The Banggai

Archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands, or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands. Examples of archipelagos include: the Indonesian Arch ...

( id, Kepulauan Banggai) is a group of islands, which are located at the far eastern end of

Central Sulawesi Central Sulawesi (Indonesian: ''Sulawesi Tengah'') is a province of Indonesia located at the centre of the island of Sulawesi. The administrative capital and largest city is located in Palu. The 2010 census recorded a population of 2,635,009 for ...

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 Gui ...

. It makes up a

regency A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

(''kabupaten'') of

Province of

, created in 1999 by splitting the existing Banggai Regency into a new

Banggai Regency The Banggai Regency ( id, Kabupaten Banggai) is a regency located at the eastern end of Central Sulawesi Province of Indonesia. It makes up a re-established regency (''kabupaten''), created in 1999 by splitting the existing Banggai Regency into th ...

situated on the mainland of Sulawesi (capital, Luwuk) and a Banggai Islands Regency then comprising the entire archipelago (with its capital at Banggai town). In December 2014 a further splitting of the Regency was the removal of the more southerly seven districts (including Banggai Island itself, together with smaller islands to its southwest and southeast) to form a new Banggai Laut Regency. The reduced Banggai Islands Regency thus comprises the main island of Peleng together with various small offshore islands. It covers an area of 2,488.79 km² and has a population of 109,384 at the 2010 census and 120,142 at the 2020 Census; the official estimate as at mid 2021 was 121,684. The archipelago is surrounded by the

Banda Sea The Banda Sea ( id, Laut Banda, pt, Mar de Banda, tet, Tasi Banda) is one of four seas that surround the Maluku Islands of Indonesia, connected to the Pacific Ocean, but surrounded by hundreds of islands, including Timor, as well as the Halma ...

Gulf of Tolo The Gulf of Tolo ( id, Teluk Tolo or '), also known as the Bay of Tolo, is the body of water lying between the eastern and south-eastern peninsulas of the island of Sulawesi (Celebes) in Indonesia. Unlike the Gulf of Tomini to its north or the ...

(''Teluk Tolo''), and the Molucca Sea. The

Peleng Straits Peleng is an island off the east coast of Sulawesi, Indonesia and is the largest island of the Banggai Islands (''Kepulauan Banggai''). It is surrounded by the Banda Sea and Molucca Sea and has an area of 2,406 km². Some of the smaller i ...

(''Selat Peleng'') separate it from mainland

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 ...

Administrative Districts

The Banggai Islands Regency is divided into twelve

districts A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

(''kecamatan''), tabulated below with their areas and their populations at the 2010 Census and the 2020 Census, together with the official estimates as at mid 2021.Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2022. The table also includes the location of the district headquarters, the numbers of administrative villages (rural ''desa'' and urban ''kelurahan'', totalling 141 and 3 respectively) and of offshore islands in each district, and its postal codes. Notes: (a) including ''kelurahan'' of Salakan. (b) including ''kelurahan'' of Bulagi (town). (c) including ''kelurahan'' of Sabang.

Transportation

Merpati Nusantara Airlines PT Merpati Nusantara Airlines, operating as Merpati Nusantara Airlines, was an airline in Indonesia based in Central Jakarta, Jakarta. It operated scheduled domestic services to more than 25 destinations in Indonesia, as well as scheduled intern ...

served the islands from

Palu Palu, which is officially known as the City of Palu ( Indonesian: ''Kota Palu''), is the capital and largest city of Central Sulawesi. Palu is located on the northwestern coast of Sulawesi and borders Donggala Regency to the north and west, Par ...

(the capital of Central Sulawesi Province). There is also a bus service via Luwuk and thence by boat or ship to Banggai.

Endangered Banggai Cardinalfish

The Banggai Islands is home to the

Banggai cardinalfish The Banggai cardinalfish (''Pterapogon kauderni'') is a small tropical cardinalfish in the family Apogonidae. It is the only member of its genus. This attractive fish is popular in the aquarium trade. It is among the relatively few marine fish t ...

. This species has an extremely limited geographic range (5,500 km²) and small total population size (estimated at 2.4 million). The Banggai cardinalfish is composed of isolated populations concentrated around the shallows of 17 large and 10 small islands within the Banggai Archipelago. It is threatened by extinction due to collection for the aquarium trade.

Climate

Salakan has a

tropical rainforest climate A tropical rainforest climate, humid tropical climate or equatorial climate is a tropical climate sub-type usually found within 10 to 15 degrees latitude of the equator. There are some other areas at higher latitudes, such as the coast of southe ...

(Af) with moderate rainfall from August to January and heavy rainfall from February to July.

References

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