View source for Halmahera

{{Short description|Island of the Maluku Islands in Indonesia}}
{{Infobox islands
| name = Halmahera
| image_name = Corner of Halmahera Island.jpg
| image_caption = Coastline of Halmahera
| locator_map = 
| native_name = 
| native_name_link = 
| location = [[South East Asia]]
| coordinates = {{Coord|0.65|N|127.90|E|type:isle_scale:2500000|display=inline,title}}
| archipelago = [[Maluku Islands]]
| pushpin_map = Indonesia North Maluku#Indonesia Maluku and Western New Guinea#Indonesia
| total_islands = 
| major_islands = 
| area_km2 = 17780
| rank = 51st
| highest_mount = [[Mount Gamkonora]]
| elevation_m = 1560
| country = {{flag|Indonesia}}
| country_admin_divisions_title = Province
| country_admin_divisions = {{flag|North Maluku}}
| country_largest_city = [[Tobelo]]
| country_largest_city_population = 
| population = 667,161
| population_as_of = 2024
| density_km2 = 37.5
| ethnic_groups = [[Tobelo people|Tobelo]], [[Bugis]], [[Togutil people|Togutil]], Ibu, Gamkonora, [[Galela language|Galela]], Sahu, Waioli, [[Modole]], Pagu, Kao, [[Sawai language|Sawai]], [[Gane language|Gane]], [[Buli language (Indonesia)|Buli]], [[Maba language (Indonesia)|Maba]], [[Loloda]], [[Tabaru]], and [[Patani language|Patani]]. Significant migrant groups include [[Sangir people|Sangir]], Ternate, [[Tidore people|Tidore]], Makian, and Javanese.
| image_map = File:Morotai and Halmehera Islands.jpg
| image_map_caption = Small scale map of the island
}}
'''Halmahera''', formerly known as '''Jilolo''', '''Gilolo''', or '''Jailolo''', is the largest [[island]] in the [[Maluku Islands]]. It is part of the [[North Maluku]] [[Provinces of Indonesia|province]] of [[Indonesia]], and [[Sofifi]], the capital of the province, is located on the west coast of the island.

Halmahera has a land area of {{cvt|17780|km2}}.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Halmahera {{!}} Largest of the Spice Islands {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Halmahera |access-date=2023-06-18 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref> It is the largest island of Indonesia outside the five main islands. It had a population of 162,728 in 1995; by 2010, it had increased to 449,938 for the island itself (excluding the tip which is considered part of the Joronga Islands, but including [[Gebe]] and Ju islands) and 667,161 for the island group (including all of South Halmahera and [[Tidore]], but not [[Ternate]]).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.citypopulation.de/php/indonesia-admin.php |title=Indonesia: Administrative Division (Provinces, Regencies and Cities) – Population Statistics, Charts and Map |website=www.citypopulation.de |access-date=11 April 2018 |archive-date=3 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141003085904/http://www.citypopulation.de/php/indonesia-admin.php |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.halmaheraselatankab.go.id/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=152:penduduk-halsel&catid=62:penduduk&Itemid=41 |title=Penduduk Halsel |access-date=2013-07-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004215705/http://www.halmaheraselatankab.go.id/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=152%3Apenduduk-halsel&catid=62%3Apenduduk&Itemid=41 |archive-date=2013-10-04 }}</ref> Approximately half of the island's inhabitants are [[Islam in Indonesia|Muslim]] and half are [[Christianity in Indonesia|Christian]].

==History==
[[File:Natives of Halmahera Island.jpg|left|upright|thumb|A [[Togutil people|Togutil]] man of interior island of Halmahera.]]

Sparsely populated Halmahera's fortunes have long been closely tied to those of the smaller islands of [[Ternate]] and [[Tidore]], both off its west coast. This island was the site of [[Sultanate of Jailolo]], one of the four kingdoms of Maluku (''Maloko Kië Raha'', of [[Sultanate of Ternate|Ternate]], [[Sultanate of Tidore|Tidore]], [[Sultanate of Bacan|Bacan]], and Jailolo) in the era before [[Dutch East India Company]] [[colonialism|colonized]] the entire archipelago. The north of the island is also the base of [[Loloda Kingdom]], one of the earlier 13th century Moluccan kingdoms, but not recognized as one of the prominent four.<ref name="Handoko">{{cite journal|last=Handoko|first=Wuri|date=2017|title=Kerajaan Loloda: Melacak Jejak Arkeologi Dan Sejarah|journal=Kapata Arkeologi|volume=13|issue=2|pages=179–194|doi=10.24832/kapata.v13i2.423|issn=2503-0876|lang=id|ref={{sfnref|Handoko, Wuri|(2017)}}|doi-access=free}}</ref>

During [[World War II]], Halmahera was the site of a [[Empire of Japan|Japanese]] naval base at [[Kao, Indonesia|Kao]] Bay.

In 1999 and 2000, Halmahera was the site of violence that began as a purely ethnic dispute between residents of (mainly Christian) [[Kao, Indonesia|Kao]] and (entirely Muslim) [[List of districts of North Maluku|Malifut]] districts and then took on a religious nature as it spread through much of the North Moluccas, called the [[Maluku sectarian conflict]]. Thousands of people on Halmahera were killed in the fighting between religious militias. In June 2000, about five hundred people were killed when a [[ferry]] carrying [[refugee]]s from the fighting on Halmahera sank off the northeast tip of [[Sulawesi]] island. Conspiracy theories about this event abound. A memorial to this tragedy can be found in Duma village in [[North Halmahera Regency]].

Today, much transportation to the rest of Indonesia is through connections on the provincial capital, [[Ternate]] island although [[Tobelo]], the largest town on Halmahera, also has direct ferry and cargo sea links to [[Surabaya]] and [[Manado]].{{citation needed|date=December 2010}}

Particularly, since the inauguration of the first ever directly elected [[bupati]] (regent head), Tobelo is undergoing rapid development and is aiming at rivaling Ternate's historical dominance.{{citation needed|date=December 2010}} As it is surrounded by flat land, Tobelo has the potential for expansion.{{citation needed|date=April 2015}} Ternate is limited by its size, being a small island which can be driven around in forty-five minutes. Also, in 2010, the provincial government moved the provincial capital from Ternate City to [[Sofifi]], a small village on the Halmahera coast opposite [[Tidore]] island.

North Maluku Province consists of eight regencies and two municipalities (cities); five of the regencies and one municipality include a part of Halmahera island. The regencies are [[North Halmahera]], [[West Halmahera]], [[East Halmahera Regency|East Halmahera]], [[Central Halmahera Regency|Central Halmahera]], [[South Halmahera Regency|South Halmahera]], [[Morotai]], [[Sula Islands]] and [[Taliabu]], while the municipalities are [[Ternate]] and [[Tidore|Tidore Islands]]. Only Ternate Municipality, and Morotai, the Sula Islands and Taliabu regencies do not include any part of Halmahera.

The coastal area of Halmahera is inhabited by the [[Tobelo people]] (or the ''O'Hoberera Manyawa'' (literally "people that live outside of the forest")),<ref name="ppman">{{cite web | title=Mengenal O'Hongana Manyawa di Hutan Halmahera yang 'Dikepung' Tambang Nikel | website=ppman | date=2024-03-23 | url=https://ppman.org/mengenal-ohongana-manyawa-di-hutan-halmahera-yang-dikepung-tambang-nikel/ | language=id | access-date=2024-06-12}}</ref> while a small semi-nomadic related population lives on the inner parts of Halmahera, the [[Togutil people]] (or the ''O'Hongana Manyawa'' (literally "people that live inside of the forest")) with an estimated 1,500–3,000 people (according to studies of ethnologists since 2001).<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.academia.edu/68736748 | title=The Practice of Local Wisdom of Tobelo Dal a m ( Togutil ) Tribal Community in Forest Conservation in Halmahera, Indonesia | date=January 2014 | last1=Tamalene | first1=M. Nasir }}</ref><ref>https://www.academia.edu/1933038/Duncan_Christopher_R_2001_S avage_Imagery_Mis_Representations_of_the_Forest_Tobelo_of_Indonesia_The_Asia_Pacific_Journal_of_Anthropology_2_1_45_62</ref> Somewhere between 300 and 500 people live in isolation in the forest in the [[Aketajawe-Lolobata National Park]] where they obtain their means of subsistence.<ref>https://www.academia.edu/34706882/LOCAL_KNOWLEDGE_OF_MANAGEMENT_SYSTEM_OF_FOREST_ECOSYSTEM_BY_TOGUTIL_ETHNIC_GROUP_ON_HALMAHERA_ISLAND_INDONESIA_ TRADITIONAL_UTILIZATION_AND_CONSERVATION</ref> Uncontacted members are being threatened by a massive Indonesian mining project to produce nickel for electric car batteries.<ref>{{Cite web |date=4 April 2023 |title=NEWS: Indonesia: Uncontacted tribe being destroyed for electric car batteries |url=https://www.survivalinternational.org/news/13670 |access-date=6 April 2023 |website=[[Survival International]] |archive-date=6 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230406165511/https://www.survivalinternational.org/news/13670 |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Geology==
[[File:Halmahera Topography.png|thumb|left|upright|Topography of Halmahera]]

The volcanic island lies on an [[island arc]] that includes the [[Raja Ampat Islands]], all uplifted by the northward migration of the [[Australia (continent)|continent of Australia]] and subduction of the [[Pacific Plate]]. [[Dukono]] is an active volcano at the north end of the island. [[Mount Ibu]] is an active volcano on the island's northwest coast. [[Ultramafic]] rocks and [[ophiolites]] form the bedrock over large areas of the eastern peninsula.<ref>https://volcano.oregonstate.edu/dukono Dukono|Volcano World|Oregon State University</ref>

==Ecology==
[[File:Semioptera wallacei by Bowdler Sharpe.jpg|thumb|right|upright|''[[Semioptera wallacii]]'' by [[Richard Bowdler Sharpe]] (1847–1909)]]
{{main|Halmahera rain forests}}

The [[flightless]] [[invisible rail]] is [[endemic]] to the island.<ref name=IUCN>{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2016 |title=''Habroptila wallacii'' |volume=2016 |article-number=e.T22692781A93369321 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22692781A93369321.en |access-date=11 November 2021}}</ref> The recently discovered palm tree ''[[Jailoloa halmaherensis]]'' is also endemic to Halmahera.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Three new genera of arecoid palm (Arecaceae) from eastern Malesia |year=2014 |last1=Heatubun |first1=Charlie D. |last2=Zona |first2=Scott |last3=Baker |first3=William J. |journal=Kew Bulletin |volume=69 |issue=3 |page=9525 |doi=10.1007/s12225-014-9525-x |bibcode=2014KewBu..69.9525H |s2cid=24848021}}</ref>

The naturalist [[Alfred Russel Wallace]] visited Halmahera, as described in his 1869 book ''[[The Malay Archipelago]]''. He considered the [[standardwing]] [[Bird-of-paradise|bird of paradise]], ''Semioptera wallacii'', to be his greatest prize.<ref>{{cite web |title=Halmahera and Wallace's Greatest Prize: The Standardwing Bird of Paradise |url=http://wallacefund.info/halmahera-and-wallace-s-greatest-prize-standardwing-bird-paradise |publisher=Wallace Fund |access-date=1 April 2015 |archive-date=24 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180924070703/http://wallacefund.info/halmahera-and-wallace-s-greatest-prize-standardwing-bird-paradise }}</ref> It was in February 1858, on the island of [[Ternate]] (or perhaps while on Halmahera itself), between bouts of fever, that Wallace came to the idea of natural selection via the survival of the fittest. Wallace wrote his ideas during the next couple of days, and sent the historical letter to [[Charles Darwin|Darwin]].

==Mining==

Halmahera is the site of several [[mining]] projects.

[[PT Weda Bay Nickel]] operates a nickel and cobalt mining project in North and Central Halmahera Regencies, the [[Weda Bay Industrial Park]]. It is one of the world's largest nickel mining operations.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ej Atlas |url=https://ejatlas.org/conflict/indonesia-weda-bay-industrial-park-iwip-north-maluku-indonesia |access-date=2024-12-20 |website=ejatlas.org}}</ref> The Indonesian government has prohibited the export of unprocessed nickel ore since 2022.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Prohibition of the export of nickel ore – Policies |url=https://www.iea.org/policies/16084-prohibition-of-the-export-of-nickel-ore |access-date=2024-12-20 |website=IEA |language=en-GB}}</ref> As a result, the ore must first be processed on the island before being exported. A total of 11 (with three more in construction) power plants have already been built for this process. The park is likely to get even bigger. Several investors have already been found willing to invest.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.dw.com/en/indonesian-island-fights-to-curb-impact-of-toxic-nickel-mine/video-69496808 |title=Indonesian island fights to curb impact of toxic nickel mine – DW – 07/06/2024 |language=en |access-date=2024-12-20 |via=www.dw.com}}</ref> The increased demand for nickel for batteries is one of the reasons for the growth.

===Image gallery===

<gallery widths="200px" heights="120px" class="center" >
File:Weda Bay Nickel site.jpg|A Weda Bay nickel camp site at Tanjung Ulie cape on Halmahera island
File:Rig Crew on Halmahera Island.jpg|A rig crew looking for minerals
File:Halmahera_Island.jpg|Tropical Rainforest on Halmahera island
File:Edge_of_Aketajawe-Lolobata_National_Park.jpg|Edge of Aketajawe-Lolobata National park
</gallery>

== References ==
{{reflist}}
{{Portal|Islands}}

== External links ==
*{{Commons category-inline|Halmahera}}

{{Maluku-islands}}
{{North Maluku}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Halmahera| ]]
[[Category:Islands of the Maluku Islands]]
[[Category:Landforms of North Maluku]]
[[Category:Populated places in Indonesia]]
[[Category:Islands of Indonesia]]