Editing Biak Archipelago

{{short description|Island group in Southwest Papua province, eastern Indonesia}}
{{distinguish|Schouten Islands (Papua New Guinea)}}
{{About|the island group in Indonesia|other islands with same name|Schouten (disambiguation)}}
[[File:Lokasi Kepulauan Biak.svg|thumb|Location of Biak Islands]]
[[File:Map of Biak Island.jpg|thumb|Biak and Supiori Islands with minor islands and towns]]
[[File:Biak Archipelago.png|thumb|Biak Islands in Cenderawasih Bay.]]

The '''Biak Islands''' ({{langx|id|Kepulauan Biak}}, also '''Schouten Islands''' or '''Geelvink Islands''') are an [[island]] group of [[Southwest Papua]] province, eastern [[Indonesia]] in the [[Cenderawasih Bay]] (or Geelvink Bay) 50&nbsp;km off the north-western coast of the island of [[New Guinea]]. The group consists of the main islands of [[Biak Island|Biak]], [[Supiori Island|Supiori]] and [[Numfor]], and numerous smaller islands, mostly covered in [[rain forest]]. The population of the archipelago is about 130,000.

==History==

The first recorded sighting by Europeans of the Schouten Islands was by the [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] navigator [[Jorge de Menezes]] in 1526. On the voyage from [[Malacca]] to [[Maluku Islands|Maluku]], via northern Borneo, he was further carried eastward by a storm and strong winds. Jorge de Menezes landed at [[Biak Island|Biak]], where he was forced to winter. Inspired by Malay, Moluccan or local Papuan names, he named the archipelago, and eventually the coasts of western Papua "Islands of Papuas". Biak was thenceforth called in Portuguese maps {{lang|pt|Ilha de Dom Jorge}} or {{lang|pt|Ilha onde invernou Dom Jorge}}, and {{lang|pt|Ilha de S. Jorge}}.<ref>{{cite book
  | last = Kratoska
  | first = Paul H.
  | title = South East Asia, Colonial History: Imperialism before 1800 |volume=1 |series=South East Asia, Colonial History
  | publisher = Taylor & Francis
  | year = 2001
  | location =
  | page = 56
  | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Z9U-FUPS3DkC&q=gaspar+viegas+1537+Jorge+Menezes}}</ref><ref>J. H. F. Sollewun Gelpke, [http://www.papuaweb.org/dlib/bk1/kitlv/bki/gelpke-1993.pdf ''On the Origin of the Name Papua'']</ref>

[[File:The history of mankind (1896) (14783807763).jpg|thumb|Sowek Village in Aruri Islands near [[Supiori Island|Supiori]], c. 1896]]
The archipelago was also sighted by [[Spain|Spanish navigator]] [[Álvaro de Saavedra Cerón|Álvaro de Saavedra]] who landed on [[Yapen]] on June 24, 1528, when trying to return from [[Tidore]] to [[New Spain]]. The islands were named {{lang|es|Islas de Oro}} (Golden Islands in Spanish). In 1545 they were visited by [[Yñigo Ortiz de Retez|Íñigo Ortiz de Retes]] on board the [[galleon]] ''San Juan''.<ref>Coello, Francisco, {{lang|la|italic=no|"Conflicto hispano-alemán"}}, {{lang|es|Boletín de Sociedad Geográfica de Madrid}} XIX. 2nd semester 1885, Madrid, pp. 234, 239, 309, 310, 315, 319.</ref>

[[File:UB Utrecht - Nova Guinea Vol 4 - Karte 2 - Karte des Geelvink-Busens.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.4|1917 map of [[Cenderawasih Bay]] (then Geelvink Bay) including the Schouten Islands {{in lang|de}}]]
The archipelago was first mapped in the Portuguese charts of Gaspar Viegas (c. 1537), an anonymous map of 1540, and on the maps of João de Lisboa and of Bartolomeu Velho (c. 1560), and by other Portuguese, Spanish, and Dutch maps.<ref>Luis Filipe F. R. Thomaz, [http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/arch_0044-8613_1995_num_49_1_3038?_Prescripts_Search_tabs1=standard& ''The image of the Archipelago in Portuguese cartography of the 16th and early 17th centuries''], Persee, 1995, Volume 49, pp. 79–124</ref>

The Schouten Islands were eventually named after Dutch explorer [[Willem Schouten]], who explored them in 1615. 

The [[Sultanate of Tidore|Tidore Sultanate]] had tributary ties with the islands. Seafarers from the region used to regularly pay homage to the sultan.<ref>Slama, Martin (2015), [https://books.google.com/books?id=JEp1rgEACAAJ "Papua as an Islamic Frontier: Preaching in 'the Jungle' and the Multiplicity of Spatio-Temporal Hierarchisations"], ''From 'Stone-Age' to 'Real-Time': Exploring Papuan Temporalities, Mobilities and Religiosities'', ANU Press, pp. 243–270, {{ISBN|978-1-925022-43-8}}</ref>

==Demographics==
The Biak Islands are among the most densely populated parts of Southwest Papua province.<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/place/Schouten-Islands Britannica article on the Schouten Islands]</ref>

==Ecology==
===Terrestrial===
{{main|Biak–Numfoor rain forests}}

These small islands have been designated the [[Biak–Numfoor rain forests]]. They have the most highly [[endemism|endemic]] [[Bird|avifauna]] of any single area in the New Guinea region. The forest consists of similar types of trees to that on mainland New Guinea.

There are over 100 bird species on the islands, of which 11 to 16 are [[endemism|endemic]], that is, restricted to this small island group. These include: [[black-winged lory]] (''Eos cyanogenia''); the small tree-climbing [[Geelvink pygmy parrot]] (''Micropsitta geelvinkiana''); [[Biak scrubfowl]] (''Megapodius geelvinkianus''); [[Geelvink imperial pigeon]] (''Ducula geelvinkiana''); [[Geelvink fruit dove]] (''Ptilinopus speciosus''); [[Biak coucal]] (''Centropus chalybeus''); two [[tree kingfisher]]s, [[Biak paradise kingfisher]] (''Tanysiptera riedelii'') and [[Numfor paradise kingfisher]] (''Tanysiptera carolinae''); [[Biak gerygone]] (''Gerygone hypoxantha''); [[Biak monarch]] (''Monarcha brehmii''); [[Biak flycatcher]] (''Myiagra atra''); [[long-tailed starling]] (''Aplonis magna''); and [[Biak white-eye]] (''Zosterops mysorensis'').<ref>"Geelvink Islands (Endemic Bird Areas of the world)". ''Birdlife International''. [http://datazone.birdlife.org/eba/factsheet/174]</ref><ref>[http://www.bird-watching-papua-adventure-travel.com/birdinggeelvinkislands.html Biak-Numfor Birding, Geelvink Islands Bird-watching, Geelvink Endemic Birds<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080119043156/http://www.bird-watching-papua-adventure-travel.com/birdinggeelvinkislands.html |date=2008-01-19 }}</ref> 

As well as the birds, there are a number of endemic mammals, although there are only 29 mammal species on the islands. The endemics include: [[Biak naked-backed fruit bat]] (''Dobsonia emersaa'') a species of [[Dobsonia|barebacked fruit bat]] (so-called because their wings are attached to the back rather than the sides, giving this type of bat a different appearance to most species; a marsupial [[Biak glider]] (''Petaurus biacensis''); [[Japen rat]] (''Rattus jobiensis''); and two species of [[giant naked-tailed rat]], ''[[Uromys boeadii]]'' and ''[[Uromys emmae]]''.

The islands also have a number of endemic butterflies and one endemic spider ''[[Diolenius]] [[Diolenius angustipes|angustipes]]''.<ref>{{aut|Platnick, Norman I.}} (2009): [http://research.amnh.org/entomology/spiders/catalog/index.html The world spider catalog], version 9.5. ''American Museum of Natural History''.</ref>

Much of the forest has been cut down for logging or to clear land for planting especially on Biak Island, which is the most populous in the area, although logging has slowed.  There are two protected areas, which are close to each other: [[Pulau Supiori Nature Reserve]], which is most of Supiori Island; and [[Biak Utara Nature Reserve]] which is an area on Biak Island just across the bridge from Supiori. However the logging industry may return, while birds are vulnerable to collectors and just because they have such a limited range of habitat on these small islands. The area needs more study.<ref>{{WWF ecoregion|name=Biak-Numfoor rain forests|id=aa0103}}</ref> 

===Marine===
[[File:Bindusi, East Biak, Biak Numfor Regency, Papua, Indonesia - panoramio.jpg |thumb|right|300px|Bindusi, East Biak, Biak Numfor Regency, Papua, Indonesia]]
The seas around the Biak Islands are part of the [[Coral Triangle]], a marine region which has the world's greatest diversity of coral reef species. Diving in the waters off Biak is a popular activity for tourists.

The islands have two [[marine protected area]]s. The Biak Numfor Locally Managed Marine Area, established in 2015, protects Numfor's eastern coast and the southern coast of Biak.<ref>"KKPD Biak Numfor". ''Protected Planet''. Accessed 11 July 2021.</ref> Padaido Marine Recreation Park, established in 2009, protects the waters around the [[Padaido Archipelago]], a group of small islands lying south and southeast of Biak.<ref>"KKPN Padaido.". ''Protected Planet.''. Accessed 11 July 2021. [https://www.protectedplanet.net/198430]</ref>

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==See also==
{{Portal|Islands}}
* [[Schouten languages]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Schouten Islands| ]]
[[Category:Archipelagoes of Indonesia]]
[[Category:Cenderawasih Bay]]
[[Category:Islands of Western New Guinea]]
[[Category:Maritime history of the Dutch East India Company]]
[[Category:Populated places in Indonesia]]