Talaud Islands Regency Kabupaten Kepulauan Talaud
Regency
Tuhan Yesus Raja Memberkati monument
Seal
Location within North Sulawesi
Talaud Islands Regency Location in Sulawesi and Indonesia Show map of Sulawesi Talaud Islands Regency Talaud Islands Regency (Indonesia) Show map of Indonesia
Coordinates: 4°18′42″N 126°46′51″E / 4.31178°N 126.78085°E / 4.31178; 126.78085
Country	Indonesia
Province	North Sulawesi
Regency seat	Melonguane
Government
• Regent	Elly Engelbert Lasut
• Vice Regent	Moktar A Parapaga
Area
• Total	1,251.02 km2 (483.02 sq mi)
Lowest elevation	0 m (0 ft)
Population  (mid 2022 estimate)[1]
• Total	95,545
• Density	76/km2 (200/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+8 (ICST)
Area code	(+62) 433
HDI (2019)	0.689 (Medium)
Website	talaudkab.go.id

The Talaud Islands Regency (Indonesian: Kabupaten Kepulauan Talaud) is a regency of North Sulawesi province, Indonesia. The Talaud Islands form an archipelago situated to the north-east of the Minahasa Peninsula, with a land area of 1,251.02 km². It had a population of 83,434 at the 2010 Census,^[2] increasing to 94,521 at the 2020 Census;^[3] the official estimate as at mid 2022 was 95,545.^[1] The largest island is Karakelong, on which lies the regency seat in the town of Melonguane. To its south lie the islands of Salibabu and Kabaruan, while the Nanusa group of 7 small islands lies to the northeast of Karakelong, and Miangas island is situated midway between Karakelong and the Philippines. It is one of the three regencies to the north of North Sulawesi that are located between Sulawesi and the Philippines, along with the Sitaro Islands Regency and Sangihe Islands Regency; originally these formed a single regency, but on 110 April 2002 the Talaud Islands were split off to form their own Regency. The island of Miangas is the most northerly island in the regency and widely regarded as the northernmost point of Indonesia. As the result, it is often referenced to describe the territorial integrity of Indonesia in various patriotic statements and songs together with Sabang, Merauke, and Rote Island.

History

The islands were known as Maleon, Sinduane, Tamarongge, Batunampato, and Tinonda. Human settlements in the region have been present since prehistoric time, shown by several artifacts of hand axe and chopper from 6,000 BC. There were also remains of chinaware, suggesting there has been continuous trading activity between the natives of the islands and outside world.^[4]

It was thought that inhabitants of the islands were originated from Southern Philippines especially Mindanao and also traders from Ternate.^[5]

Geography

A Topographical Map of the Islands^{[lower-alpha 1]}

Bitunuris Beach, near Bitunuris Village, Salibabu

Grouping Talaud together with Sangihe, there are 77 islands in the Talaud-Sangihe archipelagos, of which 56 are inhabited. Compared with the Sangihe archipelago, the islands are low lying and forested, with hills rising to 2,231 feet (680 metres).^[6] The coast of Karakelong Island is steep except on the southern shore, which is fringed by a wide reef.^[7]

The region is regularly rocked by large earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, as the Molucca Sea Plate is being consumed in both directions.^[8] A notable earthquake was the 2009 Talaud Islands earthquake, which was felt in the Philippines as well.^[9]

Governance

The Regency is divided into nineteen districts (kecamatan), tabulated below with their areas and their populations at the 2010 Census^[2] and 2020 Census,^[3] together with the official estimates as at mid 2022.^[1] The table also includes the locations of the district administrative centres, the number of administrative villages in each district (totaling 142 rural desa and 11 urban kelurahan), and its post code.

Notes: (a) including 3 kelurahan - Lirung, Lirung I and Lirung Matane. (b) including 3 kelurahan - Melonguane, Melonguane Barat and Melonguane Timur.
(c) including 3 kelurahan - Beo, Beo Barat and Beo Timur. (d) including 2 kelurahan - Makatara and Makatara Timur. (e) comprising the 7 Nanusa Islands.

Economy

The regency's GRDP was valued at 2,266 billion rupiahs in 2020, an increase of 59 billion rupiahs from previous year. The regency's economy is still dominated by agriculture, fishing, and forestry-related industries. The agriculture sector alone made up 42.57% of the regency's GRDP. The second biggest sector in the regency was trade and retail, which made up 13.22% of the regency's GRDP in 2020. Other significant sectors are construction with contribution of 11.64%, administration and social security with 11.58%, and transportation with 4.50%. Overall economic growth of the regency was 4.69% on 2019 but then declined to 0.43% on 2020.^[10]

A coconut plantation in Tampan'amma District, Talaud Islands Regency; Coconut is among the major cash crops in the regency.

The fastest growing sector in the regency in 2020 was electricity and gas with growth of 9.14%, followed by health sector with growth of 8.93%, insurance and financial services with 7.55%, and information and communication sector with 7.01%. Food services sector experienced sharp decline of 9.03% on the same year, while transportation sector also declined 5.34% due to COVID-19 pandemic.^[10][11]

There were 1,635 registered merchants classified as small-scale business, while 26 merchant business were classified as medium-sized as of 2020. In addition, there are 150 registered cooperatives on the same year in the regency. Leading agriculture product from the regency is banana, with output of 34,384 quintals in 2020. Other fruit produced by the regency is mango with 913 quintals, durian with 509 quintals, papaya with 9,046 quintals, and salak with 297 quintals. Other than banana, coconut is also a major cash crop in the regency which coconut plantation occupied 22,146 hectares of land as of 2020. The production of coconut in 2020 was 19,185 tons, followed by nutmeg production of 4,113 tons. There's also significant chili production which results in 59,917 tons as of 2020.^[10]

People and culture

Market in Siaoe, Talaud Islands^{[lower-alpha 2]}

The population of the Talaud Islands was 94,520 according to the 2020 census.^[3] The total population of the Talaud, Sangihe and Sitaro Islands was 304,600 in 2020.^[3]

Most of the population are involved in agriculture, which includes coconuts, vanilla, nutmeg, cloves, ebony and ironwood as well as copra and sago. Numerous volcanoes produce very fertile volcanic soil on many of the islands.^[12] Fishing is an important aspect of Talaud livelihood, culture and economy.

The Austronesian Talaud language is spoken on the islands^[13] by the native ethnic group, the Talaud.^[14]

Christianity is the majority religion of the islands (protestantism).^[13][15]

Biodiversity

The Talaud Islands are a hotspot of endemism and zoological diversity, and are situated in the Sulawesi lowland rain forests ecoregion.^[16]

Endemic mammals include the endangered Talaud flying fox (Acerodon humilis), the critically endangered Talaud bear cuscus (Ailurops melanotis), the endangered Short-tailed Talaud mosaic-tailed rat (Melomys caurinus), and the endangered Long-tailed Talaud mosaic-tailed rat (Melomys talaudium). Birds endemic to the Talaud Islands include the vulnerable Talaud bush-hen (Amaurornis magnirostris), the endangered Talaud rail (Gymnocrex talaudensis), the near threatened Talaud kingfisher (Todiramphus enigma) and the vulnerable Red-and-blue lory (Eos histrio), which formerly lived across the Talaud and Sangihe islands, now restricted only to Karakelang. The Talaud black birdwing (Troides dohertyi) is a butterfly endemic to the Sangihe and Talaud Islands.

Sangihe and Talaud were largely deforested by 1920, and there is minimal natural forest remaining on these islands. A survey has been proposed to determine appropriate locations for additional protected areas around remaining forest (Stattersfield et al. 1998).^[6] There is a Wildlife Reserve on Karakelong [246.69 km² (95.25 miles²)].^[17]

Infrastructure

Transportation

Miangas airport, serving the northernmost Indonesian island of Miangas

Total length of road in the regency as of 2020 was 470.771 kilometers out of which 265.44 kilometers are sealed with asphalt and 38.147 kilometers were gravel surface. Almost half of the roads are under the authority of the regency government, while the other half are under the authority of the province. Only 66.05 kilometers are under direct authority of the central government. The main port in the regency is Melonguane Port, located in the town of Melonguane. It is connected to other smaller ports scattered around the regency as well as big ports in mainland Sulawesi by Sea Toll Program.^[22] In addition, the Melonguane Port also host an Indonesian Navy naval base.^[23][10]

The regency is mainly served by Melangguane Airport, which has regular flight to Manado. There's also recently built Miangas Airport serving the island of Miangas which has flights to Manado and also Melonguane. It is one of the most remote airports in Indonesia and was inaugurated by Joko Widodo in 2017.^[24] As of 2021, there's one proposed airport that would be built in Marampit, which has been approved by Ministry of National Development Planning.^[25]

Notes

References