Riau Islands

Riau Islands, propinsi (or provinsi; province), western Indonesia, that embraces some 2,000 islands in the South China Sea. The province includes, most notably, the Riau archipelago, to the south of Singapore; the Lingga archipelago, off the southeastern coast of the Indonesian province of Riau (east-central Sumatra); and the Natuna, Anambas, and Tambelan island clusters, widely scattered in the waters between western Borneo, Sumatra, and the Malay Peninsula. The most important islands are Batam, Bintan, and Great Karimun (Indonesian: Karimun Besar), all in the Riau archipelago. Tanjungpinang, on Bintan, is the provincial capital. Area 3,167 square miles (8,202 square km). Pop. (2010 prelim.) 1,679,163.

Geography

Most of the terrain in the Riau Islands is moderately high and hilly, ranging in elevation from roughly 650 to 1,300 feet (200 to 400 metres). The islands in the Anambas group, however, are somewhat more rugged, with hills exceeding 1,640 feet (500 metres). The highest peaks in the province are Mount Daik (3,816 feet [1,163 metres]), on Lingga, and Mount Ranai (3,146 feet [959 metres]), on Great Natuna. Mangrove swamps are common along the coasts, except in the Anambas archipelago, where most of the islands have a steep, rocky, but forested shoreline. The province has no major rivers; rather, the islands are drained by many small streams.

The Riau Islands are home to a great diversity of animal life. Tree shrews are found throughout the province, and various primates, including leaf monkeys (langurs) and slow lorises, are common on many of the islands. Other notable mammals include Sunda stink badgers (variously classified either as badgers or as skunks), which are endemic to the Natuna Islands and parts of Java, Sumatra, and Borneo; civets; and horseshoe bats. Fish eagles and waterbirds, such as ducks, herons, egrets, plovers, kingfishers, and terns, are abundant. Cuckoos, owls, woodpeckers, bulbuls, sunbirds, and many types of pigeons—including the endangered silvery pigeon—are found in the woodland areas. Shellfish of many sorts, including crabs, mussels, clams, and oysters, thrive in the coastal waters. Groupers are among the common finfish.

Over one-third of the province’s residents are Malay. Javanese constitute the next largest segment of the population, followed at some distance by Minangkabau, Chinese, and Batak peoples in roughly equal numbers. The greatest ethnic diversity is found on Batam, while Malays account for most of the population of the Natuna Islands. Nearly three-fourths of the population practices Islam, while most of the remainder follows Christianity (primarily Protestant) or Buddhism. A tiny fraction of Riau Islands residents are Hindu. The bulk of the population lives in the Riau archipelago, particularly on Batam and in or around Tanjungpinang. By contrast, the Natuna Islands are only sparsely populated. Some two-fifths of the province’s islands are neither named nor inhabited.

The greatest contributor to the economy of the Riau Islands is the manufacturing sector, the principal output of which includes electronics, mineral and metal products, plastics, and heavy machinery. Trade and hospitality are the second largest sources of revenue. Mining—primarily of bauxite, granite, and tin—has long been an important activity in the region, particularly in the Riau and Lingga islands, and construction is expanding throughout the province. Agriculture, forestry, and fishing constitute a relatively small segment of the economy.

The ever-expanding road network of the Riau Islands is most extensive in the Riau archipelago, particularly on Batam. Similarly, Batam’s port system is well-developed, with a number of facilities handling international shipments. Several ports on Bintan and Great Karimun also accommodate international cargo, but those in the Lingga archipelago and the Natuna Islands receive only domestic traffic. Batam has an international airport, while domestic service is available at several other airports across the province.

For administrative purposes, the province is divided into the two kota (cities) of Batam (which spans the entire island of Batam) and Tanjungpinang and several kabupaten (regencies). These units are subdivided on multiple levels, with the village group—variously called desa or kelurahan—on the lowest administrative level. The chief executive of the Riau Islands is the governor.

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History

The Riau Islands region formed part of the Buddhist Srivijaya empire, with its capital at Palembang (in southeastern Sumatra), from roughly the 7th through the 13th century. The Hindu Majapahit empire of eastern Java established supremacy over the region in the 14th century, after the fall of the Srivijaya empire. Muslim states in Sumatra grew rapidly in the 15th and 16th centuries, especially following the disintegration of the Majapahit empire.

Europeans began to arrive in the early 16th century, propelled by a desire to control the Southeast Asian spice trade. In 1511 the Portuguese seized the Malay sultanate of Malacca (or Melaka), on the southwestern coast of the Malay Peninsula. The deposed sultan, Mahmud Shah, subsequently fled to the southern tip of the peninsula, where he founded the kingdom of Johor (Johore), with its capital located on Bintan, in the Riau archipelago. Near the turn of the 17th century, the Dutch and the British landed at Bantam (near present-day Banten), on the western end of Java. By the late 18th century—after a period of intense rivalry between the European powers, particularly the British and the Dutch—the Dutch had wrested the port town of Melaka from the Portuguese, confined the British to Bengkulu (in southwestern Sumatra), established the trading post of Tanjungpinang on Bintan, and effectively gained control of the region.

The persistent rivalry between the Dutch and the British was not fully relieved, however, until the signing of the Anglo-Dutch Treaty in 1824. Through that agreement, a boundary was established at the Strait of Malacca. Territories to the north and east of the strait (i.e., the Malay Peninsula and Singapore) fell to the British, while the areas to the south and west of the boundary (i.e., Sumatra and the Riau and Lingga island groups) were given to the Dutch. British Bengkulu was exchanged for Dutch Melaka.

Following an interval of Japanese occupation (1942–45) during World War II, the various island groups of the Riau Islands were incorporated in 1950 into the newly formed Republic of Indonesia as part of the province of Central Sumatra. In 1957 Central Sumatra was divided into three provinces: West Sumatra (Sumatera Barat), Jambi, and Riau. The Riau Islands belonged to Riau province until 2002, when the islands were separated administratively from the Sumatran mainland to become Riau Islands province. The government of the new province, however, was not officially installed until 2004.