughter of Waigeo's king.

Administration

Salawati Island (with small offshore islets) comprises five administrative districts (''kecamatan'') of Southwest Papua Province. The northern part of the island is divided into North Salawati (''Salawati Utara''), West Salawati (''Salawati Barat''), and Central Salawati (''Salawati Tengah'') districts of Raja Ampat Regency, while the southern part is divided into South Salawati (''Salawati Selatan'') and Central Salawati (''Salawati Tengah'') districts of

Sorong Regency Sorong Regency () is a regency of the Southwest Papua province of Indonesia. It covers an area of 13,075.28 km2, and had a population of 70,619 at the 2010 Census,Biro Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2011. and 118,679 at the 2020 Census;Badan Pusa ...

. Note that the name of Central Salawati District is held by two different districts in adjacent parts of the two regencies. Altogether the five districts cover an area of 1,902.1 km²¹ (including offshore islands), and had a combined population of 9,891 in mid 2024.Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2025. Note3s: (a) within Raja Ampat Regency. (b) within Sorong Regency.
(c) the 2010 population of the new Salawati Tengah District of Sorong Regency is included with the figure for Salawati Selatan District from which it was separated.
There is also a ''Salawati District'' on the Papuan mainland, facing Salawati Island across the islet-studded Sele Strait. It is also a part of Sorong Regency but is obviously not part of Salawati Island.

Pulau Salawati Utara Nature Reserve

Pulau Salawati Utara Nature Reserve covers much of the northern portion of the island, with an area of 570 km² on the northern portion of the island. It protects part of the island's native lowland rainforest.

References

Raja Ampat Islands {{SwPapua-geo-stub

History

Administration

Pulau Salawati Utara Nature Reserve

See also

References