Bangka Island
Bangka Island is an
island lying east of
Sumatra,
Indonesia. Population (1990) 626,955. Area: c.4,600 sq mi (11,910 km²). Occasionally Bangka is mispelt "Banka" island but officially the name is "Pulau Bangka".
Bangka lies just east of
Sumatra, separated by the
Bangka Strait; to the north lies the
South China Sea, to the east, across the
Gaspar Strait, is the island of
Belitung, and to the south is the
Java Sea.
Pangkalpinang is the largest town and the capital of
Bangka-Belitung, the city called
Sungailiat is the second large city in
Bangka island. One village, called
Kampung Kim Hin, lies to the south of
Sungailiat, this village is known for a type of
alcohol called
arak, which is produced from fermented rice.
Muntok is the principal port.
Since c.
1710, Bangka has been one of the world's principal
tin-producing centers. Tin production is an Indonesian government
monopoly, and there is a smelter at Muntok.
Pepper is also produced on the island.
The majority of the inhabitants are Malay Indonesians and
Chinese mostly
Hakkas. The population is split between those who work the pepper farms and those who work on the tin mines.
Bangka was ceded to
Britain by the sultan of
Palembang in
1812, but in
1814 it was exchanged with the
Dutch for
Cochin in
India. The island was occupied by the
Japanese from
1942 to
1945. It became part of independent Indonesia in
1949. The island, together with neighboring Belitung, was formerly part of
South Sumatra (Sumatera Selatan) province, but in 2000 the two islands became the new province of Bangka-Belitung. Bangka is famous for two other events; the
Banka Island Massacre in WWII by the Japanese of Australian Nurses and as reputedly the setting for the book "
Lord Jim" by
Joseph Conrad. Bangka is also home to a number of
communist Indonesians who have been under house arrest since the 1960's and are not permitted to leave the island.
Bangka is also known for one of the most beautiful beaches in the world: Parai Matras.
*
Dive the World Indonesia - Bangka Island Dive Sites*
Islands of Indonesiamore picture on Bangka http://www.infobangka.comalso more snapshots at http://bangka.twentyonesoft.net
