South Halmahera Regency

South Halmahera Regency (Indonesian: Kabupaten Halmahera Selatan) is a regency of North Maluku Province, Indonesia. It lies partly on Halmahera Island (occupying most of the southern peninsula of that island) and partly on smaller islands to the west and south of Halmahera. It covers a land area of 8,779.32 km², and at the 2010 Census it had a population of 198,911 people,^[2] while the 2020 Census showed that this had risen to 248,395^[3] and the official estimate in mid 2023 was 255,384^[1] The capital lies at the town of Labuha on Bacan Island.

South Halmahera Regency Kabupaten Halmahera Selatan
Regency
Coat of arms
Motto(s):  Saruma (One House)
South Halmahera Regency Location in Bacan, Maluku, Halmahera and Indonesia Show map of Bacan Islands South Halmahera Regency South Halmahera Regency (Maluku) Show map of Maluku South Halmahera Regency South Halmahera Regency (Halmahera) Show map of Halmahera South Halmahera Regency South Halmahera Regency (Indonesia) Show map of Indonesia
Coordinates: 0.3955°S 127.9083°E / -0.3955; 127.9083
Country	Indonesia
Province	North Maluku
Capital	Labuha
Government
• Regent	Bahrain Kasuba
• Vice Regent	Iswan Hasjim
Area
• Total	8,779.32 km2 (3,389.71 sq mi)
Population  (mid 2023 Estimate)
• Total	255,384
• Density	29/km2 (75/sq mi)
	[1]
Time zone	UTC+9 (IEST)
Area code	(+62) 927
Website	halselkab.go.id

Islands

Besides the southern part of Halmahera Island, the regency includes a number of archipelagoes and islands. These comprise:

• Obi Islands, including Obira (main), Bisa, Obilatu and other small islands, comprising in all five kecamatan with 53,182 people in mid 2023.^[1]
• Bacan Islands, including:
  • Bacan Island itself, comprising 7 kecamatan with 87,981 people (in mid 2023)
  • Bacan Lomang Island, comprising 1 kecamatan with 7,858 people
  • Mandioli, comprising 2 kecamatan with 11,117 people
  • Kasiruta, comprising 2 kecamatan with 11,030 people
• Kayoa Group, comprising 4 kecamatan with 22,386 people
• Makian, comprising 2 kecamatan with 12,525 people
• Joronga Islands, comprising 1 kecamatan with 7,117 people, including the southern tip of Halmahera Island
• the southern peninsula of Halmahera Island (the area is known as Gane), comprising 6 kecamatan with 42,198 people.^[4]

Administration

The regency is divided into thirty districts (kecamatan), tabulated below with their areas and their populations at the 2010 Census^[2] and 2020 Census,^[3] together with the official estimates for mid 2023.^[1] The table also includes the name of the administrative centre and the number of administrative villages (all classed as rural desa) and of named islands in each district and its post code.

Kode Wilayah	Name of District (kecamatan)	English name	Area in km2	Pop'n Census 2010	Pop'n Census 2020'	Pop'n Estimate mid 2023	Admin centre	No. of villages	No. of islands	Post code	Island or Group
82.04.05	Obi Selatan	South Obi	1,083.48	12,128	12,178	15,299	Wayaloar	8	4	97792	Obi Islands
82.04.06	Obi		1,073.15	14,125	20,538	18,067	Laiwui	9	12	97792	Obi Islands
82.04.28	Obi Barat	West Obi	94.53	3,586	5,211	5,704	Jikohai	6	6	97792	Obi Islands
82.04.29	Obi Timur	East Obi	636.23	3,389	3,705	4,040	Sum	4	14	97792	Obi Islands
82.04.30	Obi Utara	North Obi	160.69	8,227	9,128	10,072	Madapolo	7	6	97792	Obi Islands
82.04.21	Bacan Timur Selatan	Southeast Bacan	321.13	6,460	7,493	8,352	Wayaua	7	1	97791	Bacan Islands
82.04.22	Bacan Timur Tengah	East Central Bacan	276.28	5,229	6,158	6,595	Bibinoi	7	2	97791	Bacan Islands
82.04.07	Bacan Timur	East Bacan	463.50	9,051	12,794	13,649	Babang	10	8	97791	Bacan Islands
82.04.17	Bacan Selatan	South Bacan	169.21	13,265	19,560	21,153	Mandaong	10	-	97791	Bacan Islands
82.04.08	Bacan		304.69	19,092	27,045	28,468	Labuha	14	3	97791	Bacan Islands
82.04.14	Bacan Barat Utara	Northwest Bacan	264.94	4,096	5,010	5,099	Yaba	8	1	97791	Bacan Islands
82.04.09	Bacan Barat	West Bacan	180.78	3,549	4,327	4,665	Indari	7	49	97791	Bacan Islands
82.04.18	Batang Lomang (a)	Batang Lomang Islands	55.81	6,177	7,655	7,858	Bajo	8	13	97790	Batang Lomang Islands
82.04.19	Mandioli Selatan	South Mandioli	138.81	5,798	6,936	7,237	Jiko	6	-	97791	Mandioli
82.04.20	Mandioli Utara	North Mandioli	96.79	2,990	3,809	3,880	Indong	6	7	97791 (b)	Mandioli
82.04.16	Kasiruta Timur	East Kasiruta	247.93	3,847	4,865	5,062	Loleojaya	8	6	97790	Kasiruta
82.04.15	Kasiruta Barat (c)	West Kasiruta	272.98	4,521	5,865	5,968	Palamea	10	25	97790	Kasiruta
82.04.11	Kayoa Barat (d)	West Kayoa	27.07	3,469	4,336	4,153	Busua	4	5	97781	Kayoa Islands
82.04.02	Kayoa		87.62	8,180	9,057	8,731	Guruapin	14	49	97780	Kayoa Islands
82.04.12	Kayoa Selatan	South Kayoa	26.06	5,856	6,822	6,689	Laluin	6	9	97780	Kayoa Islands
82.04.13	Kayoa Utara	North Kayoa	39.22	2,671	2,896	2,813	Laromabati	6	3	97781	Kayoa Islands
82.04.10	Makian Barat	West Makian	35.54	3,417	3,968	3,679	Mateketen	7	-	97784	Makian
82.04.01	Pulau Makian	Makian Island	55.50	8,977	10,032	8,846	Kota	15	1	97785	Makian
82.04.24	Gane Barat Utara	Northwest Gane	501.69	6,027	7,336	7,217	Dolik	12	-	97789	Halmahera
82.04.04	Gane Barat	West Gane	493.67	7,972	10,019	9,834	Saketa	10	7	97782	Halmahera
82.04.23	Gane Barat Selatan	Southwest Gane	252.55	5,545	6,796	7,017	Gane Dalam	8	19	97782	Halmahera
82.04.25	Kepulauan Joronga	Joronga Islands	148.93	5,264	7,203	7,117	Kukupang	7	30 (e)	97786	Joronga Islands
82.04.26	Gane Timur Selatan (f)	Southeast Gane	304.15	3,478	4,104	4,012	Gane Luar	5	85	97787	Halmahera
82.04.27	Gane Timur Tengah	East Central Gane	309.67	3,796	4,354	4,579	Bisui	8	2	97788	Halmahera
82.04.03	Gane Timur	East Gane	656.72	8,729	9,253	9,539	Maffa	12	1	97783	Halmahera

Notes: (a) formally called Kepulauan Batanglomang; situated between Bacan and Mandioli Islands. (b) except for Bobo desa, which has a postcode of 97792.
(c) includes Lata Lata Island (27.9 km², with 1,201 inhabitants in 2020), located to the northwest of Kasiruta Island, and comprising two desa - Lata Lata and Sidanga.
(d) Kayoa Barat (essentially Pulau Muari, but also includes the four small offshore islets of Pulau Guaigo, Pulau Guaigo Kecil, Pulau Intan and Pulau Tamotamo) actually lies closer to Kasiruta Island than to the rest of the Kayoa group; it is geographically adjacent to Lata Lata Island, part of Kasiruta Barat District.
(e) comprising the villages (desa) of Gonone, Kukupang, Kurunga, Liboba Hijrah, Pulau Gala, Tawabi and Yomen; the largest island is Pulau Damar or Kukupang.
(f) includes the Widi Islands off the east coast of the Gane Peninsula.

Languages

The various South Halmahera languages are a branch of Austronesian languages.

Economy

South Halmahera has been designated by provincial governor Abdul Ghani Kasuba as a region for tourism development.^[5] The Widi International Fishing Tournament was founded for this purpose.^[6] Kasuba also successfully negotiated for the China-based Jinchun Group to build a nine-trillion rupiah nickel smelter in the Obi Islands.^[7]

References

1. Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 28 February 2024, Kabupaten Halmahera Selatan Dalam Angka 2024 (Katalog-BPS 1102001.8204)
2. Biro Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2011.
3. Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2021.
4. "Kabupaten Halmahra Selatan".
5. Widi Islands to be the Future of North Maluku Tourism. Tempo, 21 May 2017. Accessed 18 September 2017.
6. Aria Cindyara, N Maluku to boost maritime sector through fishing tourism. Antara, 24 August 2017. Accessed 30 August 2017.
7. China`s Jinchun to in vest Rp9 trillion in North Maluku. Antara, 16 July 2016. Accessed 18 September 2017.

External links

• "Profil Kabupaten Halmahera Selatan [Profile South Halmahera Regency]" (PDF). RPI2-JMI Kabupaten Halmahera Selatan, Bantuan Teknis RPI2JM Dalam Implementasi Kebijakan Keterpaduan Program Bidang Cipta Karya – Provinsi Maluku Utara (in Indonesian). 2014.