Riau islands

The province of Kepulauan Riau or islands of Riau was officially formed in 2002 by removing its insular part with the province of Riau, which does not consist any more from now on but of the part located on the large island of Sumatra. It is composed, as its name indicates it archipelago of Riau which is made of some 3.000 to 3.200 islands. This province is bordered:

in north, by the southernmost China Sea,
in the east, by the international border with the Federation of Malaysia and the province of Kalimantan Barat (Western Kalimantan),
in the south, by the provinces of Jambi and Sumatera Selatan (Southern Sumatra) and
in the west, by the province of Riau and the international border with the Republic of Singapore and the Malaysia.

Its capital is Tanjungpinang on the island of Bintan, close to Singapore.

The other important islands are Batam, Karimun and the islands Natuna.

History

The archipelago of Riau is located on one of oldest maritime trade route of the world, which connects China to India and the Middle East.

One found an inscription Buddhist with Pasir Panjang in the island of Karimun, which one dated from IXe century.

According to the tradition, Parameswara, a prince of the kingdom of Sriwijaya in the south of Sumatra, refusing the suzerainty of the kingdom of Majapahit in the east of the island of Java, takes refuge on the island of Temasek (current the Singapore), but is finally established on the west coast of the Malayan Péninsule about 1400 and founds Malacca. In 1511, a Portuguese fleet, started from Goa to India under the command of the viceroy Afonso de Albuquerque, seizes Malacca, which had become the largest wearing of Southeast Asia. The Mahmud Sultan takes refuge in the island of Bintan. The Portuguese destroy the place in 1526. The sultan founds a new capital with Johor with the southern point of the Malayan Péninsule.

The Treated of London of 1824 , signed between the English and the Dutchmen, grants to the latter control territories asserted by Europeans in the south of Singapore, founded in 1819 by Thomas Stamford Raffles. Riau finds thus separate sultanate of Johor. More generally, this treaty marks the separation of the world Malayan in two parts, one being today in the Federation of Malaysia and the other in the Republic of Indonesia

Language and culture

The achipel of Riau is regarded as the cradle of the Malayan language , spoken on the east coast about Sumatra, in addition to in Riau, in the provinces of Northern Sumatra, Jambi and Southern Sumatra, on the coastal strip of the provinces of Western Kalimantan and Kalimantan of the South to Borneo, in the Federation of Malaysia) and with Singapore. The first modern Malayan grammar, the Bustanul Katibin , was written in Bintan in 1857.

Three inscriptions, gone back to 683,684 and 686, and written in an antiquated form of Malayan, reveal the existence of a kadatuan (principality) named Sriwijaya. This city-State was on the site of current Palembang. Arab and Chinese texts confirm that Sriwijaya was a powerful State which controlled the sea traffic in the Détroit of Malacca, at the time already an important international sea route. This power probably supported the use of Malayan like language of exchange between the ports of the area.

Located on the maritime Silk route, Malacca, based on the Malayan peninsula by prince de Sumatra, is an important stopover for the Moslem merchants who control this trade. During XVe century, this city-State becomes in its turn the most important port of the area. The rise of the trade enters the islands made of Malayan the language of the ports and the exchanges the archipelago.

The nationalist movement born at the beginning of the XXe century in the the Indies Dutchwomen quite naturally decides to adopt the Malayan one like language of the future independent nation and " baptizes it; indonésien". In 1928, various associations of young natives of the Indies Dutchwomen, assembled in congress, pronounce a " Oath of Jeunesse" by which they state to adopt three ideals: a fatherland, Indonesia, a nation, the nation indonésienne, a language, the indonésien.

The population of the archipelago of Riau is made up of the following ethnos groups: Malayan, Bugis, Javanese, Sundanais, Arab, Chinese, Minangkabau, Batak, Flora, Banjar of Célèbes.

Economy

The heart of the saving in Riau Insulaire is the island of Batam, located opposite Singapore.

The archipelago of the Natuna is the place of an important activity of exploration and oil production and gas. One finds there in particular a gas field giant, whose license belongs to the American company ExxonMobil. The exploitation of this field encounters a carbonic gas content of 70%. In January 2005, ExxonMobil asked for an extension of 2 years of its license of exploration for Natuna.

Tourism

the island of Bintan is a vacation resort very snuffed of the Singaporeans, who can go there, either directly in two hours of boat, or while passing by the island close to Batam. Its capital, Tanjung Pinang , is an alive small town. It has a museum Jalan Katamso. Most of the old city is always built in the traditional style, i.e. on pile in water. Bintan is a good starting point for the other islands of the area.

Penyengat : One reaches this small island, located at 6 km of Tanjung Pinang, in 15 minutes by Sampan with engine. Sit of powerful viceroys Bugis at the XVIIIe century, Penyengat still carries traces of its famous last. Ruins, abandoned during nearly 70 years, were recently restored. The old palate and of the princely tombs, among which that of respected Sultan Hadji, author of the first modern grammar of the language Malayan E, are among these vestiges of the sultanate of Riau. The old viceregal mosque, Mesjid Striped, is always used. A new arts center gives spectacles of music and Malayan dances .

Natural reserve of Kerumutan : Located in the district of Kuala Kampar, this reserve of 120.000 hectares is at 18 hours of Pekanbaru per boat, by going up a calm river bordered of virgin forest.

Batam : Near to Singapore, this island is at the same time an industrial, commercial and tourist center.
Beaches : With its thousands of islands, the archipelago of Riau abounds in beautiful beaches and spots of diving, among which Trikora on Bintan, to approximately 50 km in the south of Tanjung Pinang in the east of the island. One also finds beautiful beaches on the islands of Terkulai and Soreh, approximately 1 hour from boat of Tanjung Pinang. One of the most popular beaches is Nongsa on Batam, from where the skyscrapers of Singapore are seen.

marine Gardens : One finds them in the islands of Mapor, Abang, Pompong, Balang and Tanjung Berkait.

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