Simeulue is an island of

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

, off the west coast of

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 list of islands by area, sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km2 (182,812 mi. ...

. It covers an area of 1,754 square kilometre (677 square miles), including minor offshore islands. It had a population of 80,674 at the 2010 census and 92,865 at the 2020 census. The official estimate as at mid 2021 was 93,762. Simeulue was once a part of West Aceh Regency but was split off in 1999 and became a separate Simeulue Regency. Its capital is Sinabang.

Demographics

From the ethnic point of view the inhabitants of Simeulue are similar to the people of neighboring

Nias Nias (, Nias: ''Tanö Niha'') is an island located off the western coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. Nias is also the name of the archipelago () of which the island is the centre, but also includes the Batu Islands to the southeast and the small ...

Island. Two languages and a number of dialects are spoken on the island: Simeulue and Sigulai, which are different from the languages spoken in the north of Sumatra. The majority of the island's population is

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

History

In the 17th century Tengku Di brought

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

to the island and the first mosque was built in Salur villiage. Simeulue was historically known to European mariners as "Hog Island"JH Moor '' Notices of the Indian Archipelago'' (1837)
p103
; retrieved 27 January 2019 and served as a landfall for ships seeking ports on the west coast of Sumatra for the pepper trade. It was also known as "Pulo Oo", or "Coconut Island". Some historians suggest the fictional islands of Lilliput and Blefuscu in

Gulliver's Travels ''Gulliver's Travels'', originally titled ''Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. In Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of Several Ships'', is a 1726 prose satire by the Anglo-Irish writer and clerg ...

(1726) might be described as two of Simeulue's remote islands in the Indian Ocean: Devayan and Sigulai. In 1901 during the

Aceh War The Aceh War (), also known as the Dutch War or the Infidel War (1873–1904), was an armed military conflict between the Sultanate of Aceh and the Kingdom of the Netherlands which was triggered by discussions between representatives of Aceh ...

the

Dutch colonial empire The Dutch colonial empire () comprised overseas territories and trading posts under some form of Dutch control from the early 17th to late 20th centuries, including those initially administered by Dutch chartered companies—primarily the Du ...

government took control of Simeulue. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

the Dutch admitted to Japan and there was set up a regiment made up the Simeuluean population.

1904 Tsunami

On the 4th of January 1907 the 1907 Sumatra earthquake with a 7.5-8 magnitude earthquake shook the seabed off the West coast of Simeulue and caused a tsunami with waves reported to be 10-15 meters high. This tsunami led to the death of more than 50% (some report as high as 70%) of the Simeulue population.

2004 Indian Ocean earthquake

Simeulue was close to the epicenter of the 9.3

magnitude Magnitude may refer to: Mathematics *Euclidean vector, a quantity defined by both its magnitude and its direction *Magnitude (mathematics), the relative size of an object *Norm (mathematics), a term for the size or length of a vector *Order of ...

26 December 2004 earthquake. On 28 March 2005, an 8.7

earthquake struck with its epicenter just off the south end of the island. During the earthquake, Simeulue rose at least 2 metre (6 ft) on the western coast; this left the flat top of its

coral reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in group ...

s above

high tide Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide tables ...

. On the east coast, the land was submerged, with

seawater Seawater, or sea water, is water from a sea or ocean. On average, seawater in the world's oceans has a salinity of about 3.5% (35 g/L, 35 ppt, 600 mM). This means that every kilogram (roughly one liter by volume) of seawater has approximat ...

flooding fields and settlements. Although Simeulue Island was only 60 kilometers from the

epicenter The epicenter (), epicentre, or epicentrum in seismology is the point on the Earth's surface directly above a hypocenter or focus, the point where an earthquake or an underground explosion originates. Determination The primary purpose of a ...

of the 2004 earthquake, whereas

Banda Aceh Banda Aceh (; , Jawi script, Jawi: ) is the capital and largest city in the province of Aceh, Indonesia. It is located on the island of Sumatra and has an elevation of 35 metres. The city covers an area of and had a population of 223,446 peopl ...

– the city that was hit hardest by the

tsunami A tsunami ( ; from , ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and underwater explosions (including detonations, ...

– was about 250 kilometers away, only seven residents on Simeulue died, while the remaining 70,000 survived. This has been argued to have been due to local wisdom of the 'smong' (meaning

Tsunami A tsunami ( ; from , ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and underwater explosions (including detonations, ...

) that educates the listener in the warning signs of a tsunami and advises them to seek higher ground.

Oral Traditions

Historically, Simeulue society, culture and practices are guided by ancestral indigenous wisdom which are passed down through oral tradition. These oral traditions include Nandong (humming with kedang and or violin), nanga-nanga (sung storytelling) and mananga-nanga (lullabies). These traditions have allowed for stories such as the 'smong' to be passed down generationally

Tourism

Over the past ten years Simeulue has become a popular surfing destination. The southwest-facing portion of the island is home to surf resorts.

References

External links

*{{commonscat inline, Simeulue Islands of Sumatra Islands of the Indian Ocean Populated places in Indonesia