Maluku & Papua

Maluku was the original Spice Islands: cloves grew only on Ternate, Tidore and a few neighbouring islands, and nutmeg and mace only in the Banda Islands. The rival sultanates of Ternate and Tidore grew rich on the trade and claimed coasts as far as New Guinea. The Portuguese arrived in 1512, and in 1575 Sultan Babullah of Ternate expelled them. The Dutch East India Company then fought the English and Spanish for control. In 1621 Jan Pieterszoon Coen conquered Banda, killing, enslaving or driving out most of its people and handing the nutmeg groves to Dutch planters worked by slaves; at Ambon in 1623 the Dutch executed English traders. In 1667 the English gave up their claim to the Banda island of Run while the Dutch recognised English rule in Manhattan.

Papua's peoples have lived in New Guinea for tens of thousands of years. The Dutch claimed the western half in the 19th century but governed little beyond the coast, and outsiders first reached the Baliem valley in 1938. When Indonesia won independence in 1949 the Netherlands kept western New Guinea; after Indonesian pressure it passed to United Nations administration in 1962 and to Indonesia in 1963. The 1969 "Act of Free Choice", in which 1,025 representatives selected by the Indonesian military voted for integration, was noted by the UN General Assembly without a judgement on whether it met the terms of the 1962 New York Agreement, and is rejected by independence supporters as unrepresentative.

A low-level insurgency by the Free Papua Movement has continued since the 1960s, with deadly clashes continuing in recent years. Papua gained special autonomy in 2001 and was divided into six provinces by 2022. The giant Grasberg copper and gold mine has long been a focus of dispute. In Maluku, Ambonese soldiers who had served the Dutch proclaimed a Republic of South Maluku in 1950, and thousands later settled in the Netherlands; violence between Christians and Muslims in 1999–2002 killed thousands before a peace agreement.

Maluku is split fairly evenly between Christians and Muslims, with Ambon and the south more Christian and North Maluku mostly Muslim. Old village alliances called pela bind villages, some of them across religious lines, and sasi, customary closures of reefs or trees to let stocks recover, are still declared. Ambon is known for its singers and was named a UNESCO City of Music in 2019. The sultans of Ternate and Tidore still hold ceremonial roles, Banda remembers the kora-kora war canoes of the 17th century, and the cakalele war dance is still performed.

Papua is Melanesian and extraordinarily diverse, with hundreds of languages. Most Papuans are Protestant or Catholic, with Muslim communities on parts of the coast and among migrants from elsewhere in Indonesia. In the highlands, the Dani, Lani and Yali live in round thatched honai huts, grow sweet potatoes and raise pigs; some older men still wear the koteka, a gourd sheath. Bakar batu, pigs and vegetables cooked on hot stones, marks weddings, peace-making and celebrations. The Asmat of the southern swamps are renowned woodcarvers, and the noken, a knotted or woven string bag, is on UNESCO's list of intangible heritage in need of urgent safeguarding.

Migration from other islands has made Papuans a minority in some towns, and questions of identity and land shape much of public life.

Maluku has about 1.9 million people and North Maluku about 1.3 million; Ambon, with around 350,000, and Ternate are the main towns. The six Papuan provinces together have roughly 5.5 million people. Jayapura, the largest city, has around 400,000, and Sorong, Timika, Merauke, Manokwari, Nabire and Wamena are the other centres.

Maluku lives from fishing, spices, sago and coconuts, with nickel mining and smelting now booming on Halmahera and Obi in North Maluku. Papua's economy is dominated by the Grasberg mine near Timika, gas at Bintuni Bay, logging and palm oil, alongside subsistence farming and fishing. Papua is one of Indonesia's poorest regions, and health and education in remote areas lag far behind the rest of the country.

In the highlands the day follows gardens and markets; Wamena's market is full of sweet potatoes, pigs and string bags. In the conflict districts, displacement of villagers by fighting is a recurring problem. Along the coasts and in Maluku, life turns on the sea, church or mosque, and evenings of music.

Sago, not rice, is the traditional staple. Papeda, a sticky, translucent sago porridge, is scooped up with chopsticks or twirled onto a plate and eaten with ikan kuah kuning, fish in a yellow turmeric-and-lime broth. Sago is also made into flat cakes called sagu lempeng. Ambon's sambal colo-colo, a chilli and lime relish, accompanies grilled fish, and kohu-kohu is a salad of smoked fish, vegetables and grated coconut. Ternate is known for gohu ikan, raw tuna or skipjack dressed with lime, salt and basil.

Spices are everywhere, from Banda's nutmeg to Ternate's air guraka, a drink of ginger and lemongrass. Sopi, a palm wine, is common in Christian areas.

In the Papuan highlands the staple is sweet potato, grown in dozens of varieties, eaten with pork at bakar batu feasts. Sago grubs, eaten raw or grilled, are a delicacy in the lowlands, and coffee grown around Wamena has a growing reputation.

The Banda Islands are the heart of Maluku's history: Banda Neira's Fort Belgica and Fort Nassau, the old perkenier mansions and the house where the nationalists Hatta and Sjahrir were exiled, the volcano of Gunung Api to climb, nutmeg groves on Lonthoir, and the remote islands of Ai and Run, all surrounded by reefs. Ambon offers the Siwalima museum and nearby beaches, with the Lease islands, including Saparua, a boat ride away. Further south-east, the Kei Islands are known for white-sand beaches.

In North Maluku, Ternate rises to the Gamalama volcano, with the sultan's palace, Fort Oranje and the lake of Tolire at its foot; Tidore, facing it, has its own palace and fort. Halmahera has birds of paradise, and Morotai has Second World War relics.

In Papua, Raja Ampat, reached from Sorong, takes in Waigeo, Misool and hundreds of smaller islands, with the karst islands of Wayag and some of the richest reefs in the world. Cenderawasih Bay is known for whale sharks, and the Arfak mountains near Manokwari for birds.

The Baliem valley around Wamena offers treks to Dani villages and the August festival, with Lake Habbema beyond. To the west, Lorentz National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, rises from mangroves to Puncak Jaya, the highest peak in Oceania. Jayapura overlooks Humboldt Bay, and nearby Lake Sentani has villages of houses built on stilts.