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The Sangihe Islands (also spelled "Sangir", "Sanghir" or "Sangi") – – are a group of
The Sangihe Islands (also spelled "Sangir", "Sanghir" or "Sangi") – – are a group of island
An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...
s that constitute two regencies within the province of North Sulawesi
North Sulawesi () is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia. It is mainly located on the Minahasa Peninsula of the island of Sulawesi, south of the Philippines and southeast of Sabah, Malaysia, but also includes various small archipel ...
, in northern 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, ...
, the Sangihe Islands Regency
The Sangihe Islands Regency () is a regency of North Sulawesi Province, Indonesia. It comprises a group of islands situated to the North of Sulawesi. It covers a land area of 736.98 km2, and had a population of 126,100 at the 2010 censusBiro ...
. The word Sangihe actually comes from the word Sang Ihe which is means Strong Sailor or Brave Fisherman. ''Kabupaten Kepulauan Sangihe'') and the Sitaro Islands Regency (''Kabupaten Siau Tagulandang Biaro''). They are located northeast of Sulawesi
Sulawesi ( ), also known as Celebes ( ), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the List of islands by area, world's 11th-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Min ...
between the Celebes Sea and the Molucca Sea
The Molucca Sea (Indonesian language, Indonesian: ''Laut Maluku'') is located in the western Pacific Ocean, around the vicinity of Indonesia, specifically bordered by the Indonesian Islands of Sulawesi, Celebes (Sulawesi) to the west, Halmahera t ...
, roughly halfway between Sulawesi and Mindanao
Mindanao ( ) is the List of islands of the Philippines, second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and List of islands by population, seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the ...
, in the Philippines
The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
; the Sangihes form the eastern limit of the Celebes Sea. The islands combine to total , with many of the islands being actively volcanic
A volcano is commonly defined as a vent or fissure 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 fo ...
with fertile soil and mountains.
The main islands of the group are, north to south, Sangir Besar (or Sangir Island), Siau (or Siao), Tagulandang, and Biaro. The largest island is Sangir Besar and contains an active volcano, Mount Awu (). Tahuna is the chief town and port
A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manch ...
, also hosting the islands' sole airport, Naha Airport.
The area came under Dutch control in 1677 and became part of Indonesia when it declared independence from the Netherlands in 1945.
The Sangir language is spoken in the islands; this Austronesian language
The Austronesian languages ( ) are a language family widely spoken throughout Maritime Southeast Asia, parts of Mainland Southeast Asia, Madagascar, the islands of the Pacific Ocean and Taiwan (by Taiwanese indigenous peoples). They are spoken b ...
is also spoken in some islands in the Philippines, and on the extreme northern tip of Sulawesi.
The Sangihe tectonic plate
Plate tectonics (, ) is the scientific theory that the Earth's lithosphere comprises a number of large tectonic plates, which have been slowly moving since 3–4 billion years ago. The model builds on the concept of , an idea developed durin ...
is named after the island arc and is very active.
On 2 January 2007, the Sitaro Islands (named for Siau, Tagulandang, and Biaro Islands) became a new regency by separation from the Sangihe Islands. The population for these island groups was 189,676 at the 2010 Census, comprising 126,133 in the Sangihe Islands Regency and 63,543 in the Sitaro Islands Regency; the official estimate as of mid-2022 was 212,682, comprising 140,165 in the Sangihe Islands Regency and 72,517 in the Sitaro Islands Regency.
Marore Island
Marore Island is one of the coordinate points in the Sangihe Islands used to determine the baselines of Indonesia. 15 years ago the practice of illegal fish bombing damaged thecoral
Corals are colonial marine invertebrates within the subphylum Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact Colony (biology), colonies of many identical individual polyp (zoology), polyps. Coral species include the important Coral ...
and mangrove
A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows mainly in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. Mangroves grow in an equatorial climate, typically along coastlines and tidal rivers. They have particular adaptations to take in extra oxygen a ...
ecosystems. In 2012, recovery of coral was observed, but not yet for mangroves.
See also
* List of extinct birdsNotes
Archipelagoes of Indonesia Landforms of the Celebes Sea Landforms of North Sulawesi Former disputed islands Territorial disputes of Indonesia Territorial disputes of the Philippines Populated places in Indonesia {{NSulawesi-geo-stub id:Kepulauan Sangihe