Talaud Islands Regency

The islands were known as Maleon, Sinduane, Tamarongge, Batunampato, and Tinonda. Human settlements in the region have been present since prehistoric time, shown by several artifacts of hand axe and chopper from 6,000 BC. There were also remains of chinaware, suggesting there has been continuous trading activity between the natives of the islands and outside world.[4]

It was thought that inhabitants of the islands were originated from Southern Philippines especially Mindanao and also traders from Ternate.[5]

A Topographical Map of the Islands[lower-alpha 1]

Bitunuris Beach, near Bitunuris Village, Salibabu

Grouping Talaud together with Sangihe, there are 77 islands in the Talaud-Sangihe archipelagos, of which 56 are inhabited. Compared with the Sangihe archipelago, the islands are low lying and forested, with hills rising to 2,231 feet (680 metres).[6] The coast of Karakelong Island is steep except on the southern shore, which is fringed by a wide reef.[7]

The region is regularly rocked by large earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, as the Molucca Sea Plate is being consumed in both directions.[8] A notable earthquake was the 2009 Talaud Islands earthquake, which was felt in the Philippines as well.[9]

The Regency is divided into nineteen districts (kecamatan), tabulated below with their areas and their populations at the 2010 Census[2] and 2020 Census,[3] together with the official estimates as at mid 2022.[1] The table also includes the locations of the district administrative centres.

The regency's GRDP was valued at 2,266 billion rupiahs in 2020, an increase of 59 billion rupiahs from previous year. The regency's economy is still dominated by agriculture, fishing, and forestry-related industries. The agriculture sector alone made up 42.57% of the regency's GRDP. The second biggest sector in the regency was trade and retail, which made up 13.22% of the regency's GRDP in 2020. Other significant sectors are construction with contribution of 11.64%, administration and social security with 11.58%, and transportation with 4.50%. Overall economic growth of the regency was 4.69% on 2019 but then declined to 0.43% on 2020.[10]

A coconut plantation in Tampan'amma District, Talaud Islands Regency; Coconut is among the major cash crops in the regency.

The fastest growing sector in the regency in 2020 was electricity and gas with growth of 9.14%, followed by health sector with growth of 8.93%, insurance and financial services with 7.55%, and information and communication sector with 7.01%. Food services sector experienced sharp decline of 9.03% on the same year, while transportation sector also declined 5.34% due to COVID-19 pandemic.[10][11]

There were 1,635 registered merchants classified as small-scale business, while 26 merchant business were classified as medium-sized as of 2020. In addition, there are 150 registered cooperatives on the same year in the regency. Leading agriculture product from the regency is banana, with output of 34,384 quintals in 2020. Other fruit produced by the regency is mango with 913 quintals, durian with 509 quintals, papaya with 9,046 quintals, and salak with 297 quintals. Other than banana, coconut is also a major cash crop in the regency which coconut plantation occupied 22,146 hectares of land as of 2020. The production of coconut in 2020 was 19,185 tons, followed by nutmeg production of 4,113 tons. There's also significant chili production which results in 59,917 tons as of 2020.[10]

Market in Siaoe, Talaud Islands[lower-alpha 2]

The population of the Talaud Islands was 94,520 according to the 2020 census.[3] The total population of the Talaud, Sangihe and Sitaro Islands was 304,600 in 2020.[3]

Most of the population are involved in agriculture, which includes coconuts, vanilla, nutmeg, cloves, ebony and ironwood as well as copra and sago. Numerous volcanoes produce very fertile volcanic soil on many of the islands.[12] Fishing is an important aspect of Talaud livelihood, culture and economy.

The Austronesian Talaud language is spoken on the islands[13] by the native ethnic group, the Talaud.[14]

Christianity is the majority religion of the islands (protestantism).[13][15]

The Talaud Islands are a hotspot of endemism and zoological diversity, and are situated in the Sulawesi lowland rain forests ecoregion.[16]

Endemic mammals include the endangered Talaud flying fox (Acerodon humilis), the critically endangered Talaud bear cuscus (Ailurops melanotis), the endangered Short-tailed Talaud mosaic-tailed rat (Melomys caurinus), and the endangered Long-tailed Talaud mosaic-tailed rat (Melomys talaudium). Birds endemic to the Talaud Islands include the vulnerable Talaud bush-hen (Amaurornis magnirostris), the endangered Talaud rail (Gymnocrex talaudensis), the near threatened Talaud kingfisher (Todiramphus enigma) and the vulnerable Red-and-blue lory (Eos histrio), which formerly lived across the Talaud and Sangihe islands, now restricted only to Karakelang. The Talaud black birdwing (Troides dohertyi) is a butterfly endemic to the Sangihe and Talaud Islands.

Sangihe and Talaud were largely deforested by 1920, and there is minimal natural forest remaining on these islands. A survey has been proposed to determine appropriate locations for additional protected areas around remaining forest (Stattersfield et al. 1998).[6] There is a Wildlife Reserve on Karakelong [246.69 km² (95.25 miles²)].[17]