Saparua is an island east of
Ambon Island
Ambon Island is part of the Maluku Islands of Indonesia. The island has an area of and is mountainous, well watered, and fertile. Ambon Island consists of two territories: the city of Ambon, Maluku, Ambon to the south, and three districts (''k ...
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
Maluku; the island of
Haruku lies between Saparua and Ambon. The main port is in the south at Kota Saparua. The small and uninhabited island of Maolana is located near its southwestern side and
Nusa Laut off its southeastern tip.
Saparua was administered as a single eponymous district (''kecamatan'') of
Central Maluku Regency (''Kabupaten Maluku Tengah''), but in 2012 an additional district of East Saparua was formed from the eastern peninsula of the original district. Kota Saparua (Saparua town) is the administrative centre of the residual (western) district, while Tuhaha is the administrative centre of the new district.
The island (including Maolana island) covers a land area of 168.1 km
2, and had a population of 32,312 as of the 2010 census and 36,022 at the 2020 Census; the official estimate as at mid 2023 was 34,480.
[Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 28 February 2024, ''Kabupaten Maluku Tengah Dalam Angka 2024'' (Katalog-BPS 1102001.8101)] The inhabitants of Saparua speak the
Saparua language, as well as
Indonesian and
Ambonese Malay
Ambonese Malay or simply Ambonese is a Malay-based creole language spoken on Ambon Island in the Maluku Islands of Eastern Indonesia. It was first brought by traders from Western Indonesia, then developed when the Dutch Empire colonised the M ...
.
Saparua was the location of Indonesian national hero,
Pattimura's rebellion against Dutch forces in 1817. It was also the birthplace of
Gerrit Augustinus Siwabessy, a prominent politician who was Indonesia's Minister of Health during the 1960s and 1970s.
Villages on Saparua
There are 17 administrative villages, listed below with their populations at the 2020 Census; ten comprise the new district of East Saparua, while seven remain with the residual Saparua District in the west of the island.
The areas (in km
2) and 2020 Census populations of each of these, together with the official estimates as at mid 2023,
[Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2024, ''Kecamatan Saparua Timur Dalam Angka 2023'' (Katalog-BPS 1102001.8103082)] are as follows:
Gallery
File:Ambon and Lease Islands (Uliasers) en.png, Saparua is in the right of the map, east of Haruku Island.
File:Saparua from Duurstede Fort.jpg, Kota Saparua from Fort Duurstede
File:Duurstede Fort, Saparua, Ambon - Indonesia.jpg, Fort Duurstede at Saparua
File:Duurstede Fort - Inside.jpg, The inside of Fort Duurstede, Saparua
References
External links
*
Old map of Manipa, Haruku, Saparua and Nusalaut
Islands of the Maluku Islands
Central Maluku Regency
Landforms of Maluku (province)
Populated places in Indonesia
{{Maluku-geo-stub