Raja Ampat Islands

Raja Ampat Islands

Native name: Kepulauan Raja Ampat (Indonesian) Kalano Muraha, Kolano Nguraha (Tidore) Kalana Fat (Ma'ya)
Panoramic view
Map of the islands
Raja Ampat Islands Location in Indonesia
Geography
Coordinates	0°14′00″S 130°30′28″E / 0.2333115°S 130.5078908°E / -0.2333115; 130.5078908
Archipelago	Melanesia
Total islands	612
Major islands	Misool Salawati Batanta Waigeo
Area	8,034.44 km2 (3,102.11 sq mi)
Administration
Indonesia
Province	Southwest Papua
Regency	Raja Ampat Regency
Demographics
Population	66,839 (mid 2022 estimate)[1]
Pop. density	8.32/km2 (21.55/sq mi)

Raja Ampat, or the Four Kings, is an archipelago located off of the northwest tip of Bird's Head Peninsula (on the island of New Guinea), Southwest Papua province, Indonesia. It comprises over 1,500 small islands, cays, and shoals around the four main islands of Misool, Salawati, Batanta, and Waigeo, and the smaller island of Kofiau.

The Raja Ampat archipelago straddles the equator and forms part of the Coral Triangle, an area of Southeast Asian seas containing the richest marine biodiversity on earth. The Coral Triangle itself is an approximate area west-southwest of the Philippines, east-northeast and southeast of the island of Borneo, and north, east and west of the island of New Guinea, including the seas in between. Thousands of species of marine organisms, from the tiniest cleaner shrimp and camouflaged pygmy seahorses to the majestic cetaceans and whale sharks, thrive in these waters.

Administratively, the archipelago is part of the province of Southwest Papua. Most of the islands constitute the Raja Ampat Regency, which was separated from Sorong Regency in 2004. The regency encompasses around 70,000 square kilometres (27,000 sq mi) of land and sea, of which 8,034.44 km² constitutes the land area and has a population of 64,141 at the 2020 Census;^[2] the official estimate as at mid 2022 was 66,839.^[3] This excludes the southern half of Salawati Island, which is not part of this regency but instead constitutes the Salawati Selatan and Salawati Tengah Districts of Sorong Regency.