Alor archipelago
| Alor archipelago | ||
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| Waters | Lake Flores , Lake Sawu | |
| archipelago | Lesser Sunda Islands | |
| Geographical location | 8 ° 15 ′ S , 124 ° 45 ′ E | |
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| Main island | Alor | |
| Total land area | 2,864.6 km² | |
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The Alor Archipelago is an Indonesian archipelago and part of the Lesser Sunda Islands in the east of the Malay Archipelago . In 2010, 190,026 people lived on the islands.
geography
The Alor Archipelago administratively forms the administrative district ( Kabupaten ) Alor and is part of the Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara . The capital is Kalabahi on Alor. The city with around 60,000 inhabitants is also the economic center of the archipelago.
The islands lie between the Floresee in the northeast and the Strait of Ombai with the Sawuee in the southwest. In the west is the Solor Archipelago , in the south Timor , in the east the East Timorese island Atauro and behind it the Wetar belonging to the Barat Daya Islands .
The two main islands of the archipelago are Alor (210,476 ha) in the east and the somewhat smaller island Pantar (68,652 ha) in the west. Between the two are the islands of Buaya (formerly Kisu ) Ternate , Kepa , Pura (2,753 ha) and Tereweng (Treweng) in the Pantar Strait from north to south . The islands of Nuba and Sika are located off the western north coast of Alor . North of Pantar, the islands of Lapang and Batang belong to the archipelago. The island of Kura is located in the Biangmerang Bay on the north coast of Pantar . The westernmost islands of the archipelago are Kambing , Rusa and Kangge (formerly Marisa, 1,368 ha) in the Strait of Alor . The last two islands in the archipelago are Kapas and Tikus . Like Kambing, Lapang, Batang, Sika and Nuba, they are uninhabited.
Like the other islands of the Inner Banda Arch , the archipelago is of volcanic origin. The highest mountains are the Kolana ( 1765 m ) and the Muna ( 1440 m ) on Alor. The extinct volcano Delaki is the highest mountain in Pantar at 1318 m . The Sirung ( 862 m ) on Pantar is an active, complex volcano and last erupted in 1970.
Residents
In addition to two native Austronesian languages , which are mainly spoken by a few fishing villages, and the national official language Bahasa Indonesia , 26 Papuan languages are spoken on the archipelago . 75% of the population are Protestants, almost all other Muslims. Only a few villages profess the Catholic faith. Traditional beliefs and rites are still widespread.
history
Chinese sandalwood traders visited Timor in the 13th century , but their reports do not provide any information about the neighboring islands. From the middle of the 14th century that should hindu - Javanese Majapahit -Reich on the eastern Sunda some vassal small kingdoms have possessed, like the Empire Chronicle Nagarakertagama seen. Accordingly, they undertook a campaign in 1357 only as far as the island of Sumbawa , the chronicle still lists a number of islands further east for the year 1365, which are referred to as "dependent". Pantar is not mentioned in it, but the name Galiyao could designate the island. The spelling variant Galao can be found in a list of islands that were the first Europeans reached by the Portuguese expedition to the Moluccas in 1511 . In Antonio Pigafetta's diary of the first circumnavigation of the world in 1522 an island Galiau is mentioned shortly before Malua (today Alor). Further evidence ultimately speaks in favor of equating Galiyao with Pantar.
At that time, Alor was considered the home of cannibals who did not want to be converted to Catholic Christianity. Only later did Calvinists succeed in converting part of the population. In the past, Islam was able to establish itself in parts of the island. A Koran from the 12th century is kept in Groß-Alor (Alor Besar), which was brought here by five missionaries around 1500 from the Moluccan island of Ternate . Iang Gogo , one of these brothers, is said to have married Princess Bui Haki of Bunga Bali (on Pantar) and settled in Greater Alor, while his brothers settled in Tuabang , Baranusa (both on Pantar), on Solor and in Kuilerabaing (southwest Alor ) settled. Iang Gogo's descendants are said to have settled in Klein-Alor (Alor Kecil), Aimoli , Alila , Ampera , Dulolong and other villages. The Portuguese rarely visited the smaller islands around Timor, but officially claimed suzerainty. Beeswax, slaves and turtle shells served as trade goods. Pantar was important for the colonial power because it was considered a source of particularly pure sulfur , which was needed for the production of black powder .
In 1851 the Portuguese governor José Joaquim Lopes de Lima sold Portugal's claims to the Alor Archipelago and other areas of the Lesser Sunda Islands, nominally under Portuguese sovereignty, to the Netherlands for 200,000 florins without authorization from Lisbon . Lopes de Lima fell from grace and was deposed and arrested when Lisbon learned of the treaty. On the return trip to Portugal he died in Batavia . From 1854 the agreements were renegotiated. The sale was finally confirmed in the Lisbon Treaty . The ratification took place in 1859. However, the old connections between Alor and the Portuguese Timor persisted for a long time . In 1886 the Alor locals paid an annual tribute to the liurai of Liquiçá in the form of rice, corn, cotton and other things.
It was not until the 20th century that the Dutch took real control of the islands. Military expeditions disarmed the residents of Alor and Pantar between 1910 and 1912, which also put an end to the constant fighting between the islands' ethnic groups. Before that, they were practically in a constant state of war with one another, for example over territorial borders or resources such as forests. The trade in head trophies continued on Alor until 1920. Their value corresponded to that of a moko , bronze drums that were used as currency on the islands until 1914.
economy
The infrastructure is poorly developed. Agriculture for self-sufficiency still dominates the picture. The government is trying to change this with the help of international organizations. Vanilla is grown in the village of Apui . In addition, tamarind , almonds and other nuts planted. Sandalwood is felled in the woods.
Recent research has discovered natural resources such as gypsum , kaolin , petroleum and natural gas , tin , gold and diamonds . Black pebbles have been exported from Alor and Pantar as a decorative medium since 1980. In addition, handicraft products such as ikat fabrics and bamboo products offer opportunities for export. Fishing has great potential.
The Alor Archipelago has some of the best snorkeling and diving areas in Indonesia. However, there are strong currents here, which make it advisable to only dive with someone who is familiar with the area. However, the advent of excessive fishing has destroyed some coral reefs .
The IATA airport code for Alor Airport is ARD . It is ten kilometers from Kalabahi. During the dry season , Kalabahi is served five times a week from Kupang , the provincial capital, from a Kasa operated by Merpati Airlines . Since mid-2003, a route Kupang Kalabahi- is Kisar - Ambon offered with return flight the next day.
Ferries run weekly from Kupang ( West Timor ) to Kalabahi. The journey takes 20 hours. Twice a week a ferry runs the route Larantuka ( East Flores ) - Lewoleba ( Lembata ) - Baranusa (Pantar) - Kalabahi in 20 hours. Once a week there is a ferry from Atapupu (West Timor) to Kalabahi in nine hours. In addition, the Pelni passenger ships Serimau and Awu call at Kalabahi every week. Due to the strong winds and large waves, the connection to Alor is often interrupted during the rainy season .
Freighters mostly go from Alor to Surabaya , Makassar and the Moluccas . The main port of Alors has a capacity of 600 gross tons.
Culture
Characteristic of the traditional culture of the Alor archipelago are the huts built on stilts, which can also be found in the coat of arms of the administrative district, and the mokos , bronze kettle drums that were used as currency. Above all on Alor and Pantar there are depictions of Nagas , mythical serpent creatures , as protection on the traditional communal houses ( Adat houses). The old belief in these spirit beings was pushed back more and more. At the beginning of the 20th century, Christian missionaries burned all the snake-like wooden figures that were not hidden by the population in time. On the island of Alor, the wooden nagas with a sacred stone at their feet were placed in the central village square ( fairground ) and were called ulenai . Since the Lego lego dance was also banned, the traditional funeral ceremonies could no longer take place properly, which meant that the ancestors from the afterlife were just as unable to intervene as the missing Nagas and the population did not know how they felt before the influence who was supposed to protect foreign Nagas.
A red variety of rice is planted on the mountain slopes of Alors and Pantar, which can grow on dry, rocky ground. It is the staple food for many residents of the archipelago and is stored in the attic. A black rice variety that is eaten at special events, such as weddings, also gets by with little rainfall. It is significantly more expensive than other varieties in the local markets. Fish is prepared either fresh or dried. Storage by refrigeration is out of the question for locals on principle. The sweet-tasting, dried fish Ikan tali from the island of Pura is a local delicacy. It is eaten with Jagung ketama (boiled corn with green peas), which is known throughout eastern Indonesia. Also of Pura comes Mawar loud , a mixture of various algae and seaweed , which in bamboo with tamarind and ginger is roasted for about an hour. In addition one drinks palm wine ( Tuac ). This is made on Pura and in parts of Pantar. It often replaces water, which is rare there, as a drink with a slight alcohol content. Sopi or arrak are also distilled from palm wine .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Regional Government of Alor: General Information ( Memento of February 10, 2005 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Alors map
- ↑ Map of the Alor Archipelago
- ↑ HASIL DAN PEMBAHASAN
- ^ Britannica
- ↑ Sirung in the Global Volcanism Program of the Smithsonian Institution (English)
- ↑ Antoinette v. Schapper (Ed.): The Papuan Languages of Timor, Alor and Pantar. Volume 1, De Gruyter, Berlin et al. 2014, ISBN 978-1-61451-524-1 .
- ^ Robert H. Barnes: The Majapahit dependency Galiyao. In: Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- and Folklore. 138, No. 4, Leiden 1982, pp. 407-412.
- ↑ Jakarta Post: In Alor, a centuries-old Koran is revered. June 13, 2012, accessed July 28, 2013.
- ↑ a b History of Timor (PDF file; 805 kB) - Technical University of Lisbon
- ↑ Bettina Volk-Kopplin: "... and that's why she died so painfully": Tradition and indigenous modernity among the Diang of the East Indonesian Alor archipelago using the example of how they dealt with death. LIT Verlag, Münster 2013, ISBN 978-3-643-11881-3 , accessed on November 19, 2015.
- ^ A b Regional Government of Alor: Commodities ( Memento of February 10, 2005 in the Internet Archive )
- ^ Regional Government of Alor: Mining ( Memento of December 22, 2004 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ a b c Regional Government of Alor: Transport to - and from Alor ( Memento of December 27, 2004 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Susanne Rodemeier: From snake dragons and Rankennagas. Museum of World Cultures, Frankfurt 2008
- ^ Regional Government of Alor: Food on Alor ( Memento of December 27, 2004 in the Internet Archive )
