Ceram

Seram Island

Geography
Location	South East Asia
Archipelago	Molucca Islands
Area	17,100 km² (6,600 mi²) (52nd)
Highest point	Binaiya (3,019 m (9,905 ft))
Country
Indonesia
Demographics
Population	218,993 (as of 2003)

Seram (formerly Ceram, also called Seran or Serang) is an island in the Maluku province of Indonesia. It is located north of Ambon Island. The chief port/town is Masohi.

Geography and Geology

Seram is traversed by a central mountain range, the highest point of which, Mount Binaiya, is covered with dense rain forests. Its remarkably complex geology is due to its location at the meeting of several tectonic microplates, that has been described as "one of the most tectonically complex areas on Earth"^[1]. Seram actually falls on its own microplate. that has been twisted around by 80° in the last 8 million years ^[2] by the relatively faster movement of the Papua microplate. Meanwhile, along with the northward push of the Australian Plate, this has resulted in the uplift that gives north-central Seram peaks of over 3000m.

Administration

Seram includes two of the regencies within the province of Maluku. West Seram (Kabupaten Seram Bagian Barat), capital at Dataran Hunipopu, had a population (2003) of 140,657; and Eastern Seram (Kabupaten Seram Bagian Timur), capital at Dataran Hunimoa, had a population (2003) of 78,336.

Economy

Copra, resin, sago, and fish are important products. Oil is exploited in the northeast near Bula by CITIC Seram Energy^[3] who took over from KUFPEC (Indonesia) Limited in 2006^[4].

History

Most central Moluccans consider Seram to be their original ancestral home and it is still known colloquially as Nusa Ina (Mother Island).^[5][6] In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, Seram was generally within the sphere of influence of Ternate, although it was often ruled more directly by the Ternaten vassal state of Buru. Portuguese missionaries were active there in the 16th century. Dutch trading posts were opened in the early 17th century, and the island came under nominal Dutch control c. 1650. In the 1780s, Seram provided a key base of support for Prince Nuku of Tidore's long-running rebellion against Dutch rule.

Religion

View from a boat towards Tulehu, on the North Seram coast

Seram has been traditionally associated with the animism of the indigenous Alifuru (or Nua-ulu), a West Melanesian people who reputedly retained a custom of headhunting until the 1940s ^[7]. Today, however, most of the population of Seram today is either Muslim or Christian due to both conversion and immigration. Seram was affected by the violent inter-religious conflict that swept Maluku province starting in late 1998, resulting in tens of thousands of displaced persons across the province^[8] but after the Malino II agreement tempers cooled. Seram has been peaceful for many years but towns like Masohi remain informally divided into de facto Christian and Muslim sections. Around 7,000 people belonging to the Manusela tribe follow Hinduism.

See also

• Islands of Indonesia
• Wemale
• Alune

External links

• Seacology Seram Island Health Clinic Project Seacology
• Alifuru Consciousness Video

References

Coordinates: 3°08′S 129°30′E / 3.133°S 129.5°E / -3.133; 129.5