Rondo Island ( id, Pulau Rondo; ace, Pulo Rondo) is Indonesia's northernmost territory,2007
Atoll Research Bulletin
Issue 544, Page 48] located in the

Andaman Sea The Andaman Sea (historically also known as the Burma Sea) is a marginal sea of the northeastern Indian Ocean bounded by the coastlines of Myanmar and Thailand along the Gulf of Martaban and west side of the Malay Peninsula, and separated from ...

, with a 0.650 km² area 35m above sea level. The island is one of the outlying islands of Indonesia in the

Aceh Aceh ( ), officially the Aceh Province ( ace, Nanggroë Acèh; id, Provinsi Aceh) is the westernmost province of Indonesia. It is located on the northernmost of Sumatra island, with Banda Aceh being its capital and largest city. Granted a s ...

province of the

Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...

region. It is administratively part of Ujung Bau village in the Sukakarya District of Sabang City, whose administration center is on

Weh Island Weh Island (Indonesian: Pulau Weh), often known as Sabang after the city of which the island is administrated, is a small active volcanic island to the northwest of Sumatra, 45 minutes by fast regular ship or 2 hours by ferry from mainland, ...

, south of Rondo. Rondo is 50 km offshore from Indonesia's Sumatra mainland. This otherwise uninhabited island, accessible only by boat, has an Indonesian military outpost with a heliport and blue-roofed

barracks Barracks are usually a group of long buildings built to house military personnel or laborers. The English word originates from the 17th century via French and Italian from an old Spanish word "barraca" ("soldier's tent"), but today barracks are u ...

, an adjacent lighthouse complex with a red-roofed lighthouse keeper's house and a white

skeletal A skeleton is the structural frame that supports the body of an animal. There are several types of skeletons, including the exoskeleton, which is the stable outer shell of an organism, the endoskeleton, which forms the support structure inside ...

lighthouse topped with a viewing gallery and

lantern A lantern is an often portable source of lighting, typically featuring a protective enclosure for the light sourcehistorically usually a candle or a wick in oil, and often a battery-powered light in modern timesto make it easier to carry and h ...

. India's southernmost territory ( Indira Point) on Great Nicobar Island of the

Nicobar Islands The Nicobar Islands are an archipelagic island chain in the eastern Indian Ocean. They are located in Southeast Asia, northwest of Aceh on Sumatra, and separated from Thailand to the east by the Andaman Sea. Located southeast of the Indian s ...

is approximately 84 miles or 135 km to the north from the Indonesia's northernmost territory on Rondo Island.James Horsburgh, 1852
The India Directory, Or, Directions for Sailing to and from the East Indies
Page 63. Centered 21 km or 13 miles northwest of Rondo, between Indonesia and India, is a submerged sandy and rocky

coral Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and sec ...

shoal In oceanography, geomorphology, and geoscience, a shoal is a natural submerged ridge, bank, or bar that consists of, or is covered by, sand or other unconsolidated material and rises from the bed of a body of water to near the surface. It ...

with a minimum depth of 51m. The island is surrounded by a mile (1.7 km) wide

reef A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral or similar relatively stable material, lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic processes— deposition of sand, wave erosion planing down rock out ...

which has a steep marine slope on its edges. On the southern edge of island's reef are 14 small rocky islets, at distances between 0.9 and 1.7 km. Between these islets and Weh Island is a 16–20 km or 3-3.5 leagues wide safe navigable channel. Before the advent of modern shipping, shipping between Rondo and Weh Islands was considered safer due to calmer seas.James Horsburgh, 1805
Memoirs: Comprising the Navigation to and from China
Page 21. Rondo island, nicknamed ''"Guardian of Indonesia"'', borders exclusive economic zones of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and Exclusive economic zone of Thailand, Thailand, and lies on a Maritime Silk Route, strategically important shipping route where commercial shipping vessels to and from the Indian Ocean pass north of Rondo. India and Indonesia are upgrading the Sabang deepsea port under the India–Indonesia relations#Strategic, strategic economic and military partnership to enhance the regional connectivity, safety, security, and to protect the Andaman Sea and Strait of Malacca channel between Great Nicobar Island and Rondo Island (c. 2019).Eyeing Southeast Asia, India builds port in Indonesia
The Economic Times, Economic Times, March 20, 2019. The Piracy in the Strait of Malacca, area around Rondo Island is known for the threat of piracy.John Burnett, 2003
Dangerous Waters

History

Fei Xin (1385 – after 1436), a military man from the fleet of the Ming dynasty, Ming admiral Zheng He, in his book on countries Ming treasure voyages, visited by Chinese ships described an island in the middle of an important shipping route where north Sumatran natives in dugout canoes traded precious stones, Ambergris#ChineseDragon's Spittle Perfume, Spittle Perfume (ambergris), coconuts, bananas and fish organs with sailors in exchange for gold coins. He described the native religion of the region as Buddhist, and mentioned the island's Buddhist temple and rock with a 3ft-long footprint of Buddha. He described the habits and customs of the natives as liberal and simple but rich in form. Both women and men shaved their heads and covered their bodies with leaves instead of clothes. ''"Lung-Hsien-Hsu"'' was the Chinese name of the island, which has been identified with Rondo, Weh and Breueh Island in the ocean of Lambri (an Indianisation, Indianised north Sumatran kingdom from Srivijaya era) and Lemuria (continent), Lemuria (hypothetical lost land with an Kumari Kandam, ancient Tamil civilization).Xin Fei (trabslated by Roderich Ptak), 1996
Hsing-chʻa-sheng-lan: The Overall Survey of the Star Raft
Page 60-66.Gavin Menzies, 2009
1434: The Year a Magnificent Chinese Fleet Sailed to Italy
Page 42. A 1698–1700 CE journal of the China–France_relations#17th_and_18th_centuries, first French embassy to China also documents Rondo island as a stop en route to China.Translated by S. Bannister, 1859
A journal of the first French embassy to China, 1698–1700
Page 63. Danish shipliner Maersk's largest cargo ship ran aground off Rondo island on January 6, 1922, and was a total loss.Ove Hornby, 1988
With Constant Care--: A.P. Møller: Shipowner 1876–1965
Page 93.

Ecology

The topography of the half sphere shaped island, with a somewhat flattened top, is wooded and steepest on its north side. The island is completely covered in tropical rainforest. The fauna includes many species of snakes.1989, Sailing Directions (enroute) for the Strait of Malacca and Sumatera, Defence Mapping Agency's Hydrographic/Topographic Center,, 5th ed, 31–32.The Most Remote And Small Island In Indonesia
Indonesia Travel Guide. The region around the island is rich in marine habitats.Rondo Island, The Rich Uninhabited Island
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Tourism

The island is popular with Scuba diving, scuba divers. Sailboats can anchor at a depth of 14 m between northwest to southwest off the island only during Monsoon#Northeast_monsoon, northeast monsoon. Strong rip tides around the island extend up to 32 km or 20 miles west to northwest.Pulau Rhondo
Sea-Seek.

References

Underwater diving sites in Indonesia Islands of Aceh {{aceh-geo-stub

History

Ecology

Tourism

See also

References