South Halmahera Regency ( id, Kabupaten Halmahera Selatan) is a

regency A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

North Maluku North Maluku ( id, Maluku Utara) 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 sout ...

Province,

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

. It lies partly on

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

Island and partly on smaller islands to the west and south of Halmahera. It covers a land area of 8,779.320 km², and at the 2010 Census it had a population of 198,911 people, while the 2020 Census showed that this had risen to 248,395 and the official estimate in mid 2021 was 251,690. The capital lies at the town of Labuha on Bacan Island.

Islands

Besides the southern part of Halmahera Island, the regency includes a number of archipelagoes and islands. These comprise: *

Obi Islands The Obi Islands (also known as Ombirah, Indonesian: ''Kepulauan Obi'') are a group of 42 islands in the Indonesian province of North Maluku, north of Buru and Ceram, and south of Halmahera. With a total area of 3,048.08 km2, they had a popu ...

, including

Obira Obi (also called Obira) is the main island in the Obi Islands group of Indonesia, south of the larger Halmahera in North Maluku. Its area is 2,542 km². The island is eponymous to the Obi Island Birdwing, an endemic Endemism is the s ...

(main), Bisa, Obilatu and other small islands, comprising in all five ''kecamatan'' with 51,510 people in mid 2021. *

Bacan Islands 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 administe ...

, including: ** Bacan Island itself, comprising 7 ''kecamatan'' with 84,011 people (in mid 2021) ** Bacan Lomang Island, comprising 1 ''kecamatan'' with 7,735 people **

Mandioli 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 administe ...

, comprising 2 ''kecamatan'' with 10,843 people **

Kasiruta 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 administe ...

, comprising 2 ''kecamatan'' with 10,813 people * Kayoa Group, comprising 4 ''kecamatan'' with 23,226 people *

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 ...

, comprising 2 ''kecamatan'' with 14,019 people * Joronga Islands, comprising 1 ''kecamatan'' with 7,248 people, including the southern tip of Halmahera Island * the southern peninsula of

Island (the area is known as Gane), comprising 6 ''kecamatan'' with 42,185 people.

Administration

The regency is divided into thirty

districts A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...

(''kecamatan''), tabulated below with their areas and their populations at the 2010 CensusBiro Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2011. and 2020 Census,Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2021. together with the official estimates for mid 2021. The table also includes the name of the administrative centre and the number of administrative villages (''desa'' and ''kelurahan'') and named islands in each district and its post code. Notes: (a) formally called Kepulauan Batanglomang; situated between Bacan and Mandioli Islands.
(b) includes Lata Lata Island (27.9 km², with 1,201 inhabitants in 2020), located to the northwest of Kasiruta Island, and comprising two ''desa'' - Lata Lata and Sidanga.
(c) Kayoa Barat (essentially Pulau Muari, but also includes the four small offshore islets of Pulau Guaigo, Pulau Guaigo Kecil, Pulau Intan and Pulau Tamotamo) actually
lies closer to Kasiruta Island than to the rest of the Kayoa group; it is geographically adjacent to Lata Lata Island, part of Kasiruta Barat District.

Languages

The various

South Halmahera languages The South Halmahera languages are the branch of Austronesian languages found along the southeast coast of the island of Halmahera in the Indonesian province of North Maluku. Irarutu is spoken in the east of the Bomberai Peninsula in West Papua ...

are a branch of Austronesian languages.

Economy

South Halmahera has been designated by provincial governor Abdul Ghani Kasuba as a region for tourism development. The Widi International Fishing Tournament was founded for this purpose. Kasuba also successfully negotiated for the China-based Jinchun Group to build a nine-trillion rupiah nickel smelter in the Obi Islands.China`s Jinchun to in vest Rp9 trillion in North Maluku
Antara, 16 July 2016. Accessed 18 September 2017.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Regencies of North Maluku Halmahera