Thousand Islands (Indonesia)

Thousand Islands Kepulauan Seribu
Administrative regency
The archipelago of Kepulauan Seribu, focusing on the connected islands of Pulau Kelapa and Pulau Harapan in the centre of the picture
Coordinates: 5°42′S 106°35′E / 5.700°S 106.583°E / -5.700; 106.583Coordinates: 5°42′S 106°35′E / 5.700°S 106.583°E / -5.700; 106.583
Country	Indonesia
Province	Jakarta
Capital	Pramuka Island
Government
• Regent	Asep Syarifuddin
Area
• Total	8.7 km2 (3.4 sq mi)
Population
• Total	21,071
• Density	2,400/km2 (6,300/sq mi)
Time zone	WIB (UTC+7)

Kepulauan Seribu Marine National Park
Taman Nasional Laut Kepulauan Seribu
IUCN category II (national park)
Kepulauan Seribu Marine NP Location in Java
Location	Java Sea, Indonesia
Nearest city	Jakarta
Coordinates	5°45′S 106°35′E / 5.750°S 106.583°E / -5.750; 106.583
Area	107,489 hectares (265,610 acres; 1,074.89 km2)
Established	October 10, 1982 (1982-10-10)
Governing body	Ministry of Environment and Forestry
Website	tnlkepulauanseribu.net

The Thousand Islands (officially Kepulauan Seribu) are a chain of islands to the north of Jakarta's coast. It forms the only regency of Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia. It consists of a string of 110 islands stretching 45 km (28 mi) north into the Java Sea at West Jakarta Bay and in fact north of Banten Province.

A decree states that 36 islands may be used for recreation. Of these, only 13 islands are fully developed: 11 islands are homes to resorts and two islands are historic parks. 23 are privately owned and are not open to the public. The rest of the islands are either uninhabited or support a fishing village.

The modern history of the Thousand Islands begins with its role in the defenses of the city of Batavia for the VOC and the Dutch colonial empire. Before the arrival of the Dutch, these islands already had a Malay name (their present name). With the arrival of the Dutch, the islands received a second Dutch name. The Malay names are not forgotten, as both Malay and Dutch names of the islands are written side by side in some 18th-century Batavia map. Since the establishment of Batavia in 1610, Pulau Kapal, later named by the Dutch as Onrust island, has been a naval base.

After the VOC failed to obtain control of trade at Banten in 1610, the Dutch obtained permission from Prince Jayakarta to build a dock at one of the islands in Jakarta Bay as a place to repair and equip ships sailing to Asia, particularly South East Asia. The island Prince Jayakarta assigned to the VOC was Onrust Island, a 12-hectare (30-acre) island 14 km (8.7 mi) from Jakarta.

In 1615 the VOC built a shipyard and a small storage house on the island, which Jan Pieterszoon Coen hoped would eventually develop into a trade and defence base against threats from Banten and England (1618). The VOC constructed a small rectangular fort with two bastions in 1656; the bastions protruded from the fort and were used as look-out posts. The Dutch enlarged the fort in 1671 and gave it an asymmetrical pentagonal shape with a bastion in each corner. The whole structure was made of red bricks and coral. In 1674 additional storage buildings were built.

In 1795, the position of the Dutch in Batavia became quite uncertain due to the war in Europe, and the situation became worse with the appearance in 1800 of a British naval squadron under the command of Captain Henry Lidgbird Ball of HMS Daedalus. Daedalus, HMS Sybille, HMS Centurion and HMS Braave entered the area, which they referred to as Batavia Roads. They seized five Dutch armed vessels and destroyed 22 other vessels. Onrust island was under siege by the British and eventually destroyed.