1.
Southeast Asia
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Southeast Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies near the intersection of geological plates, with seismic and volcanic activity. Southeast Asia consists of two regions, Mainland Southeast Asia, also known historically as Indochina, comprising Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar. Maritime Southeast Asia, comprising Indonesia, East Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, East Timor, Brunei, Cocos Islands, definitions of Southeast Asia vary, but most definitions include the area represented by the countries listed below. All of the states are members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the area, together with part of South Asia, was widely known as the East Indies or simply the Indies until the 20th century. Sovereignty issues exist over some territories in the South China Sea, Papua New Guinea has stated that it might join ASEAN, and is currently an observer. Southeast Asia is geographically divided into two subregions, namely Mainland Southeast Asia and Maritime Southeast Asia, Mainland Southeast Asia includes, Maritime Southeast Asia includes, The Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India are geographically considered part of Southeast Asia. Eastern Bangladesh and the Seven Sister States of India are culturally part of Southeast Asia, the eastern half of Indonesia and East Timor are considered to be biogeographically part of Oceania. Homo sapiens reached the region by around 45,000 years ago, homo floresiensis also lived in the area up until 12,000 years ago, when they became extinct. Austronesian people, who form the majority of the population in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, East Timor. Solheim and others have shown evidence for a Nusantao maritime trading network ranging from Vietnam to the rest of the archipelago as early as 5000 BC to 1 AD. The peoples of Southeast Asia, especially those of Austronesian descent, have been seafarers for thousands of years and their vessels, such as the vinta, were ocean-worthy. Magellans voyage records how much more manoeuvrable their vessels were, as compared to the European ships, Passage through the Indian Ocean aided the colonisation of Madagascar by the Austronesian people, as well as commerce between West Asia and Southeast Asia. Gold from Sumatra is thought to have reached as far west as Rome and this was later replaced by Hinduism. Theravada Buddhism soon followed in 525, in the 15th century, Islamic influences began to enter. This forced the last Hindu court in Indonesia to retreat to Bali, in Mainland Southeast Asia, Burma, Cambodia and Thailand retained the Theravada form of Buddhism, brought to them from Sri Lanka. This type of Buddhism was fused with the Hindu-influenced Khmer culture, very little is known about Southeast Asian religious beliefs and practices before the advent of Indian merchants and religious influences from the 2nd century BCE onwards. Prior to the 13th century CE, Hinduism and Buddhism were the religions in Southeast Asia
2.
Sea
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A sea is a large body of salt water that is surrounded in whole or in part by land. More broadly, the sea is the system of Earths salty. The sea moderates Earths climate and has important roles in the cycle, carbon cycle. Although the sea has been traveled and explored since prehistory, the scientific study of the sea—oceanography—dates broadly to the British Challenger expedition of the 1870s. Owing to the present state of continental drift, the Northern Hemisphere is now equally divided between land and sea but the South is overwhelmingly oceanic. Salinity in the ocean is generally in a narrow band around 3. 5% by mass, although this can vary in more landlocked waters, near the mouths of large rivers. About 85% of the solids in the sea are sodium chloride. Deep-sea currents are produced by differences in salinity and temperature, surface currents are formed by the friction of waves produced by the wind and by tides, the changes in local sea level produced by the gravity of the Moon and Sun. The direction of all of these is governed by surface and submarine land masses, former changes in sea levels have left continental shelves, shallow areas in the sea close to land. The most diverse areas surround great tropical coral reefs, whaling in the deep sea was once common but whales dwindling numbers prompted international conservation efforts and finally a moratorium on most commercial hunting. Life may have started there and aquatic microbial mats are generally credited with the oxygenation of Earths atmosphere, the sea is an essential aspect of human trade, travel, mineral extraction, and power generation. It is the scene of activities including swimming, diving, surfing. However, population growth, industrialization, and intensive farming have all contributed to marine pollution. Atmospheric carbon dioxide is being absorbed in increasing amounts, lowering its pH in a known as ocean acidification. The shared nature of the sea has made overfishing an increasing problem, both senses of sea date to Old English, the larger sense has required a definite article since Early Middle English. Seas are generally larger than lakes and contain salt water, while the defining elements of size and being bounded are generally used, there is no formally accepted technical definition of sea among oceanographers. In international law, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea states that all the ocean is the sea. Earth is the known planet with seas of liquid water on its surface, although Mars possesses ice caps
3.
Pacific Ocean
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The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of the Earths oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south and is bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, the Mariana Trench in the western North Pacific is the deepest point in the world, reaching a depth of 10,911 metres. Both the center of the Water Hemisphere and the Western Hemisphere are in the Pacific Ocean, the oceans current name was coined by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan during the Spanish circumnavigation of the world in 1521, as he encountered favourable winds on reaching the ocean. He called it Mar Pacífico, which in both Portuguese and Spanish means peaceful sea, important human migrations occurred in the Pacific in prehistoric times. Long-distance trade developed all along the coast from Mozambique to Japan, trade, and therefore knowledge, extended to the Indonesian islands but apparently not Australia. By at least 878 when there was a significant Islamic settlement in Canton much of trade was controlled by Arabs or Muslims. In 219 BC Xu Fu sailed out into the Pacific searching for the elixir of immortality, from 1404 to 1433 Zheng He led expeditions into the Indian Ocean. The east side of the ocean was discovered by Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa in 1513 after his expedition crossed the Isthmus of Panama and he named it Mar del Sur because the ocean was to the south of the coast of the isthmus where he first observed the Pacific. Later, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan sailed the Pacific East to West on a Castilian expedition of world circumnavigation starting in 1519, Magellan called the ocean Pacífico because, after sailing through the stormy seas off Cape Horn, the expedition found calm waters. The ocean was often called the Sea of Magellan in his honor until the eighteenth century, sailing around and east of the Moluccas, between 1525 and 1527, Portuguese expeditions discovered the Caroline Islands, the Aru Islands, and Papua New Guinea. In 1542–43 the Portuguese also reached Japan, in 1564, five Spanish ships consisting of 379 explorers crossed the ocean from Mexico led by Miguel López de Legazpi and sailed to the Philippines and Mariana Islands. The Manila galleons operated for two and a half centuries linking Manila and Acapulco, in one of the longest trade routes in history, Spanish expeditions also discovered Tuvalu, the Marquesas, the Cook Islands, the Solomon Islands, and the Admiralty Islands in the South Pacific. In the 16th and 17th century Spain considered the Pacific Ocean a Mare clausum—a sea closed to other naval powers, as the only known entrance from the Atlantic the Strait of Magellan was at times patrolled by fleets sent to prevent entrance of non-Spanish ships. On the western end of the Pacific Ocean the Dutch threatened the Spanish Philippines, Spain also sent expeditions to the Pacific Northwest reaching Vancouver Island in southern Canada, and Alaska. The French explored and settled Polynesia, and the British made three voyages with James Cook to the South Pacific and Australia, Hawaii, and the North American Pacific Northwest, one of the earliest voyages of scientific exploration was organized by Spain in the Malaspina Expedition of 1789–1794. It sailed vast areas of the Pacific, from Cape Horn to Alaska, Guam and the Philippines, New Zealand, Australia, and the South Pacific. Growing imperialism during the 19th century resulted in the occupation of much of Oceania by other European powers, and later, Japan, in Oceania, France got a leading position as imperial power after making Tahiti and New Caledonia protectorates in 1842 and 1853 respectively. After navy visits to Easter Island in 1875 and 1887, Chilean navy officer Policarpo Toro managed to negotiate an incorporation of the island into Chile with native Rapanui in 1888, by occupying Easter Island, Chile joined the imperial nations
4.
Indonesia
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Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a unitary sovereign state and transcontinental country located mainly in Southeast Asia with some territories in Oceania. Situated between the Indian and Pacific oceans, it is the worlds largest island country, with more than seventeen thousand islands. At 1,904,569 square kilometres, Indonesia is the worlds 14th-largest country in terms of area and worlds 7th-largest country in terms of combined sea. It has an population of over 260 million people and is the worlds fourth most populous country. The worlds most populous island, Java, contains more than half of the countrys population, Indonesias republican form of government includes an elected legislature and president. Indonesia has 34 provinces, of which five have Special Administrative status and its capital and countrys most populous city is Jakarta, which is also the most populous city in Southeast Asia and the second in Asia. The country shares land borders with Papua New Guinea, East Timor, other neighbouring countries include Singapore, Vietnam, the Philippines, Australia, Palau, and the Indian territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Despite its large population and densely populated regions, Indonesia has vast areas of wilderness that support the second highest level of biodiversity. The country has abundant natural resources like oil and natural gas, tin, copper, agriculture mainly produces rice, palm oil, tea, coffee, cacao, medicinal plants, spices and rubber. Indonesias major trading partners are Japan, United States, China, the Indonesian archipelago has been an important region for trade since at least the 7th century, when Srivijaya and then later Majapahit traded with China and India. Local rulers gradually absorbed foreign cultural, religious and political models from the early centuries CE, Indonesian history has been influenced by foreign powers drawn to its natural resources. Indonesia consists of hundreds of native ethnic and linguistic groups. The largest – and politically dominant – ethnic group are the Javanese, a shared identity has developed, defined by a national language, ethnic diversity, religious pluralism within a Muslim-majority population, and a history of colonialism and rebellion against it. Indonesias national motto, Bhinneka Tunggal Ika, articulates the diversity that shapes the country, Indonesias economy is the worlds 16th largest by nominal GDP and the 8th largest by GDP at PPP, the largest in Southeast Asia, and is considered an emerging market and newly industrialised country. Indonesia has been a member of the United Nations since 1950, Indonesia is a member of the G20 major economies and World Trade Organization. The name Indonesia derives from the Greek name of the Indós, the name dates to the 18th century, far predating the formation of independent Indonesia. In 1850, George Windsor Earl, an English ethnologist, proposed the terms Indunesians—and, his preference, in the same publication, one of his students, James Richardson Logan, used Indonesia as a synonym for Indian Archipelago. However, Dutch academics writing in East Indies publications were reluctant to use Indonesia, they preferred Malay Archipelago, the Netherlands East Indies, popularly Indië, the East, and Insulinde
5.
Ternate City
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Ternate City is the largest town in the province of North Maluku in Indonesia. It is located on the islands of Ternate in the Maluku Islands, sofifi City, the new provincial capital consisting of the former mainland portion, was split off. Ternate was the seat of the Sultanate of Ternate, today the Sultanate still exists, although it no longer holds any political power. Greater Ternate City spreads 10 kilometres from the airport to Bastiong port, the commercial centre stretches 2 kilometres from the bus terminal near Fort Oranye to Ahmad Yani Port where Pelni ships arrive. The current Sultans Palace, built in 1796, is now partly a museum, the large Fort Oranye, built by the Dutch in 1607, was the home of the Dutch East Indies Company until it moved to Batavia around 1619. Sultan Babullah Airport is the gateway to the city, serving several flights to other cities in Indonesia such as Jakarta, Makassar. Recently the airport has upgraded to meet the increase of demand. The Ahmad Yani seaport is the seaport of Ternate, which served different type of ships from different parts of the archipelago. Ships operated by Pelni connects Ternate with other such as Ambon. Ternate city is divided into 4 districts as follows, There are numerous old forts that was built by different empires during the colonial era scattered around the city, examples of fort built by the Portuguese are Fort Kalamata and Fort Tolukko. Fort Oranje, which was built by the Dutch, is the largest fort in the island and it was the headquarter of the Dutch East India Company until it was moved to Batavia in 1619. Some forts no longer exists, only leaving only ruins, such as Fort Kastela. The palace of the Sultan of Ternate still exists and it is now converted into a museum. The museum displayed some old artifacts from the Sultanate of Ternate at its maximum extent, such as weapons, armors, There are several beaches on the island that offer spectacular views, such as Tobololo beach and Sulamadaha beach. There are also beautiful lakes on the island, such as Laguna Lake and Tolire Lake Ternate, Cavite
6.
Coral
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Corals are marine invertebrates in the class Anthozoa of phylum Cnidaria. They typically live in colonies of many identical individual polyps. The group includes the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans, a coral group is a colony of myriad genetically identical polyps. Each polyp is an animal typically only a few millimeters in diameter. A set of tentacles surround a central mouth opening, an exoskeleton is excreted near the base. Over many generations, the colony creates a large skeleton that is characteristic of the species. Individual heads grow by reproduction of polyps. Corals also breed sexually by spawning, polyps of the same species release gametes simultaneously over a period of one to several nights around a full moon and these are commonly known as zooxanthellae and the corals that contain them are zooxanthellate corals. Such corals require sunlight and grow in clear, shallow water, other corals do not rely on zooxanthellae and can live in much deeper water, with the cold-water genus Lophelia surviving as deep as 3,000 metres. Some have been found on the Darwin Mounds, north-west of Cape Wrath, Corals have also been found as far north as off the coast of Washington State and the Aleutian Islands. In his Scala Naturae, Aristotle classified corals as zoophyta, animals that had characteristics of plants and were therefore hypothetically in between animals and plants, the Persian polymath Al-Biruni classified sponges and corals as animals, arguing that they respond to touch. The phylogeny of Anthozoans is not clearly understood and a number of different models have been proposed, within the Hexacorallia, the sea anemones, coral anemones and stony corals may constitute a monophyletic grouping united by their eight-fold symmetry and cnidocyte trait. The Octocorallia appears to be monophyletic, and primitive members of this group may have been stolonate, the cladogram presented here comes from a 2014 study by Stampar et al. which was based on the divergence of mitochondrial DNA within the group and on nuclear markers. Corals are classified in the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria and they are divided into three subclasses, Hexacorallia, Octocorallia, and Ceriantharia. The Hexacorallia include the stony corals, the sea anemones and the zoanthids and these groups have polyps that generally have 6-fold symmetry. The Octocorallia include blue coral, soft corals, sea pens and these groups have polyps with 8-fold symmetry, each polyp having eight tentacles and eight mesenteries. Fire corals are not true corals, being in the order Anthomedusa of the class Hydrozoa, Corals are sessile animals in the class Anthozoa and differ from most other cnidarians in not having a medusa stage in their life cycle. The body unit of the animal is a polyp, most corals are colonial, the initial polyp budding to produce another and the colony gradually developing from this small start
7.
Celebes Sea
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It extends 420 miles north-south by 520 mi east-west and has a total surface area of 110,000 square miles, to a maximum depth of 20,300 feet. The sea opens southwest through the Makassar Strait into the Java Sea, the Celebes Sea is a piece of an ancient ocean basin that formed 42 million years ago in a locale removed from any landmass. By 20 million years ago, earth crust movement had moved the basin close enough to the Indonesian and Philippine volcanoes to receive emitted debris. By 10 million years ago the Celebes Sea was inundated with continental debris, including coal, which was shed from a young mountain on Borneo. The border between the Celebes and the Sulu Sea is at the Sibutu-Basilan Ridge, strong ocean currents, deep sea trenches and seamounts, combined with active volcanic islands, result in complex oceanographic features. It has been agreed that north of the line will be under the jurisdiction of the Philippines. The International Hydrographic Organization defines the Celebes Sea as being one of the waters of the East Indian Archipelago, the IHO defines its limits as follows, On the North. The Southern limit of Sulu Sea and the Southwest coast of Mindanao, a line from Tinaca Point, the Southern point of Mindanao, to the North point of pulau Sangihe Besar thence through the pulau-pulau Sangihe to Tanjung Puisan, the Northeast extreme of Celebes. The North coast of Celebes between tanjung Puisan and tanjung Binar and thence a line to Tanjung Mangkalihat in Borneo, the Northern limit of Makassar Strait, the East coast of Borneo between Tanjung Mangkalihat and Tanjong Labian, the Southern limit of the Sulu Sea. The Celebes Sea is home to a variety of fish. Tuna and yellowfin tuna are also abundant, in addition to high abundance of fish caught in the Celebes sea, this sea also yields other aquatic products like sea tang. The Celebes Sea is an important sea route for regional trade, the sea is also popular for scuba diving and luxury ocean cruising. The Celebes Sea is underlain by a plate with a mid oceanic spreading in the center part. This place is subducted to the south and north, a number of seismic surveys and research drillings were done in this area to gather geological information. The geology of Sulawesi Sea has been described in the Geology of Indonesia Wikibook, exploring the Inner Space of the Celebes Sea 2007 - A rich collection of images, video and audio podcast
8.
Philippine Sea
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The Philippine Sea is a marginal sea east and northeast of the Philippines occupying an estimated surface area of 5 million km². of the western part of the North Pacific Ocean. The sea has a complex and diverse undersea relief, the floor is formed into a structural basin by a series of geologic faults and fracture zones. Island arcs, which are actually extended ridges protruding above the surface due to plate tectonic activity in the area, enclose the Philippine Sea to the north, east. The Philippine archipelago, Ryukyu Islands, and the Marianas are examples, another prominent feature of the Philippine Sea is the presence of deep sea trenches, among them the Philippine Trench and the Mariana Trench, containing the deepest point on the planet. The Philippine Sea is by the Philippines and Taiwan to the west, Japan to the north, the International Hydrographic Organization defines the Philippine Sea as that area of the North Pacific Ocean off the Eastern coasts of the Philippine Islands, bounded as follows, On the West. By the Eastern limits of the East Indian Archipelago, South China Sea, by the Southeast coast of Kyushu, the Southern and Eastern limits of the Inland Sea and the South coast of Honshu Island. By the ridge joining Japan to the Bonin, Volcano and Ladrone Islands, by a line joining Guam, Yap, Pelew and Halmahera Islands. The Philippine Sea Plate forms the floor of the Philippine Sea and it subducts under the Philippine Mobile Belt which carries most of the Philippine archipelago and eastern Taiwan. Between the two plates is the Philippine Trench, the Philippine Sea hosts an exotic marine ecosystem. About five hundred species of hard and soft corals occur in the waters and 20 per cent of the worldwide known shellfish species are found in Philippine waters. Sea turtles, sharks, moray eels, octopuses and sea snakes along with species of fish such as tuna can commonly be observed. Additionally, the Philippine Sea serves as spawning ground for Japanese eel, tuna, later it was discovered by other Spanish explorers from 1522 to 1565 and the site of the famous galleon trade route. Between June 19 and 20,1944, the Battle of the Philippine Sea took place in the eastern Philippine Sea, the aircraft carriers Taihō, Shōkaku, Junyō, Hiyō and Ryuho were bombed, torpedoed and sunk by American carrier-based planes and assaulted from other naval vessels. The aerial part of the Battle of the Philippine Sea was nicknamed the “Great Marianas Turkey Shoot” due to losses of Japanese aircraft. The battle facilitated the Allied conquests of Saipan, Guam and Tinian in the Marianas, Palau in the Southwest, following an escalation of the Spratly Islands dispute in 2011, various Philippine government agencies started using the neologism West Philippine Sea to refer to the South China Sea. However, a PAGASA spokesperson said that the sea to the east of the Philippines will continue to be called the Philippine Sea, Philippine Trench Philippine Sea Plate Benham Rise Devils Sea
9.
Halmahera
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Halmahera, formerly known as Jilolo, Gilolo, or Jailolo, is the largest island in the Maluku Islands. It is part of the North Maluku province of Indonesia and Sofifi, the capital of the province, is located on the west coast of the island. Halmahera has an area of 17,780 km2 and a population in 1995 of 162,728. Approximately half of the inhabitants are Muslim and half are Christian. Sparsely-populated Halmaheras fortunes have long been tied to those of the smaller islands of Ternate and Tidore. These islands were both the sites of major kingdoms in the era before Dutch East India Company colonized the entire archipelago, during World War II, Halmahera was the site of a Japanese naval base at Kao Bay. Thousands of people on Halmahera were killed in the fighting between religious militias, in June 2000, about five hundred people were killed when a ferry carrying refugees from the fighting on Halmahera sank off the northeast tip of Sulawesi island. Conspiracy theories about this event abound, a memorial to this tragedy can be found in Duma village in North Halmahera district. Particularly since the inauguration of the first ever directly elected Bupati, as it is surrounded by flat land, Tobelo has the potential for expansion. Ternate is limited by its size, being an island which can be driven around in forty-five minutes. Also, in 2010 the provincial government has moved the capital from Ternate City to Sofifi. North Maluku Province consists of seven regencies and two municipalities,6 of which include a part of Halmahera island. The regencies are, North Halmahera, West Halmahera, East Halmahera, Central Halmahera, South Hamahera, Ternate Municipality, Tidore City and Islands, Morotai, only Ternate Municipality, Morotai and Sula Islands do not include any part of Halmahera. The volcanic island lies on an arc that includes the Raja Ampat Islands, all uplifted by the northward migration of the continent of Australia. Dukono is a volcano at the north end of the island. Mount Ibu is a volcano on the islands northwest coast. The flightless invisible rail is endemic to the island, the naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace visited Halmahera, as described in his 1869 book The Malay Archipelago. He considered the bird of paradise, Semioptera wallacei, to be his greatest prize
10.
Buru
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Buru is the third largest island within Maluku Islands of Indonesia. It lies between the Banda Sea to the south and Seram Sea to the north, west of Ambon, the island belongs to Maluku province and includes the Buru and South Buru regencies. Their administrative centers, Namlea and Namrole, respectively, have ports, there is a military airport at Namlea which supports civilian cargo transportation. About a third of the population is indigenous, mostly Buru, the rest of population are immigrants from Java and nearby Maluku Islands. The religious affiliation is evenly split between Christianity and Sunni Islam, with remnants of traditional beliefs. While local languages and dialects are spoken within communities, the national Indonesian language is used among the communities. Most of the island is covered with forests rich in tropical flora, from the present 179 bird and 25 mammal species, about 14 are found either on Buru only or also on a few nearby islands, the most notable being the wild pig Buru babirusa. There is little industry on the island, and most population is engaged in growing rice, maize, sweet potato, beans, coconuts, cocoa, coffee, clove, other significant activities are animal farming and fishing. The island was first mentioned around 1365, between 1658 and 1942, it was colonised by the Dutch East India Company and then by the Crown of the Netherlands. The Dutch administration relocated many local villages to the newly built capital at Kayeli Bay for working at clove plantations. It also promoted the hierarchy among the people with selected loyal rajas placed above the heads of the local clans. The island was occupied by the Japanese forces between 1942 and 1945 and in 1950 became part of independent Indonesia, during former president Suhartos New Order administration in the 1960s–1970s, Buru was the site of a prison used to hold thousands of political prisoners. While held at Buru, writer Pramoedya Ananta Toer wrote most of his novels, Buru island lies between two seas of the Pacific Ocean – Seram Sea on the north and Banda Sea to the south and west. To the east, it is separated by the Manipa Strait from Seram Island, with an area of 9,505 km2, Buru is the third largest among the Maluku Islands after Halmahera and Seram. Buru is shaped like an oval, elongated from west to east, the maximum length is about 130 km from east to west and 90 km from north to south. The coastline is smooth, with the only indentation being Kayeli Bay located on the eastern coast, the bay also has a smooth, oval shape. It extends into the island to 8–12 km and has a width of 17 km, the width decreases to 9 km at the mouth. At the northern part of the mouth stands Namlea, the largest town of the island, the highest point on the island is the peak of Mount Kapalatmada
