Kangean Islands

This article is about the group of islands. For the main island of this archipelago, see Kangean Island.

The Kangean Islands, also known as the Kangean Archipelago (Kangean: Kapoloan Kangayan) are the group of islands within the Lesser Sunda Islands complex of Indonesian Archipelago located in the northern Bali Sea.^[1] It comprises a total of 118 islands (27 inhabited islands), with the Kangean Island as the main and biggest island in the region.

Kangean Islands
Islands of Lesser Sunda Islands
Kangean Archipelago Kepulauan Kangean
Other transcription(s)
• Kangean	Kapoloan Kangayan
• Makassar	Kapuloang Kangayang
Motto(s):  Habigi Kabecekan Nokolagen Manyak Kamaslahatan (Kangean) "One Kindness Attracts More Benefit"
Interactive map of Kangean Archipelago
Country	Indonesia
Province	East Java
Regional capital	Arjasa
Demographics
• Ethnic groups	Kangeanese Chindo Bugis Mangkasara’ Bajo Mandarese Madurese Javanese Abindo
• Religion and beliefs	Islam (Sunni of Nahdlatul Ulama) Islam Nusantara Confucianism Animism Javanism
• Languages	Indonesian (official) Kangean (co-official)
Time zone	UTC+7 (Western Indonesia Time)

Terminology

The name of "Kangean" is etymologically derived from the "kangayan" term in Kangeanese, which refers to the sociocultural community of "scion" (a descendant of notable family). Another theory has suggested that "kangayan" could possibly mean "breed" due to historical inter-marriage between the indigenous people of the Kangean Archipelago and those of Sulawesi (mainly Bugis and Mangkasara’). This could also refer to the Bekisar, a well-known chicken breed originating from Kangean island which was bred initially by the Kangean people. The word kangayan could possibly relate to the hypothetical reconstructed proto-Austronesian word of *aŋay, which means "departure", "rendezvous", etc.

In Kangeanese literature, the word "kangayan" was used throughout the Middle Ages to describe the Kangean island in general, and it still continues to be used to describe the ancentral homeland region of Kangean people in the central to eastern part of Kangean island, known as the Kangayan district.

Kangean islands depicted map as Kangelang in the French journal or logbook of the Bougainville Expedition, c. 1820s

During the era of Dutch colonization of Indonesia, the islands of "Kangean" also were identified as Kangayang, Tangayang, or Kangeang.

Layout

The largest island, at about 490 km², is Kangean Island. Other islands include Paliat, Sepanjang, and several smaller islands. The towns of Arjasa and Kalikatak, both on Kangean Island, are the area's largest population centres. The Kangean islands have strong historic and ethnic ties with Madura, Bali, West Nusa Tenggara, Sumbawa, South Borneo, and also South Sulawesi. The majority religion at Kangean is Islam.

The highest elevation point on the islands is in the northeast at 1,192 feet (364 m.), while overall the islands are low in elevation.^[1] The weather tends to rain regularly.

West coast of Kangean Island

Saltwater crocodiles are reported to be present within the island's coastal mangroves.^{[citation needed]}

They are administered as three districts (kecamatan) of Sumenep Regency - Arjasa, Kangayan, and Sapêken. Arjasa District forms the west part of the main island, Kangayan District forms the east part of that island, and Sapêken District comprises a number of separate islands to the east and southeast of Kangean, of which Paliat and Sepanjang are the largest. Together, their population was 108,264 in the 2000 census, increasing to 123,367 in the 2010 count^[2] and to 161,056 at the 2020 Census.^[3]

Ethnic group

The Kangeanese (Kangeanese: Oréng Kangéan, Indonesian: Orang Kangean or Suku Kangean) are an Austronesian ethnic group native to the Indonesian island of Kangean and its surrounding islands.^[4] The Kangeanese population live mostly on the Kangean Islands, making up c.90% of the island group's population of 161,056.^[3]

Languages

The Kangean language is mainly spoken in Kangean areas.

Exports and reserves

Since 1993 the islands have been the site of substantial natural gas mining. The natural gas fields were first discovered and developed by the United States corporation ARCO, which became a subsidiary of BP in 2000. In mid-2004, BP sold its Kangean holdings to an Indonesian corporation, PT Energi Mega Persada. The islands are connected to East Java via a 430 km pipeline,^[5] most of which runs underwater.

Other economic activities on the islands include teak, coconut, and salt production.^[1]

Airstrip

In 2014, the local government agreed to reactivate an old airstrip on Kangean Island. The airstrip is 1,000 meters long and 30 meters wide.^[6]