Raja Ampat Islands
Raja Ampat, or the "Four Kings", is an archipelago located off the northwest tip of Bird's Head Peninsula on the island of New Guinea, in Indonesia's West Papua province. It comprises over 1,500 small islands, cays, and shoals surrounding the four main islands of Misool, Salawati, Batanta, and Waigeo, and the smaller island of Kofiau. The Raja Ampat archipelago straddles the Equator and forms part of Coral Triangle which contains the richest marine biodiversity on earth. Administratively, the archipelago is part of the province of West Papua. Most of the islands constitute the Raja Ampat  Regency, which was separated out from Sorong Regency in 2004. The regency encompasses around of land and sea, of which 8,034.44 km constitutes the land area and has a population of 64,141 at the 2020 Census. This excludes the southern half of Salawati Island, which is not part of this regency but instead constitutes the Salawati Selatan and Salawati Tengah Districts of Sorong Regency. History. The name of Raja Ampat ("Raja" means king, and "empat" means four) comes from local mythology that tells of a woman who finds seven eggs. Four of the seven hatch and become kings who occupy  four of Raja Ampat's biggest islands whilst the other three become a ghost, a woman, and a stone. The first recorded sighting and landing by Europeans of the Ampat Islands was by the Portuguese navigator Jorge de Menezes and his crew in 1526, en route from Biak, the Bird's Head Peninsula, and Waigeo, to Halmahera (Ternate). Islam first arrived in the Raja Ampat Islands in the 15th century due to political and economic contacts with the Bacan Sultanate. During the 16th and 17th centuries, the Maluku-based Sultante of Tidore had close economic ties with the islands. During  this period, Islam became firmly established and local chiefs had begun adopting Islam. As a consequence of these ties, Raja Ampat was considered a part of the Sultanate of Tidore. After the Dutch invaded Maluku, it was claimed by the Netherlands. The English explorer William Dampier gave his name to Dampier Strait, which separates Batanta island from Waigeo island. To the east, there is a strait that separates Batanta from Salawati. In 1759 Captain William Wilson sailing in the East Indiaman "Pitt" navigated these waters and named a strait the 'Pitt strait', after his vessel; this was probably the channel  between Batanta and Salawati. Climate. The islands have a tropical climate, with temperatures ranging from . Water temperature in North Raja Ampat ranges from , while in the South in Misool, it ranges from (Water temperature chart in Misool). Ecology. Terrestrial. The islands are part of the Vogelkop-Aru lowland rain forests ecoregion. The rain forests that covers the islands is the natural habitat of many species of birds, mammals, reptiles and insects. Two species of bird-of-paradise, the red bird-of-paradise ("Paradisaea rubra") and Wilson's bird-of-paradise ("Diphyllodes respublica"), are endemic to the islands of Waigeo, Gam , and Batanta. The recently discovered palm tree "Wallaceodoxa raja-ampat" is endemic to the Raja Ampat Islands. Marine. Raja Ampat is considered the global center of tropical marine bio-diversity and is referred to as The Crown Jewel of the Bird's Head Seascape, which also includes Cenderawasih Bay and Triton Bay. The region contains more than 600 species of hard corals, equaling about 75 percent of known species globally, and more than 1,700 species of reef fish – including on both shallow and mesophotic reefs. Compared to similar-sized ecosystems elsewhere in the world, this makes Raja Ampat's biodiversity  the richest in the world. Endangered and rare marine mammals such as Dugongs, whales (such as blue or/and pygmy blue, bryde's, less known omura's, sperm), dolphins, and orcas occur there. In the northeast region of Waigeo island, local villagers have been involved in turtle conservation initiatives by protecting nests or relocating eggs of leatherback, olive ridley and hawksbill turtles. Their works are supported by local government, and NGOs. Raja Ampat Marine Recreation Park was designated in 2009. It is composed of four marine areas – the waters around northern Salawati, Batanta, and southwestern Waigeo, Mayalibit Bay in central  Waigeo, the waters southeast of Misool, and waters around the Sembilan Islands north of Misool and west of Salawati. The oceanic natural resources around Raja Ampat give it significant potential as a tourist area. Many sources place Raja Ampat as one of their top ten most popular places for diving whilst it retains the number one ranking for underwater biodiversity. According to Conservation International, marine surveys suggest that the marine life diversity in the Raja Ampat area is the highest recorded on Earth. Diversity is considerably greater than any other area sampled in the Coral Triangle composed of Indonesia, Malaysia , Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and East Timor. The Coral Triangle is the heart of the world's coral reef biodiversity, making Raja Ampat quite possibly the richest coral reef ecosystems in the world. The area's massive coral colonies along with relatively high sea surface temperatures, also suggest that its reefs may be relatively resistant to threats like coral bleaching and coral disease, which now jeopardize the survival of other coral ecosystems around the world. The Raja Ampat islands are remote and relatively undisturbed by humans. The crown-of-thorns starfish eats Raja Ampat's corals, and the  destruction this causes among reefs has posed a threat to tourism. The crown-of-thorns starfish, which "can grow as big around as a trash-can lid", has proliferated due to increasing nitrogen in the water from human waste, which in turn causes a spike in phytoplankton on which the starfish feed. In 2019, local divers had begun the task of reducing starfish populations by injecting the starfish with a 10% vinegar solution; the dead starfish can then be eaten by local fish. The high marine diversity in Raja Ampat is strongly influenced by its position between the Indian and  Pacific Oceans, as coral and fish larvae are more easily shared between the two oceans. Raja Ampat's coral diversity, resilience, and role as a source for larval dispersal make it a global priority for marine protection. 1,508 fish species, 537 coral species (a remarkable 96% of all scleractinia recorded from Indonesia are likely to occur in these islands and 75% of all species that exist in the world), and 699 mollusk species, the variety of marine life is staggering. Some areas boast enormous schools of fish and regular sightings of sharks, such as wobbegongs. Raja Ampat Islands have at  least three ponds containing harmless jellyfish, all in the Misool area. The submarine world around the islands was the subject of the documentary film "Edies Paradies 3" (by Otto C. Honegger), which has been broadcast by the Swiss television network Schweizer Fernsehen. In March 2017 the 90-meter cruise ship "Caledonian Sky" owned by British tour operator Noble Caledonia got caught in a low tide and ran aground in the reef. An evaluation team estimated that 1,600 square meters of the reef was destroyed, which will likely result in a compensation claim of $1.28 million – $1.92 million. A  team of environmentalists and academics estimated much more substantial damage, with potential losses to Indonesia estimated at $18.6 million and a recovery time for the reef spanning decades. Population. The main occupation for people around this area is fishing since the area is dominated by the sea. They live in a small colony of tribes that spreads around the area. Although traditional culture still strongly exists, they are very welcoming to visitors. Raja Ampat people are more similar to the surrounding Moluccan people than Papuan people although they still speak Papuan language. The Muslim proportion is much higher compared  with other Papuan areas. Although it has to be noted that West Papua province as a whole have larger Muslim population because of the extensive history with the Sultanate of Tidore as well as recent migrations. Administration. Most of the islands make up the Raja Ampat Regency, a regency () forming part of West Papua Province. It came into existence in 2004, prior to which the archipelago was part of Sorong Regency. The southern part of the island of Salawati is not part of the Raja Ampat Regency. Instead, it constitutes the Salawati Selatan District of Sorong Regency. Raja Ampat Regency  is subdivided into the following districts (kecamatan): Taking account of the 2,741 people of Salawati Selatan and Salawati Tengah Districts which are administratively in Sorong Regency, the total population of the archipelago adds up to 66,882 in 2020. There are proposals to divide the current Raja Ampat Regency into three, with Waigeo and its surrounding small islands forming a new North Raja Ampat Regency ("Kabupaten Raja Ampat Utara"), and with Misool and Kofiau and their surrounding small islands forming a new South Raja Ampat Regency ("Kabupaten Raja Ampat Selatan"), leaving the residue of the existing Regency to cover the northern  part of Salawati Island (the rest of Salawati Island still lies within Sorong Regency) and Batanta Island (which forms Selat Sagawin District).