Riau Islands (Indonesian: Kepulauan Riau (Kepri or Riau Kepulauan) is a province of Indonesia, consisting of Riau Archipelago, Natuna Islands, Anambas, and Lingga Islands.
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.
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.
Language
The official language of the Riau Islands is Riau. The Riau Islands are considered the birthplace of the Malay language. It is the official standard for Malay, as agreed upon by Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei.
History
From Srivijayan times until the 16th century, Riau was a natural part of greater Malay kingdoms or sultanates, in the heart of what is often called the Malay World, which stretches from eastern Sumatra to Borneo. The Malay-related Orang Laut tribes inhabited the islands and formed the backbone of most Malay kingdoms from Srivijaya to the Sultanate of Johor for the control of trade routes going through the straits.
After the fall of Melaka in 1511, the Riau islands became the center of political power of the mighty Sultanate of Johor or Johor-Riau, based on Bintan island, and were for long considered the center of Malay culture.
But history changed the fate of Riau as a political, cultural or economic center when European powers struggled to control the regional trade routes and took advantage of political weaknesses within the sultanate. Singapore island, that had been for centuries part of the same greater Malay kingdoms and sultanates, and under direct control of the Sultan of Johor, came under control of the British.
The creation of a European-controlled territory in the heart of the Johor-Riau natural boundaries broke the sultanate into two parts, destroying the cultural and political unity that had existed for centuries. The Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824 consolidated this separation, with the British controlling all territories north of the Singapore strait and the Dutch controlling territories from Riau to Java.
After the European powers withdrew from the region, the new independent governments had to reorganize and find balance after inheriting 400 years of colonial boundaries. Before finding their current status, the territories of Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and Borneo struggled and even came into military conflict against each other, and the Riau islands once again found themselves in the middle of a regional struggle.
The strong cultural unity of the region with Riau in the heart of this region never returned, and the line drawn by the British in 1819 remained, dividing the area into three new countries in 1965: Singapore, the Malaysian federation in the north, and Indonesia in the south.
Some level of unity returned in the Riau region for the first time after 150 years with the creation of the Sijori Growth Triangle in 1989. But while bringing back some economical wealth to Riau, the Sijori Growth Triangle somewhat further broke the cultural unity within the islands. With Batam island receiving most of the industrial investments and dramatically developing into a regional industrial center, it attracted hundreds of thousands of non-Malay Indonesian migrants, changing forever the demographic balance in the archipelago.
Today the name of Riau merely refers to this administrative region of Indonesia, a free trade zone heavily supported by Indonesian, Singaporean and international investments.
Place of Interests:
Pekanbaru
About 160 kms upstream on the Siak river, Pekanbaru, Riau’s provincial capital, has a number of buildings in the traditional style of the area, among them the Balai sang Merdu, the Balai Adat and Taman Budaya Riau or Riau Cultural Park.
The Siak Sultanate’s Park
This Moorish style palace of the Sultan of Siak, 120 kms up stream from Pekanbaru on the siak river, was built in 1889 by Sultan Syarif Hasyim Abdul Jalil Syarifuddin. Now a museum, the palace contains the sultanate’s royal paraphernalia and other items of historical interest. Established during the 1 6th century, the Siak Seri Inderapura sultanate lasted until 1946, when it became victim to the popular upheavals following the Japanese surrender at the close of World War II.
Candi Muara Takus
Like many other structures of its kind in Sumatra, this Buddhist stupa near the village of Muara Takus in the Tigabelas Koto district, was built with red bricks and sand. The temple is believed to have been built at around the 9th or 1 0th century A.D. when the power of the South Sumatra – bassed Sriwijaya empire was at its peak. Excavations are still being made to determine the precise age and function of the stupa.
Tanjung Pinang
A busy lime town on Bintan Island, visited by traders from Jakarta, Medan, Palembang and other big cities in Indonesia, Tanjung Pinang is only a two-hour boat ride away from Singapore. The town has a Museum located on Jl. Katamso.
A large section of the old part of the town was built in traditional local fashion, on stilts, over the water. Bintan is a good point of departure to other islands in the area.
Kerumutan Nature Reserve
Located on mainland Riau in the Kuala Kampar district, this 120,000 hectares 130,000 acres) nature reserve can be reached in 18 hours by motor boat from Pekanbaru. The boat sails up a calm river surrounded by virgin forests.
The Island of Batam
A very strategic island in Indonesia, Batam lies close to Singapore, designated as a centre of not only industry, but also tourism and trade. It is one among Indonesia’s key locations of industrial growth.
The Batuampar area is called a pioneer area and is being rapidly developed. While in the region of Sekupang significant projects have been in progress.
The Nongsa region has been set aside as a recreation area. Four golf courses, hotels, motels and marina sports facilities are there as well as a forest reserve managed by the Batam Industrial Development Authority.
The Batam Centre is designed for the administrative and commercial centre of Batam island.
Hotels of international standard have recently been completed on Nongsa Beach. Batam can be reached in two hours from Tanjung Pinanq by ferry, and in about half an hour from Singapore.
Sea Gardens
Sea Garden
Penyengat Island
This island, six kilometers away from Tanjung Pinang, can be reached in 15 minutes by sampan boat. The seat of the powerful Bugis-descended viceroys of Riau during the 18th century, Penyengat still bears the traces of its illustrious past. Ruines, abandoned for almost 70 years, were recently restored.
The old ruler’s palace and royal tombs, among them the grave of the book respected Sultan Haji, author of the first Malay Language grammar book are among the legacies left by the Riau sultanate. Still in use is the old viceroyal mosque, the Mesjid Raya.
A newly built cultural center for stage performances of Malay music and dances can also be found.
