Waigeo


Waigeo is an island in West 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 to the north-west coast of New Guinea. The Dampier Strait separates it from Batanta, and the Bougainville Strait from the Kawe Islands to its north-west. The "inner sea" that nearly cleaves the island in two is the Majoli Gulf.
The area of the island is ; the highest elevations are Buffalo Horn and Serodjil. From west to east the island measures approximately 110 km, north-south about.
The town of Waisai in the east of the island is the capital of the Raja Ampat Regency.

History

, a Portuguese explorer, landed on Waigeo Island in 1526-27.
Alfred Russel Wallace spent some time on 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

Languages spoken on Waigeo include Papuan Malay, Biak, Ma'ya, and Ambel. Their distributions within the island are given below.