Morotai, island in Maluku Utara (North Moluccas) provinsi (province), Indonesia. It is situated northeast of the larger island of Halmahera. With an area of some 700 square miles (1,800 square km), the island is mountainous and wooded, with swampy areas in the southwest; the chief products are resin and timber. The inhabitants are mainly Tobilorese or Galelorese from Halmahera, but there are also some Muslims and Christians. In World War II, it was a major Japanese military base; captured by Allied forces (1944), it was developed into a strategic air base. An operational airfield still exists near Pitu on the southwestern end of the island.