The Raja Ampat archipelago consists of some 600 islands and
islets that straddle the equator in the area of the “Birds Head”, the extreme
north-western tip of the Papua province of Indonesia (formerly known as New Guinea).
The name Raja Ampat literally means ‘the Four Kings’ and the name dates back to
the time that the islands were ruled from the North Moluccan sultanates of
Ternate and Tidore. The larger islands are lightly populated but most others
are uninhabited by humans.
The world’s richest marine biological area
This vast archipelago is estimated to have up to 10 times the
marine life of the Caribbean and Mediterranean Sea combined. Marine biologists
have concluded that Raja Ampat is the home of seventy percent of the known
coral species on the planet. Many fish, corals and crustaceans that live in
these waters are found nowhere else on the earth and it is without a doubt the
heartland our planet’s richest biological preserve.
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