All the Moluccas islands (in Indonesian, Maluku) are a province of Indonesia, being its main city Ambon, located in a small island of the same name.
The name of Moluccas comes from a corruption of Portuguese moluccas, that is, crazy islands, due to the confusion caused by the navigation around this archipelago.
These I, also known as the Spice Islands, occupy an important region geographic between Indonesia and the Islands of New Guinea, melanesia y Micronesia y Polynesia.
photo credit: Chandra marsono
From 1950 to 1999, all Moluccas islands they were a single province of Indonesia, but in 1999 the northern part (Maluku Utara) separated from the rest of the Moluccas (which would keep Maluku's name).
The main islands of the province of North Maluku they are Halmahera, Tobalai, Ternate, Tidore, Bacan, Tobalai and Sula. The main I from the province of Maluku consist of Ambon, Buru, Ceram, Aru, Babar, Kai, Tanimbar and lyran.
They are located in the well-known Belt of fire from Pacifico, so they are frequently affected by movements seismic.
The settlers de Maluku are not AsianBut Melanesians, like the people of Hawai and Maori de New Australia. Many of these people I Has blood Portuguese.
These islands became famous during the XNUMXth and XNUMXth centuries, when Portuguese, Spanish, English and Dutch fought battles to control them, because of them the so precious spices what i needed Europe.
Su economy is based on the products of the Mar, but they also contribute to the exploitation of nickel and manganese, oil and wood.
Another of the mainstays of its economy is the , although it has been severely hampered by a civil war and religious that was unleashed in 1998 between Christians y Muslims, with a large number of deaths in massacres, which led to the intervention of the world community 2000 the year.
Su plant species and fauna is very similar to that found in New Guinea o Australia: marsupials like kangaroo and beautiful and colorful birds. Fortunately, large areas of the I have been declared natural reserves.
The most common form of arrive to the islands is for airway and communication between I it is made mainly by Mar. This province has 25 airports and 79 ports, although only with 4 km of roads.
