Waigeo is an island in the Southwest Papua province of eastern Indonesia . The island is also known as Amberi or Waigiu . It is the largest of the four main islands in the Raja Ampat Islands archipelago, between Halmahera and about 65 kilometres (40 miles) to the northwest coast of New Guinea . The Dampier Strait (a.k.a. Augusta's Strait) separates it from Batanta , and the Bougainville Strait from the Kawe Islands to its northwest. The "inner sea" that nearly cleaves the island in two is Mayalibit Bay, also known as the Majoli Gulf.
6-488: The area of the island is 3,155 square kilometres (1,218 square miles); the highest elevations are 958-metre-high (3,143-foot) Buffalo Horn (Gunung Nok) and 939-metre-high (3,081-foot) Serodjil. From west to east, the island measures approximately 110 km (68 mi), north–south about 50 kilometres (31 miles). The town of Waisai in the south of the island is the capital of the Raja Ampat Regency . Waigeo
12-400: A stopping point for tourists before continuing to the rest of the islands, the town includes a dive resort, several accommodations, and two beaches. Waisai has a tropical rainforest climate (Af) with heavy rainfall year-round. Unlike most parts of Indonesia, it experiences a rainfall maximum during the low-sun season due to local wind currents. This Southwest Papua location article
18-471: Is a town in the south of the island of Waigeo in the Raja Ampat Islands , Indonesia. Founded in 2003, it is the capital of the Raja Ampat Regency and is home to a little over 8,000 people. It is a transit point for tourists visiting the rest of the archipelago, and its airport is reachable by plane from the larger cities of Manado and Sorong , or ferry from the latter. While it is mainly
24-657: The area. Jorge de Menezes , a Portuguese explorer, may have landed on Waigeo Island in 1526–27. Islam first arrived in the Raja Ampat archipelago in the 15th century due to political and economic contacts with the Bacan Sultanate . During the 16th and 17th centuries, the Sultanate of Tidore had close economic ties with the island. During this period, Islam became firmly established, and local chiefs began adopting Islam. Alfred Russel Wallace spent some time on
30-463: The island and studied the flora and fauna during the late 1850s while on his scientific exploration trip. Since 1997, the island has been the site of a substantial pearl farming operation owned by the Australian company Atlas Pacific. Languages spoken on Waigeo include Papuan Malay , Biak , Ma'ya , and Ambel . Their distributions within the island are given below. Waisai Waisai
36-474: Was connected to Gam and Batanta during most of the Pleistocene period, forming an island called Waitanta. Waitanta was first inhabited by humans over 50,000 years ago and excavations at Mololo Cave indicate people were making tree resin artefacts and hunting native animals. The first pottery-making communities were present around Waigeo about 3500–3000 years ago and may have brought Austronesian languages to
#337662