History of Riau Islands Province
This province is a division of Riau Province. In addition to its very strategic geographical location because it is located in the Malacca Strait and in the South China Sea, it is also bordered by business and financial centers in the Asia Pacific, namely Singapore and Malaysia.
The Riau Archipelago Province with the motto Berpancang Amanah, Bersauh Marwah, is determined to develop its region to become one of the centers of national economic growth while maintaining Malay cultural values supported by a prosperous, intelligent and noble society. The following is a map of the administrative area of the Riau Archipelago Province:
The formation of the Riau Archipelago as the 32nd province in the Republic of Indonesia (RI) was stipulated by the DPRRI based on Law No. 25 of 2002, on September 24, 2002 to be precise. The Riau Islands were originally part of the Riau Province. Administratively, the Riau Archipelago Province was inaugurated on July 1, 2004 with Tanjungpinang as the provincial capital.
Geographically, Riau Islands Province is located at 04o15′ North Latitude – 0o45’S and 103011′ – 109o10′ East Longitude. The Riau Archipelago Province is an archipelago consisting of approximately 2,408 large and small islands of which 366 islands are inhabited and 2,042 islands are uninhabited. The total area of the Riau Archipelago Province is 253,420 km2 consisting of an ocean area of 242,825 km2 (96%) and a land area of 10,595.41 km2 (4%).
The Riau Archipelago consists of 5 regencies and 2 cities, namely
1) Bintan Regency, the capital of Bintan Bunyu;
2) Karimun Regency with Tanjung Balai Karimun as its capital;
3) Natuna Regency with the capital Ranai;
4) Lingga Regency with the capital Daik;
5) Tanjungpinang City with the capital Tanjungpinang;
6) Batam City with the capital Batam, and
7) Anambas Islands Regency with the capital Tarempa, where the Anambas Islands Regency is a division of the Natuna Regency which was formed at the end of 2008 based on Law Number 33 of 2008.
Judging from the distribution of its territory, most of the Riau Archipelago Province is surrounded by sea and its land consists of many islands. The total area is 427,608.68 km2 consisting of 97.52% sea of 417,012.97 km2 and the remaining 2.48% is land. amounting to 10,595.71 km2.
The territorial boundaries of the Riau Archipelago Province are:
- To the north: Bordered by Vietnam and Cambodia.
- South: Bordered by Bangka Belitung Province and Jambi Province.
- To the west: Bordered by Singapore, Malaysia and Riau Province
- To the east: Bordering the State of East Malaysia and West Kalimantan Province
The topography of the Riau Archipelago consists of the coast and the highlands. The area with the highest topographic variation is Lingga District and the relatively flat area is Tanjungpinang City. The area with the largest land area is Natuna Regency and the smallest is Tanjungpinang City.