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The Tanimbar Islands (; ), also called ''Timur Laut'' (literally, "North East"; ), are a group of about 65
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 in the Maluku
province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...
of
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 largest and most central of the islands is Yamdena; others include Selaru to the southwest of Yamdena, Larat and Fordata to the northeast, Maru and Molu to the north, and Seira, Wuliaru, Selu, Wotap and Makasar to the west. The Indonesian phrase ''timur laut'' means "east of the sea" or "northeast". The Tanimbar Islands are administered as the '' Tanimbar Islands Regency'' (), a
regency In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...
of Maluku. The Regency covers a land area of 10,102.92 km2, and it had a population of 105,341 at the 2010 census, rising to 123,572 at the 2020 census;Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2021. the official estimate as at mid 2023 was 130,278.Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2023, ''Provinsi Maluku Dalam Angka 2023'' (Katalog-BPS 1102001.81) The principal town and administrative centre lies at Saumlaki.


Geography

Geographically, the northeast islands are still part of the
Lesser Sunda Islands The Lesser Sunda Islands (, , ), now known as Nusa Tenggara Islands (, or "Southeast Islands"), are an archipelago in the Indonesian archipelago. Most of the Lesser Sunda Islands are located within the Wallacea region, except for the Bali pro ...
. The Aru Islands and
Kai Islands The Kai Islands (also Kei Islands) of Indonesia are a group of islands in the southeastern part of the Maluku Islands, located in the province of Maluku (province), Maluku. The Moluccas have been known as the Spice Islands due to regionally sp ...
lie to the northeast, and Babar Island and
Timor Timor (, , ) is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, in the north of the Timor Sea. The island is Indonesia–Timor-Leste border, divided between the sovereign states of Timor-Leste in the eastern part and Indonesia in the ...
lie to the west. The islands separate the
Banda Sea The Banda Sea (, , ) is one of four seas that surround the Maluku Islands of Indonesia, connected to the Pacific Ocean, but surrounded by hundreds of islands, including Timor, as well as the Halmahera Sea, Halmahera and Ceram Seas. It is about ...
and the Arafura Sea. The total land area of the Islands is 10,102.92 km2 (3,900.76 sq mi). The largest of the group is Yamdena. Yamdena Island has a range of thickly forested hills along its eastern coast, while its western coast is lower. Saumlaki is the chief town, located on the south end of Yamdena. Other islands include Larat, Selaru, and Wuliaru. The population was 123,572 at the 2020 census, of whom about 94% are Christian, and the remainder Muslim or other. The official estimate as at mid 2023 was 130,278. The tiny island of Tanimbarkei is not part of Tanimbar, but of the
Kai Islands The Kai Islands (also Kei Islands) of Indonesia are a group of islands in the southeastern part of the Maluku Islands, located in the province of Maluku (province), Maluku. The Moluccas have been known as the Spice Islands due to regionally sp ...
and inhabited by less than 1,000 very traditional people. The Tanimbar Islands are part of the Banda Sea Islands moist deciduous forests
ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) is an ecological and geographic area that exists on multiple different levels, defined by type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and c ...
.


History

In modern history, the Tanimbar islands (as the Aru Islands) were mentioned in the 16th century maps of Lázaro Luís (1563), Bartolomeu Velho (c. 1560), Sebastião Lopes (1565), in the 1594 map of the East Indies entitled ''Insulæ Moluccæ'' by the Dutch cartographer Petrus Plancius, and in the map of ''Nova Guinea'' of 1600 (based on Portuguese sources). The Tanimbar Islands were sighted and possibly visited by Portuguese navigators such as Martim Afonso de Melo Jusarte around 1522–1525, who traveled around the archipelagos of Aru (with the reference "Here wintered Martin Afonso de Melo") and Tanimbar, and possibly Gomes de Sequeira in 1526. The Tanimbar Islands were part of the
Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...
. During
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
the Dutch sent a detachment of 13 soldiers led by KNIL sergeant Julius Tahija to the town of Saumlaki in the Tanimbar Islands in July 1942. Japanese ships entered the bay at Saumlaki on 30 July and small boats were used to get to the jetty. The Japanese filed in ranks on the jetty and wanted to march in close order into Saumlaki. The
garrison A garrison is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a military base or fortified military headquarters. A garrison is usually in a city ...
opened fire at close range with their two light machine guns. The Japanese retreated to their boats leaving several dead on the jetty. Subsequent enemy landings, however, were made elsewhere while the Japanese ships opened fire on the defenders’ position. Six of the Dutch soldiers were killed and the survivors were driven into the bush. On 31 July, a vessel carrying an
Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia. It is a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF), along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army ...
contingent arrived at the jetty at Saumlaki, unaware that the town had fallen to the Japanese. The vessel was fired on from the shore, and the commander of the landing party was killed. The Australians retreated to Darwin. Afterwards, the members of the Dutch garrison came under naval gunfire from the Japanese; this inflicted some casualties, and was followed by attacks by Japanese infantry on a wider front. Seven surviving members of the garrison then boarded a sailing ship and escaped to Australia.


Economy

Important products are
copra Copra (from ; ; ; ) is the dried, white flesh of the coconut from which coconut oil is extracted. Traditionally, the coconuts are sun-dried, especially for export, before the oil, also known as copra oil, is pressed out. The oil extracted ...
, tortoiseshell, and ''trepang'' (an edible
sea cucumber Sea cucumbers are echinoderms from the class (biology), class Holothuroidea ( ). They are benthic marine animals found on the sea floor worldwide, and the number of known holothuroid species worldwide is about 1,786, with the greatest number be ...
). Recently, the Japanese oil and gas corporation Inpex intended to develop the Masela Block Project with billions of tonnes of natural gas produced. Offshore facilities will be located on the Tanimbar Island. .


Fauna

*'' Bastilla missionarii'' *'' Etiella chrysoporella'' *'' Troides riedeli'' * Blue-streaked lory * Fawn-breasted thrush * Tanimbar bush-warbler * Tanimbar corella * Tanimbar eclectus * Tanimbar megapode * Tanimbar starling * Moluccan masked owl * Samlakki tree frog *'' Cylindrophis yamdena'' *'' Oligodon unicolor'' *'' Simalia nauta'' *'' Tiliqua scincoides'' *'' Varanus tanimbar''


See also

*
List of islands of Indonesia The islands of Indonesia, also known as the Indonesian Archipelago () or Nusantara, may refer either to the islands composing the country of Indonesia or to the geographical groups which include its islands. Indonesia is the world's largest a ...
* Kei-Tanimbar languages


Notes


References

*


External links


Languages of Indonesia (Maluku)
{{coord, 7.500, S, 131.500, E, display=title, source:dewiki Archipelagoes of Indonesia Landforms of Maluku (province)