COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Portret van een drietal jonge vrouwen op de Sangihe-eilanden in traditionele kleding TMnr 60018652

Sangir Besar, commonly called Sangir Island (with the spelling variants "Sangihe", "Sanghir" or "Sangi"), is an island in the

Sangir Islands The Sangihe Islands (also spelled "Sangir", "Sanghir" or "Sangi") – – are a group of islands that constitute two regencies within the province of North Sulawesi, in northern Indonesia, the Sangihe Islands Regency. The word Sangihe ...

group. Its

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 ...

name literally means "Great Sangir", in reference to the fact that it is the archipelago's main island. It is part of the

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 ...

province. The main language is the

Sangir language Sangir, also known as ''Sangihé'', ''Sangi'', ''Sangil'', or ''Sangih'', is an Austronesian language spoken on the islands linking northern Sulawesi, Indonesia, with Mindanao, Philippines by the Sangir people. It belongs to the Philippine group ...

. It was the scene of the violent eruption of Gunung Awu volcano on 2 March 1856. The existing mountain was reshaped by the eruption, and flooding was extensive. The death toll was estimated to exceed two thousand, possibly as high as 6,000. Other major eruptions occurred in 1966 and 2004. The critically endangered

cerulean flycatcher The cerulean flycatcher (''Eutrichomyias rowleyi'') is a medium-sized (up to 18 cm long), blue passerine with bright cerulean blue plumage, a bare white orbital ring, dark brown Iris (anatomy), iris, bluish black Beak, bill and pale blue-gre ...

and

Sangihe whistler The Sangihe whistler or Sangihe shrikethrush (''Coracornis sanghirensis'') is a species of bird in the family Pachycephalidae. It is endemic to Sangihe Island in Indonesia. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. Spe ...

are endemic to Sangir Island as is the endangered

Elegant Sunbird The elegant sunbird (''Aethopyga duyvenbodei'') is a large, up to 12 cm long, Australasian sunbird in the genus ''Aethopyga''. The male has an iridescent blue-green crown, shoulder patch and uppertail coverts, yellow bar across lower back, re ...

References

External links

Sangir-Talaud group
Landforms of the Celebes Sea Landforms of North Sulawesi Sangihe Islands Populated places in Indonesia {{NSulawesi-geo-stub