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. The Moluccas have been known as the Spice Islands due to regionally specific plants such as nutmeg, mace, and cloves that originally intrigued the European nations of the 16th century. The coastal zone of the islands are identified as a site of highest marine biodiversity importance in the Coral Triangle.
The Kai Islands are a part of the Wallacea, the group of Indonesian islands that are separated by deep water from both the Asian and Australian continental shelves, and were never linked to either continent. As a result, the Kai Islands have few native mammals and are a part of the Banda Sea Islands moist deciduous forests ecoregion. Kai Besar in particular is mountainous and densely forested. Kai is famous for the beauty of its beaches, notably in Pasir Panjang.
The indigenous inhabitants call the islands Nuhu Evav (Evav Islands) or Tanat Evav (Evav Land), but they are known as Kai to people from neighboring islands. The islands are on the edge of the Banda Sea, south of the Bird's Head Peninsula of New Guinea, west of the Aru Islands, and northeast of the Tanimbar Islands.
The Kai islands are made up of numerous islands, including:
Within southeast Maluku Regency:
Within the city of Tual:
The Kai Islands' total land area is 1,252 km (483 sq mi) and had a population of 154,524 at the 2010 Census, including the independent city of Tual; the 2020 Census gave a figure of 209,791. By mid-2022 this had increased to an officially estimated 217,344.
The Kai Islands reside in a topical zone in close proximity to the equator, leading to an average temperature of 30 °C (86 °F), and an average low of 18 °C (64 °F). During the months from April to September, the islands experience a dry season where rain is scarce.
A report by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) identified an acceleration in the rate of sea level rising, potentially causing the Indonesian islands to sink. This scenario could also lead to changes in Indonesia's territorial and maritime boundaries, posing a legal and environmental challenge for the country and threatening Indonesia's status as an archipelagic country.
The Kai Islands consist of the two distinct second-tier administrations, both in Maluku Province. The Southeast Maluku Regency (Maluku Tenggara) is sub-divided into eleven administrative districts (kecamatan); its administrative centre is the town of Langpur. Though it is geographically in the Kai Islands, the city of Tual forms a separate regency-level administration and is not part of the Southeast Maluku Regency. It includes a number of islands in the geographical Kai Islands, and it is itself sub-divided into five districts (kecamatan).
These two entities, with their administrative capitals, are listed below with their areas and their populations at the 2010 Census and the 2020 Census, together with the official estimates as at mid 2022:
Local history holds that ancestors of contemporary Kai islanders came from Bali, part of the expanding Majapahit kingdom from the western archipelago. The village of Ohoi-Ewur (first Raja Ewab: Raja Ohoi-Ewur = Raja Tabtut) on Kai Kecil or Nuhuroa island was the arrival point for the Balinese aristocrats and their army. They stayed in the village with local residents. As a result, Ohoi-Ewur became a seat of government, where the local law (Larvul Ngabal) – Red Blood and Balinese Spear – was developed at the initiative of the royal princess Dit Sakmas.
Evidence for these stories include an inheritance and a harbor named 'Bal Sorbay' (Bali Surabaya) on Kai Kecil which is, presumably, the harbor at which the royals arrived.
It is recognized by Kai islanders that some of their ancestors came from other places such as Sumbawa island (Sumbau), Buton (Vutun) in Sulawesi, Seram (Seran) and Gorom (Ngoran) islands in the Central Moluccas, and the sultanates of Jailolo (Dalo) and Ternate (Ternat) as well.
The tiny island of Tanimbarkei is not part of Tanimbar, as the name might suggest, but is one of the Kai Islands. It is inhabited by fewer than 1000 very traditional people. Half of the population call themselves Hindus, but are more or less practicing ancestor worship.
After the 1999 clashes between the Muslim and Christian populations in Ambon, similar inter-communal clashes swept through Kai but quickly calmed down.
All of the islands depend on 22 ratshcaap, or traditional local leaders called Rat or Raja, as kings of customary law.
The official language in the Kai Islands is Indonesian, although local languages exist between regions.
Three Austronesian languages are spoken on the Kai Islands; Keiese is the most widely spoken, in 207 villages on Kai Kecil, Kai Besar, and surrounding islands. Kurese is spoken on Kur Island and nearby Kaimeer, where Kai is used as a lingua franca. Bandanese is spoken in the villages of Banda-Eli (Wadan El) and Banda-Elat (Wadan Elat) on the west and northeastern side of Kai Besar. Banda speakers originally came from the Banda Islands, but the language is no longer spoken there.
There is no native writing system for the Keiese language. Dutch Catholic missionaries wrote the language using a variation of the Roman alphabet.
Some Kai musical instruments include:
The predominant religion in the Kai Islands is Christianity, where unlike like much of the surrounding area there are more Catholics (44%) than Protestants (26%). Consequently, the islands are regarded as the center of Catholicism in all of Maluku.
A primary minority in the region consists of Muslims (28%) and half of the people who live on the small island of Tanimbarkei practice a variant of the Hindu religion, which involves a form of ancestor worship.
Their story of creation is an earth-diver myth that involves sending a dog down to the earth, who brings up his sandy paws.
The soil on Kai Kecil is of poor quality; slash-and-burn agriculture is common. Fishing is usually done around Trepang, and cultured pearls are harvested in Kai Kecil.
Meti Kei is an annual natural phenomenon occurring for a few weeks, and celebrated with a festival between October 22 and 23, where the ocean recedes up to 6 km, allowing for one to walk to other islands normally separated by water.