Sula Islands Regency

The Sula Islands Regency (Indonesian: Kabupaten Kepulauan Sula) is one of the regencies in North Maluku province of Indonesia. It consists of two of the three large islands comprising the Sula Archipelago, together with minor adjacent islands. The third island, Taliabu, was split off from the Sula Islands Regency in 2013 to form a separate regency.

Sula Islands Regency

Kabupaten Kepulauan Sula
Regency
Coat of arms
Motto(s): 
Dad Hia Ted Sua
Sula Islands Regency
Location in Sula Islands, Maluku and Indonesia
Sula Islands Regency
Sula Islands Regency (Maluku)
Sula Islands Regency
Sula Islands Regency (Indonesia)
Coordinates: 1°52′S 125°22′E
Country Indonesia
Province North Maluku
CapitalSanana
Government
 • RegentHendrata Thes
 • Vice RegentZulfahri Abdulah Duwila
Area
 • Total1,787.63 km2 (690.21 sq mi)
Population
 (2019)[1]
 • Total102,886
 • Density58/km2 (150/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+9 (IEST)
Area code(+62) 921
Websitekepulauansulakab.go.id

Pre-Indonesian Independence saw the Sula Islands also known as the Xulla Islands, with Taliabo as Xulla Taliabo, Sanana as Xulla Bessi, and Mangola as Xulla Mangola.[2]

Administration

Sula Islands Regency comprises twelve districts (kecamatan), tabulated below with their areas and populations at the 2010[3] and 2015[4] Censuses.

NameEnglish nameArea in
km2		Population
Census 2010		Population
Census 2015
Mangole BaratWest Mangole158.307,0847,771
Mangole UtaraNorth Mangole227.6110,11510,937
Mangole SelatanSouth Mangole246.564,6655,069
Mangole TengahCentral Mangole333.216,3816,973
Mangole TimurEast Mangole140.424,3014,716
Mangole Utara TimurNortheast Mangole149.233,7774,165
Mangole Island(total)1,255.3336,32339,631
Sanana UtaraNorth Sanana75.285,6756,558
Sanana83.3625,18329,139
Sula Besi TengahCentral Sula Besi74.735,9296,711
Sula Besi TimurEast Sula Besi82.183,1003,407
Sula Besi SelatanSouth Sula Besi88.494,2984,654
Sula Besi BaratWest Sula Besi128.264,7075,185
Sula Besi Island(total)532.3048,89255,654

History

The Dutch built a fort on Sanana in 1652. Wallace visited the islands during an ornithological expedition in 1862.[5]

The Dutch era Fort De Verwachting in Sanana town as it looked in 1921

Economy

According to government data, Sula Islands Regency's food crops include vegetables, groundnuts, cassava, sweet potatoes, durian, mangosteen and mango. As of 2005 the area of agriculturally active land was 24743.56 hectares with production amounting to 33,608.62 tons per year. Taliabu-Sanana District is the main producer of cloves, nutmeg, cocoa, copra and other coconut products. Fishery production is very diverse with and estimated sustainable potential of 40,273.91 tonnes per year of which only 22.8 percent is currently exploited. Forestry is considered a potential industry with the natural forest-based Classification Map TGHK RTRWP suggesting a forest area of 471,951.53 hectares, but much of this is protected or hard to access, due to steep slopes and transportation logistics, and the islands' main plywood company, PT Barito Pacific Timber Group (in Falabisahaya, West Mangole) has closed. Industrial activity is very limited. There is a gold mine in East Mangoli District (at Waitina and Kawata) and coal mines are located in the peninsula of West Sula Besi District, East Taliabu and Sub Sanana (Wai Village Ipa). Reserves of coal are estimated around 10.4 million tonnes.

Tourism

The Indonesian Ministry of Tourism (Kemenpar) is ready to support the promotion of tourism destination potential on Sula Islands. Demographically located between the crossroads of Wakatobi and Raja Ampat tourist areas, it is ideally developed as marine tourism and special interest tourism for diving enthusiasts.

One of the support is Maksaira Festival at Wai Ipa Beach to Bajo Village Beach. On 2018 the festival as a cultural and marine tourism attraction event has entered the third year and will be listed as MURI record breaking for the largest grouper fishing participant targeted by 3000 participants in 2018, where year 2017 followed by 1700 participants.[6]

Fauna

The following species are native to the Sula Islands:

Introduced species include:

References
  1. Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2020.
  2. Goodall, George (Editor)(1943) Philips' International Atlas London, George Philip and Son map 'East Indies' pp.91-92
  3. Biro Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2011.
  4. Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2017.
  5. Wallace, Alfred Russel (1862). "2. List of Birds from the Sula Islands (east of Celebes), with Descriptions of the New Species" (PDF). Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. 30: 333–346. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7998.1862.tb06537.x.
  6. "Government Supports Tourism Promotion in Sula Islands". Lelemuku.com. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
  7. http://www.antaranews.com/en/news/72587/more-indonesian-bird-species-nearing-extinction
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