The Thousand Islands (Indonesian: Kepulauan Seribu) are a chain of islands to the north of Jakarta's coast. It forms the only regency of Special Capital Region of Jakarta, the metropolitan province of Indonesia. It consists of a string of 342 islands^[2] stretching 45 km (28 mi) north into the Java Sea at West Jakarta Bay and in fact are located to the north of Banten Province. Pramuka Island is the regency seat. The islands, along with North Jakarta City, are the only administrative divisions of Jakarta Special Capital Region with a coastline.

Quick Facts Kepulauan Seribu, Country ...

Thousand Islands Kepulauan Seribu
Administrative regency
Administrative Regency of Thousand Islands Kabupaten Administrasi Kepulauan Seribu
The archipelago of Thousand Islands
Seal
Map of the Thousand Islands
Thousand Islands Regency Location in Java and Indonesia Show map of Java Thousand Islands Regency Thousand Islands Regency (Indonesia) Show map of Indonesia
Coordinates: 5°42′S 106°35′E
Country	Indonesia
Special Capital Region	Jakarta
Government
• Regent	Junaedi
• Vice Regent	vacant
Area
• Total	10.18 km2 (3.93 sq mi)
Elevation	1 m (3 ft)
Highest elevation	7 m (23 ft)
Lowest elevation	0 m (0 ft)
Population  (2020 census)[1]
• Total	27,749
• Density	2,700/km2 (7,100/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+7 (IWST)
Area code	(+62) 21
Website	pulauseribu.jakarta.go.id

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A decree states that 36 islands may be used for recreation.^[3] Of these, only 13 islands are fully developed: 11 islands are homes to resorts and two islands are historic parks. Twenty-three are privately owned and are not open to the public.^[4] The rest of the islands are either uninhabited or support a fishing village.^[4]

The modern history of the Thousand Islands begins with its role in the defenses of the city of Batavia for the Dutch East India Company (Dutch: Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie, abbreviated VOC) and the Dutch colonial empire. Before the arrival of the Dutch, these islands already had their present Malay language name. With the arrival of the Dutch, the islands received a second Dutch name. The Malay names are not forgotten, as both Malay and Dutch names of the islands are written side by side in some 18th-century Batavia maps. Since the establishment of Batavia in 1610, Pulau Kapal, later named by the Dutch as Onrust Island, has been a naval base.

After the VOC failed to obtain control of trade at Banten in 1610, the Dutch obtained permission from Prince Jayakarta to build a dock at one of the islands in Jakarta Bay as a place to repair and equip ships sailing to Asia, particularly South East Asia. The island Prince Jayakarta assigned to the VOC was Onrust Island, a 12-hectare (30-acre) island 14 km (8.7 mi) from Jakarta.

In 1615 the VOC built a shipyard and a small storage house on the island, which Jan Pieterszoon Coen hoped would eventually develop into a trade and defence base against threats from Banten and England (1618). The VOC constructed a small rectangular fort with two bastions in 1656; the bastions protruded from the fort and were used as look-out posts.^[5] The Dutch enlarged the fort in 1671 and gave it an asymmetrical pentagonal shape with a bastion in each corner. The whole structure was made of red bricks and coral. In 1674 additional storage buildings were built.^[5]

In 1795, the position of the Dutch in Batavia became quite uncertain due to the war in Europe, and the situation became worse with the appearance in 1800 of a British naval squadron under the command of Captain Henry Lidgbird Ball of HMS Daedalus. Daedalus, HMS Sybille, HMS Centurion and HMS Braave entered the area, which they referred to as Batavia Roads. They seized five Dutch armed vessels and destroyed 22 other vessels. Onrust island was under siege by the British and eventually destroyed.

After the British departed, the Dutch rebuilt the buildings and facilities, completing the work in 1806. However, a second British attack, led by Admiral Edward Pellew, again destroyed the fort. When the British occupied Batavia in 1810, they repaired the buildings in Onrust island until prior to their leaving Indonesia in 1816.^[5]

Onrust island again received attention in 1827 during the period of Governor-General G.A.Baron Van Der Capellen and activities in the island were normal again in 1848. In 1856 a floating shipyard was built. However, the construction of Tanjung Priok harbour in 1883 resulted in a decline in the role and significance of Onrust island.^[5]

In 1911–1933, Onrust island became a quarantine station for pilgrims returning from the Hajj. A barrack was built in 1911 that contained 35 units for about 100 pilgrims.^[6] From 1933 until 1940, the Dutch used Onrust to hold the mutineers involved in the Incident of the Seven Provinces (Zeven Provincien). In 1940, the Dutch used it to hold Germans, such as Steinfurt, who was the Chief Administrator of Onrust Island. After the Japanese invaded Indonesia in 1942, the role of Onrust island declined again and it became a prison for serious criminals.^[5]

After Indonesia proclaimed independence in 1945, the island became a leprosarium under the control of the Indonesian Ministry of Health, until 1960. The leprosarium then relocated to Post VII at Tanjung Priok Port.

After a coup by General Suharto, Chris Soumokil, who had proclaimed a Republic of South Moluccas with himself as president, was arrested and held at Onrust. Soumukil was later executed there on 21 April 1966.^[7][8]

In 1972 Ali Sadikin, then governor of Jakarta, declared Onrust Island a protected historical site. In 2002 the administration made Onrust and its three neighbors – the islands of Cipir, Kelor and Bidadari – an archaeological park to protect the artifacts and ruins on the islands that date back to the time of the Dutch East India Company.

On 28 February 2020, 188 Indonesian crew members from the cruise ship World Dream were quarantined for 14 days on the uninhabited Sebaru Kecil islet against COVID-19.^[9][10]

On 9 January 2021, a Boeing 737-500 (PK-CLC) operating Sriwijaya Air Flight 182 went missing after taking off from Jakarta Soekarno–Hatta Airport on route to Pontianak Supadio Airport. The aircraft crashed near the Thousand Islands.^[11]

Quick Facts Kepulauan Seribu Marine National Park, Location ...

Kepulauan Seribu Marine National Park
Taman Nasional Laut Kepulauan Seribu
IUCN category II (national park)
Kepulauan Seribu Marine NP Location in Java Show map of Java Kepulauan Seribu Marine NP Kepulauan Seribu Marine NP (Indonesia) Show map of Indonesia
Location	Java Sea, Indonesia
Nearest city	Jakarta
Coordinates	5°44′44″S 106°36′55″E
Area	107,489 hectares (265,610 acres; 1,074.89 km2)
Established	October 10, 1982 (1982-10-10)
Visitors	777,008 (in 2019[12])
Governing body	Ministry of Environment and Forestry
Website	tnlkepulauanseribu.net

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An area of 107,489 hectares (415.02 sq mi) of land and sea was declared by the Minister of Agriculture in 1982 and designated by a Forestry Ministerial Decree in 2002 as the Taman Nasional Laut Kepulauan Seribu (Thousand Islands Marine National Park). Public access is prohibited on two of the islands, Panjaliran Barat and Panjaliran Timur, where sea turtles are conserved.^[13][14]

The Thousand Islands Marine National Park is located 45 km (28 mi) north of Jakarta. It is mostly located on the Kecamatan of Kepulauan Seribu Utara district of North Thousand Islands), which is the northern part of the Thousand Islands. The complex contains 342 reef platforms, with 110 forming an island larger than half an acre. There may be as many as 700 individual reefs in the complex.^[15]

In general, the plants that grow in the park are dominated by coastal species including coconut palm (Cocos nucifera), pandan (Pandanus sp.), cemara laut (Casuarina equisetifolia), cangkudu (Morinda citrifolia), butun (Barringtonia asiatica), mangroves (Bruguiera sp.), breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis), ketapang (Terminalia catappa), and kecundang (Cerbera odollam).^[14]

Sea vegetation commonly found in the park consists of seaweed divisions including Rhodophyta, Chlorophyta and Phaeophyta as well as classes of sea grasses such as Halimeda sp., Padina sp., Thalassia sp., Sargassum sp., and Caulerpa sp.^[14]

The dominant animals in the park include 54 sea biota species which form part of the coral reef ecosystem, 144 species of fish, two species of giant clam, six species of sea grass, sea worms of various colours and 17 species of coastal bird.^[14]

This park forms a hatching site for the hawksbill sea turtle and green sea turtle. The hawksbill turtle is an endangered species and is rarely found in other waters. These turtles are bred on Pramuka Island. This activity is aimed at recovering the turtle population, which had almost reached extinction. Breeding activities include egg hatching in a semi-natural way and caring for the baby turtles till they are ready to be released into their natural habitat.^[14]

Most coastal areas of this park are surrounded by mangrove forest, where monitor lizards, golden ring snakes and reticulated pythons can be found.^[14]

The islands of the Thousand Islands form an administrative regency which belongs to the Special Capital Region of Jakarta. As an administrative regency, Thousand Islands does not have its own local legislatures (Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat Daerah) while the regent is directly appointed by the governor. The geographical features of Thousand Islands make Jakarta the only capital entity in the world that contains more than 100 islands within its boundaries^[16] In the official list, the Thousand Islands Regency contains 110 islands and is divided into two districts or kecamatan: the Kecamatan of Kepulauan Seribu Selatan, or South Thousand Islands, and the Kecamatan of Kepulauan Seribu Utara, or North Thousand Islands. The former district has an administrative code (kode wilayah) of 31.01.02, and the latter of 31.01.01. Each kecamatan in turn is divided into three kelurahan.

Below are the complete list of the islands in the Thousand Islands (kepulauan Seribu):^[17]