photo sharing and upload picture albums photo forums search pictures popular photos photography help login
Kazuo Lim Khee Boon | profile | all galleries >> My Travel Album >> Indonesia >> Riau Islands tree view | thumbnails | slideshow

Java | Bali | Lombok | Gili Trawangan | Gili Meno | Gili Air | North Sumatra | Riau Islands | Riau

Riau Islands

Riau Islands


Riau Islands Province or in Indonesian as Provinsi Kepulauan Riau (Kepri or Riau Kepulauan) is a province of Indonesia, consisting of Riau Archipelago, Natuna Islands, Anambas, and Lingga Islands. The main Riau Archipelago islands are Bintan, Batam, Rempang, Galang, Combol, Kundur, and Karimun. Tanjung Pinang located on Bintan is the provincial capital. Tanjung Balai Karimun is an international port along with Tanjung Pinang.

Originally part of the Riau Province, the Riau Islands were split off as a separate province in July 2004 with Tanjung Pinang as its capital.

The archipelagos of Anambas and Natuna, located between mainland Malaysia and Borneo were attached to the new province, though not part of the Riau Archipelago. The 4 major island groups are the Riau Archipelago off of Singapore, the Lingga Islands extending southward of the Riau Arch., parallel the Sumatran Coast, and the aforementioned Anambas and Natunas.

Batam has a majority of the province's population. Other populated major islands include Bintan and Karimun. Sizewise, however, the sparsely populated Natuna Islands are larger. There are around 3,200 islands in the province. Since Batam is part of a booming special economic region, it has experienced high population growth rates. The province's population is estimated at 1,392,900 as of 2007.

Batam
Batam
Bintan
Bintan