Belitung
 Location of Belitung, Indonesia | |
| Geography | |
|---|---|
| Location | South East Asia |
| Coordinates | 2°50′S 107°55′E / 2.833°S 107.917°ECoordinates: 2°50′S 107°55′E / 2.833°S 107.917°E |
| Area | 4,800.6 km2 (1,853.5 sq mi) |
| Highest elevation | 500 m (1,600 ft) |
| Highest point | Mount Tajam |
| Country | |
| Province | Bangka-Belitung Islands |
| Largest settlement | Tanjung Pandan |
| Demographics | |
| Population | 262,357 (as of 2010) |
| Density | 54.65 /km2 (141.54 /sq mi) |
Belitung (or in English, Billiton) is an island on the east coast of Sumatra, Indonesia in the Java Sea. The island is known for its pepper and for its tin. It was in the possession of the United Kingdom from 1812 until she ceded control of the island to the Netherlands in the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824. Its main town is Tanjung Pandan.
Demography
The population is centered in several small towns, populated by approximately 262,000 inhabitants. The largest are Tanjung Pandan in the west and Manggar in the east, which are the respective capitals of the two Regencies (Belitung and Belitung Timur) into which the island is administratively divided. While ethnic Malays people make up the largest percentage, Belitung has large populations of Bugis, Sundanese, and ethnic Chinese people who formerly worked for the Dutch, mining tin. There is also a sizeable population of Madurese who were settled there in the Suharto era transmigration.
Religion
Before the arrival of Dutch missionaries, the island's inhabitants and most of the Indonesian archipelago had already converted from Hindu-Buddhist and Animist religions to some form of Islam due to the work of Chinese Muslim traders. As a result Christian churches were unable to gain considerable numbers of followers. Today, Belitung is a religiously diverse island. Sunni Islam is the most widely practiced religion, with sizeable minorities of Buddhists, Christians and adherents of Confucianism.
Geography
It is a medium-sized island of about 1,840 square miles (4,800 km2); it consists of moderately rugged terrain with several hills. The highest one is Mount Tajam with a height of less than 500 meters (1,600 ft). Belitung is bordered by the Gaspar Strait, the South China Sea and the Java Sea. Its turquoise blue sea is moderately calm and shallow, making for great sailing, snorkeling and swimming. Belitung is popular for its abstract granite boulders and brilliant white sand beaches in Tanjung Tinggi, Tanjung Kelayang, Tanjung Binga and Lengkuas island.
Economy
Belitung is a source of tin, clay, iron ore and silica sands. The Dutch mining company NV Billiton Maatschappij derives its name from the island's name. Billiton merged with BHP in 2001 to form the largest diversified resources company, BHP Billiton.
The island is also a producer of fishery products, pepper, coconut, and palm oil. People work as farmers, fishermen and miners. The island is easily accessible with 4 daily 50-minute flights from Jakarta.
The white sand beaches and offshore islands are helping tourism to become a larger part of the economy.
Tourist destinations
The main tourist destinations are beaches and offshore islands/islets. The beaches are Tanjung Tinggi Beach and Tanjung Kelayang Beach which both have clear blue water, sand and rocky beaches. The islands/islets are Batu Berlayar Island which is mostly granite, Pasir Island which is made of sand (= pasir in Indonesian language) and submerged during high tide, Bird Islet (Pulau Burong, which can be accessed from Tanjung Binga beach by walking at low tide), Lengkuas Island (which is the home of a 129-year-old lighthouse and a good place for snorkeling), Babi Island and Kelayang Islet.[1][2][3] on East Belitung, specifically Kelapa Kampit city, you would find a new tourist attraction (inaugurated on 9 January 2015). A glorious Kong Hu Chu temple called Fu De Ci temple is located in Muten street. This building shortly became a centre piece of its city. It is magnificent and prestigious, nearly 100% of the materials are imported from China. It cost USD 570,000 to build the whole temple. The temple is expected to attract more tourists to East Belitung area.
See also
References
- ↑ "The Philosophers movie introducing the beauty of Belitung island". July 18, 2014.
- ↑ "The Beauty of Belitung". The Jakarta Post. 2011-05-29. Retrieved 2013-01-30.
- ↑ "Terpesona Indahnya Batu Granit di Pulau Burong". February 4, 2012.
External links
Belitung travel guide from Wikivoyage
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
