North Maluku, The Gem from Northeastern of Indonesia
North Maluku
North Moluccas is a part of Maluku Island which a province of northeastern Indonesia. The temporary capital is on Ternate. After the government infrastructure and other facilities are built, the government activities will be moved from Ternate to Sofifi. Sofifi is a village in North Oba district, which is the definitive capital of North Maluku province.
Maluku is blessed with incredible sea gardens, idyllic, tropical beaches and rugged, forest-coated volcanic mountains. These are the famous 'spice islands' which drew Indian, Chinese, Arab and eventually European traders in search of cloves and nutmeg.
At early begin, before the invasion North Maluku was the biggest four Islamic kingdom on Eastern Nusantara which called as Four Mountain Sultanate in Maluku. Those four are: Bacan, Jailolo, Tidore and Ternate Sultanate.
The British briefly occupied Maluku during the Napoleons Wars, but Dutch rule was restored in 1814 and it wasn't until 1863 that the compulsory cultivation of spices was abolished in the province. Now fish and other sea products are Maluku's major sources of revenue, but nickel, oil, manganese and various kinds of timber also contribute to the province's wealth.
The regional economics are mainly coming from the people daily life which based on agriculture, fisheries, and other types of sea products. Other economic commodities which have tendency as export products are wood processing, banana plantation, gold mining and Nickel Mining.
Moreover, North Maluku is famous as the home of a number of unique plant and animal species unique to the islands, the endemic mammals found here include the Obi Mosaic-tailed Rat (Melomys obiensis), Masked Flying Fox (Pteropus personatus), and three cuscus marsupials, Ornate Cuscus (Phalanger ornatus), the vulnerable Rothschild’s Cuscus (Phalanger rothschildi), and Gebe Cuscus.
The islands are also home to the largest bee in the world Wallace’s giant bee (Megachile pluto) and over two hundred different type of bird is in North Maluku forest.
The fauna itself is containing of Anisoptera thurifera, Hopea gregaria, Hopea iriana, Shorea assamica, Shorea montigena, Shorea selanica, and Vatica rassak.
The tourism sector is mostly coming from Halmahera Island which consist of mountainous area. The main gateway into Maluku is through the provincial capital of Ambon, which is served by regular flights to most parts of the archipelago. Air and sea transportation connect the islands with 79 seaports and 25 airports. Roads on many of the islands provide access to the more remote places of interest.
