Yapen (also Japan, Jobi) is an island of Papua, Indonesia. The Yapen Strait separates Yapen and the Biak Islands to the north. It is in Cenderawasih Bay off the north-western coast of the island of

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torres ...

. To the west is

Mios Num Mios Num (aka: Num, Indonesian language: ''Pulau Mios Num'') is an island of the Yapen Islands group, in Papua Province of Western New Guinea, northeastern Indonesia. It is in Cenderawasih Bay. The Mios Num Strait separates it from Yap ...

Island across the Mios Num Strait, and to the east

Kurudu Island Kurudu Island is an island which lies east of Yapen Island in Cenderawasih Bay, lying off the north coast of Papua Province of Indonesia. It covers an area of 21.49 km2 and had a population of 1,585 at the 2020 Census.Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakar ...

. Off the southeast coast of Yapen are the

Amboi Islands The Ambai Islands chain (''Kepulauan Ambai'') form an archipelago of small islands off the southern coast of Yapen Island, in Cenderawasih Bay and Papua Province in Western New Guinea, northeastern Indonesia. Islands The archipelago has five ma ...

and to the southwest are the

Kuran Islands The Kuran Islands (''Kepulauan Kuran'') are a group of small scattered islands, and part of the Yapen Islands archipelago in Papua Province of Western New Guinea, northeastern Indonesia. They are located off the southwestern coast of Yapen Island ...

. Together these islands form the

Yapen Islands Regency Yapen Islands Regency is a regency (''kabupaten'') in Papua Province of eastern Indonesia. It covers an area of , and had a population of 82,951 at the 2010 Census and 112,676 at the 2020 Census. The official estimate as at mid 2021 was 114,210. It ...

within the province of Papua. It is populated with communities of Yobi, Randowaya, Serui, and Ansus. Its highest point is . First recorded sighting by Europeans is by Spanish navigator Álvaro de Saavedra who landed on 24 June 1528 when trying to return from

Tidore Tidore ( id, Kota Tidore Kepulauan, lit. "City of Tidore Islands") is a city, island, and archipelago in the Maluku Islands of eastern Indonesia, west of the larger island of Halmahera. Part of North Maluku Province, the city includes the island ...

New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( es, Virreinato de Nueva España, ), or Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain during the Spanish colonization of the A ...

. It was then charted as ''Paine'' within the ''Islas de Oro'' (Golden Islands in Spanish), as they called Yapen and the present day Schoutens. In 1545 it was visited by Íñigo Órtiz de Retes on board of

galleon Galleons were large, multi-decked sailing ships first used as armed cargo carriers by European states from the 16th to 18th centuries during the age of sail and were the principal vessels drafted for use as warships until the Anglo-Dutch ...

''San Juan''. The earthquake of 1979 caused serious damage and killed at least 115 people on the island.

Ecology

The island has been designated the

Yapen rain forests The Yapen rain forests is a tropical moist forest ecoregion in Indonesia. The ecoregion covers the island of Yapen and smaller neighboring islands which lie north of New Guinea. Geography The ecoregion covers the island of Yapen, and the smaller ...

ecoregion by the World Wildlife Federation for its unique bird life and flora. Two protected areas cover a third of the island, whose population is growing with subsequent clearance of forest for planting and firewood.

References

01 Islands of Western New Guinea Cenderawasih Bay Landforms of Papua (province) {{Papua-geo-stub

Ecology

See also

References