Buru 869677 224366382 2008-07-08T15:16:06Z Fratrep 4541225 Repairing link to disambiguation page - [[Wikipedia:Disambiguation pages with links|You can help!]] {{otheruses}} {{Infobox Islands |name = Buru |image name = Buru_tpc_1967.jpg |image caption = Buru Island (Operational Navigation Chart, 1967) Not for navigational use. |locator map = ID Buru.PNG |native name = |native name link = |location = [[South East Asia]] |coordinates= {{coor dm|3|24|S|126|40|E|region:ID_type:isle}} |archipelago = [[Maluku Islands]] |total islands = |major islands = |area = 9,505 km² (3,670 sq mi) |highest mount = Gunung Kaplamada |elevation = 2729 m / 8950 ft |country = Indonesia |country admin divisions title = Maluku Province |country admin divisions = [[Maluku (Indonesian province)|Maluku]] |country largest city = |country largest city population = |population = 100000 |population as of = |density = |ethnic groups = }} '''Buru''' is an [[island]] in the [[Maluku (Indonesian province)|Maluku]] [[Provinces of Indonesia|province]] of [[Indonesia]]. It is located west of [[Ambon Island|Ambon]] and [[Seram]]. The chief port and town is [[Namlea]] on the northeastern coast. During former President [[Suharto]]'s [[Orde Baru|New Order]] administration, Buru was the site of a prison used to hold thousands of political prisoners. While held at Buru, writer [[Pramoedya Ananta Toer]] wrote his [[Buru Quartet]] novels. ==Geography== At 9,505 km² (3,670 sq mi), Buru is the third-largest island in the [[Maluku Islands]]. The center of the island is mountainous, with a flat coastal plain where about eighty percent of its approximately 100,000 inhabitants live. The highest point is on [[Gunung Kaplamada]] at 2729 m (8950 ft). [[Ebony]], [[teak]], [[sago]], and [[coconut]]s are important products. ==Culture== Buru islanders recognize a clear distinction between the majority coastal people and the smaller number of mountain-dwellers. The population of the coastal region is generally [[Islam]]ic, and about one third is considered indigenous, while the rest are immigrants. In the local understanding, however, immigrants are defined broadly, because many have lived on Buru for many generations since moving from other islands in Maluku. There is also a population of [[Javanese people|Javanese]] [[transmigration program|transmigrants]] who have moved to the island since the 1960s. The smaller mountain-dwelling population differs from the coastal peoples in that they are not Muslim, and have limited social interactions with the coastal people and outside of the island. ==History== Before [[Netherlands|Dutch]] colonization, Buru was within the kingdom of [[Ternate]]'s sphere of influence. The island was occupied by the [[Dutch East India Company]] (VOC) in 1658. The colonizers forcibly moved a large part of the population from their interior villages to the coastal plain, where they could be more closely controlled. In the nineteenth century, as the VOC was replaced by formal [[Netherlands|Dutch]] government control, the Dutch appointed native leaders, called ''raja'' on Buru, to manage the island for them. Buru became a part of Indonesia upon the nation's independence in [[1950]]. During President [[Suharto]]'s administration (1965-1998), the island was the site of a large prison camp holding alleged [[communist]]s and other dissidents. By 1977, about fourteen thousand prisoners were held on the island. The most famous of the inmates was author [[Pramoedya Ananta Toer]]. Denied pen and paper, he composed the stories that became his ''Buru Quartet'', by telling them orally to other prisoners.<ref>Fuller, Thomas. [http://www.iht.com/articles/2000/03/15/jak.2.t_0.php "Suharto's Gulag / The Buru Island 'Humanitarian Project'"], March 15 2000, ''[[International Herald Tribune]].''</ref> ==See also== [[Islands of Indonesia]] ==References== {{Wikisource1911Enc|Buru}} *Grimes, Barbara Dix (1994). Buru inside out. In: Visser, L.E., ed. ''Halmahera and beyond''. Leiden: KITLV Press. p.59-78. ISBN 90-6718-072-6. ==Notes== {{reflist}} ==External links== *[http://www.worldwildlife.org/wildworld/profiles/terrestrial/aa/aa0104_full.html Buru rain forests (World Wildlife Fund)] {{coor title dm|3|24|S|126|40|E|region:ID_type:isle}} [[Category:Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests]] [[Category:Australasia]] [[Category:Islands of Indonesia]] [[Category:Prisons in Indonesia]] [[ca:Buru]] [[da:Buru]] [[de:Buru]] [[et:Buru saar]] [[es:Buru]] [[fr:Buru]] [[gl:Buru]] [[id:Kabupaten Buru]] [[jv:Kabupatèn Buru]] [[nl:Buru]] [[ja:ブル島]] [[no:Buru]] [[pl:Buru]] [[ru:Буру]] [[fi:Buru]]