Maluku

Maluku

The Capital City of Maluku Province is “Ambon”

Maluku (Moluccas), a region of Indonesia formerly known as the Spice Islands, was once the source of cloves and nutmeg, spices highly valued for their aroma, preservative ability, and use in medicine before people learned how to cultivate the plants in other parts of the world. Maluku is a cluster of about one thousand islands totaling 74,504 square kilometers, forming part of the Malay Archipelago in eastern Indonesia near New Guinea. The region is divided into two provinces, Maluku with its capital in Ambon, and North Maluku (2002 estimated population 913,000), with its capital in Ternate; other important islands in the group include Halmahera, Seram, and Buru.

Maluku is an archipilago of thousand large and small islands, surrounded by the tranquil deep blue oceans. Formerly Maluku was part of the legendary spice islands and it’s Banda Island which surrendered to Dutch East Indies Companies instead of Manhattan Island-USA to Portuguese in the 17^th century.The rest is sea, in any places thousands of meters deep. Maluku is transition zone between the Asian and Australian fauna and flora, and also between the Malay, based cultures of western Indonesia and those of Melanesia.It is 999 islands support a population of less than 2 million people. The average population density figure is 20 people per square kilometer, but the distribution is uneven. Air and sea transportation are the main means which link the islands together. The province has has 32 sea ports and  20 Airports, and only about 1,60 kilometers of land roads. Good roads on many of the islands provide easy access to the often remote places of tourist interest.

A great variety of endemic plant and animal species are found the rugged forest covered and mountainous hinterland of most of the islands. A few of the best known are the Racker Tailed King Fisher, the red crested Moluccan Cockatoo, and various brilliantly colored lorikeets and parrots.Most of Maluku sits astride one of the world’s most volatile volcanic belts. The region has known more than 70 eruptions in the last 400 years. tremors and volcanic eruptions are by no means rare even at present. Many islands, in fact, look from a distance like volcanic cones rising right out of the sea.

Formerly known as the Moluccas, these islands are the original Spice Islands which in the 16^th and 17^th centuries lured the major seafaring nations of Europe to come to trade and to establish their power and influence in this part of the East.It was Nicoli de Conti, who in 1440 revealed the existence of the Spice Islands to the Europeans. Using his information, Fra Maura drew his world map, and soon the race to the East began. In 1511, following the Portuguese built their first fort in the area on the island of Ternate and established their monopoly of the clove trade.

The Spanish also came, but posed little trouble to the Portuguese. The Dutch, who arrived in 1599, on the other hand proved to be their toughest contestants in the quest for Maluku’s treasures. Armed conflicts broke out, taking a tall not only among the two rival European powers, but also among the local populations of the islands. To make it short, the Dutch finally emerged winners and established their trade monopoly with iron hand. Whole villages were razed to the ground and thousands of islanders died in the so called Hongi expeditions lunched by the Dutch to maintain their trade monopoly, especially on the island of Banda.

The British occupied Maluku for a brief period during the Napoleonic war between England and France. Dutch rule was restored in 1814, leading to a new rebellion under Matulassi which the Dutch suppressed with difficulty. The compulsory cultivation of spieces was abolished in Maluku only in 1863.Traces of that turbulent period in Maluku’s history could still be found on a number of islands. Maluku’s great attraction for present day visitors is it’s sea gardens, and beaches and the beauty of the land. Maluku’s music dances and hybrid culture in general, too, are among the provinces strong touristic drawing cards.

Fish and other sea products are nowadays Maluku’s major sources of revenue, but nickel, oil, manganese and various timber varieties also contribute to the provinces’s wealth.And Memorials of Patimura and Martha Christina Tiahahu in Ambon. The Siwalima Museum at Taman Makmur. The clove factory at Waemahu we could make  photo, than to Namalatu Beach. See the sacred eels and arrive Hunimua white sandy beach for a swim. And visit to the northern peninsula of Ambon to see Hitu, a historical site, and Hila, Kaitetu for it’s fort Amsterdam. Old Dutch Church and the oldest mosque of the Moluccas. Manuala Beach Resort for a refresing swim. In Tantui has Second Worl War Cemetery. Lonthoir on a leisure to see famous nutmeg plantation of Banda Besar. In Lonthoir we could see Fort Holandia, Perkhouse and the nutmeg factory. Swim also at the crystal clear water.