Ambon Island
 |
Ceram and Ambon Islands (Operational Navigation Chart, 1967) Not for navigational use |
 |
Ambon City in 2001, showing heavy damage from fighting |
Ambon Island is part of the
Maluku Islands of
Indonesia. The
island has an area of 775 km² (300 sq mi.), and is mountainous, well watered, and fertile.
The main city and
seaport is
Ambon City (1990 pop. 275,888), which is also the capital of
Maluku province. Ambon City has an
airport, and is home to the
Pattimura University, a state
university, and few privates university.
Ambon Island lies off the south-west coast of the much larger
Seram island. It is on the north side of the
Banda Sea, part of a chain of
volcanic isles that form a circle around the sea. It is 51
km (32 miles) in length, and is of very irregular shape, being almost divided into two. The south-eastern and smaller portion, a peninsula (called
Leitimor) is united to the northern (
Hitoe) by a narrow neck of land. Ambon City lies on the north-west of Leitimor, facing Hitoe, and has a safe harbor on Amboyna Bay.
The highest
mountains,
Wawani (1100 m/3609 ft) and
Salahutu (1225 m/4020 ft.), have
hot springs and
solfataras. They are
volcanoes, and the mountains of the neighboring
Uliasser islands, extinct volcanoes.
Granite and
serpentine rocks predominate, but the shores of Amboyna Bay are of
chalk, and contain
stalactite caves.
Wild areas of Ambon Island are covered by
tropical rainforest, part of the
Seram rain forests ecoregion, together with neighboring Seram. Seram, Ambon, and most of Maluku are part of
Wallacea, the group of Indonesian islands that are separated by deep water from both the Asian and Australian continents, and have never been linked to the continents by land.
As a result of this isolation, Ambon has few indigenous mammals; birds are more abundant. The insect diversity of the island, however, is rich, particularly in
butterflies.
Seashells are obtained in great numbers and variety.
Tortoise-shell is also exported.
The average temperature is 80 F., rarely sinking below 72. Rainfall can be heavy, especially after the eastern
monsoons, and the island is vulnerable to violent
typhoons. The dry season (October to April) is coincident with the period of the west monsoon.
Maize and
sago are the chief crops, which also include
breadfruit,
sugarcane,
coffee,
cocoa,
pepper and
cotton. and hunting and fishing supplement the diet.
Nutmeg and
cloves, were once the dominant export crops, and are now produced in limited quantities.
Copra is also exported. Amboina wood, obtained from a local tree (
Pterocarpus indicus), is highly valued for ornamental woodwork, is now mostly grown on
Seram.
The Ambonese are of mixed Malay-Papuan origin. They are mostly
Christians or
Muslims. The predominant language of the island is Ambonese Malay, also called Ambonese. It developed as the trade language of central Maluku, and is spoken elsewhere in Maluku as a second language. Bilingualism in
Indonesian is high around Ambon City.
The
Portuguese were the first European nation to visit Ambon (
1511). They established a factory there in
1521, but did not obtain peaceable possession of it till
1580, and were dispossessed by the
Dutch in
1609. About
1615 the British formed a settlement onthe island at Cambello, which they retained until
1623, when it was destroyed by the Dutch. Frightful tortures inflicted on its unfortunate inhabitants were connected with its destruction. In
1654, after many fruitless negotiations,
Oliver Cromwell compelled the
United Provinces to give the sum of 300,000 gulden, together with a small island, as compensation to the descendants of those who suffered in the "
Ambon Massacre." In
1673 the poet
John Dryden produced his tragedy
Amboyna; or the Cruelties of the Dutch to the English Merchants. In
1796 the British, under Admiral Rainier, captured Ambon, but restored it to the Dutch at the peace of
Amiens, in
1802. It was retaken by the British in
1810, but once more restored to the Dutch in
1814. Ambon used to be the world center of
clove production; until the
nineteenth century, the Dutch prohibited the rearing of the clove-tree in all the other islands subject to their rule, in order to secure the monopoly to Ambon.
During the Dutch period, Ambon City was the seat of the Dutch resident and military commander of the Moluccas. The town was protected by Fort Victoria, and a 1911 encyclopedia characterized it as "a clean little town with wide streets, well planted". The population was divided into two classes
orang burger or citizens, and
orang negri or villagers, the former being a class of native origin enjoying certain privileges conferred on their ancestors by the old Dutch East India Company. There were also, besides the Dutch, some
Arabs,
Chinese and a few
Portuguese settlers.
Ambon City was the site of a major Dutch military base, which was captured from
Allied forces by the
Japanese in the
Battle of Ambon (
1942), during
World War II. The battle was followed by the
summary execution of more than 300 Allied POWs, in the
Laha massacre.
Indonesia declared its independence in 1945. As a result of ethnic and religious tensions, as well as President
Sukarno's making of Indonesia a
centralised state, Ambon was the scene of a revolt against the Indonesian government, which resulted in the rebellion of
Republic of the South Moluccas in 1950.
*
Ambon Information Website
