The Sangihe Islands (also spelled "Sangir", "Sanghir" or "Sangi") – id, Kepulauan Sangihe – are a group of
island
An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...
s which constitute two regencies within the province of
North Sulawesi
North Sulawesi ( id, Sulawesi Utara) is a province of Indonesia. It is located on the Minahasa Peninsula of Sulawesi, south of the Philippines and southeast of Sabah, Malaysia. It borders the Philippine province of Davao Occidental and Soccsks ...
, in northern
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
, the
Sangihe Islands Regency
The Sangihe Islands Regency ( id, Kabupaten Kepulauan Sangihe) is a regency of North Sulawesi Province, Indonesia. It comprises a group of islands situated to the North of Sulawesi. It covers a land area of 736.98 km2, and had a population of 126, ...
(''Kabupaten Kepulauan Sangihe'') and the
Sitaro Islands Regency
Sitaro Islands Regency ( id, Kabupaten Kepulauan Sitaro, although its formal name is ''Kabupaten Kepulauan Siau Tagulandang Biaro'') is a regency located off the northern extremity of Sulawesi Island in the southern Sangihe Islands, North Sulawesi ...
(''Kabupaten Siau Tagulandang Biaro''). They are located north-east of
Sulawesi
Sulawesi (), also known as Celebes (), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the world's eleventh-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Mindanao and the Sulu Ar ...
between the
Celebes Sea
The Celebes Sea, (; ms, Laut Sulawesi, id, Laut Sulawesi, fil, Dagat Selebes) or Sulawesi Sea, of the western Pacific Ocean is bordered on the north by the Sulu Archipelago and Sulu Sea and Mindanao Island of the Philippines, on the east b ...
and the
Molucca Sea
The Molucca Sea (Indonesian: ''Laut Maluku'') is located in the western Pacific Ocean, around the vicinity of Indonesia, specifically bordered by the Indonesian Islands of Celebes (Sulawesi) to the west, Halmahera to the east, and the Sula Islan ...
, roughly halfway between Sulawesi and
Mindanao
Mindanao ( ) ( Jawi: مينداناو) is the second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the island is part of an island group of ...
, in the
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
; the Sangihes form the eastern limit of the Celebes Sea. The islands combine to total , with many of the islands being actively
volcanic
A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface.
On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates a ...
with fertile soil and mountains.
The main islands of the group are, north to south,
Sangir Besar (or Sangir Island),
Siau (or Siao),
Tahulandang, and
Biaro. The largest island is Sangir Besar and contains an active volcano,
Mount Awu
Mount Awu ( id, Gunung Awu) is the largest volcano in the Sangihe chain, located on Sangir Island in North Sulawesi, Indonesia. Powerful eruptions occurred in 1711, 1812, 1856, 1892 and 1966 with devastating pyroclastic flows and lahars that ha ...
().
Tahuna is the chief town and
port
A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...
, also hosting the islands' sole airport,
Naha Airport
is a second class airport located west of the city hall[AIS Japan](_blank)
in Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
control in 1677, and became part of Indonesia when it declared independence from the Netherlands in 1945.
The
Sangir language
Sangirese, also known as ''Sangihé, Sangi'', and ''Sangih'', is an Austronesian language spoken on the islands linking northern Sulawesi, Indonesia, with Mindanao, Philippines by the Sangirese people.
It belongs to the Philippine group within ...
is spoken in the islands; this
Austronesian language is also spoken in some islands in the Philippines, and on the extreme northern tip of Sulawesi.
The
Sangihe tectonic plate
Plate tectonics (from the la, label=Late Latin, tectonicus, from the grc, τεκτονικός, lit=pertaining to building) is the generally accepted scientific theory that considers the Earth's lithosphere to comprise a number of large te ...
is named after the island arc and is very active.
In 2007, the Sitaro Islands (named for its three largest islands - SIau island, TAgulandang island and BiaRO island) became a new regency by separation from the Sangihe Islands. The population for these island groups was 189,676 at the 2010 Census, comprising 126,133 in the Sangihe Islands Regency and 63,543 in the Sitaro Islands Regency.
Marore Island
Marore Island is one of the coordinate points in the Sangihe Islands used to determine the
baselines of Indonesia
The territorial waters of Indonesia are defined according to the principles set out in Article 46 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Their boundary consists of straight lines ("baselines") linking 195 coordinate points locate ...
. 15 years ago the practice of illegal
fish bombing damaged the
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 ...
and
mangrove
A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evoluti ...
ecosystems. In 2012, recovery of coral was observed, but not yet for mangrove.
See also
*
List of extinct birds
Around 129 species of birds have become extinct since 1500, and the rate of extinction seems to be increasing. The situation is exemplified by Hawaii, where 30% of all known recently extinct bird taxa originally lived. Other areas, such as Gua ...
Notes
Archipelagoes of Indonesia
Landforms of the Celebes Sea
Landforms of North Sulawesi
Islands of Sulawesi
Former disputed islands
Territorial disputes of Indonesia
Territorial disputes of the Philippines
{{NSulawesi-geo-stub
id:Kepulauan Sangihe