Located off the northwest tip of Bird's Head Peninsula on the island of New Guinea, in Indonesia's West Papua province, Raja Ampat, or the Four Kings, is an archipelago comprising 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.
Raja Ampat Regency is a new regency which separated from Sorong Regency in 2004. It encompasses more than 40,000 km² of land and sea, which also contains Cenderawasih Bay, the largest marine national park in Indonesia. It is a part of the newly named West Papua (province) of Indonesia which was formerly Irian Jaya. Some of the islands are the most northern pieces of land in the Australian continent.
History
The name of Raja Ampat comes from local mythology that tells about a woman who finds seven eggs. Four of the seven eggs hatch and become kings that occupy four of Raja Ampat biggest islands whilst the other three become a ghost, a woman, and a stone.
History shows that Raja Ampat was once a part of Tidore Kingdom, an influential kingdom from Maluku. Yet, after Holland
invaded Maluku, it was shortly claimed as a part of the kingdom of
Holland. 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. Their religion is
dominantly Christian.
Geography
Marine biodiversity of RajaAmpat
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 in terms of 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 Timor-Leste. 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 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.
1,309 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.
Although accessing the islands is not that difficult, it takes some
time. It takes six hours flight from Jakarta, the capital city of
Indonesia to Sorong. Then, taking boat to reach the islands is
necessary.
