Moluccans

Moluccan
Molukker, Molucano, Orang Maluku

Moluccan marriage, bride in traditional dress (circa 1960)
Total population
2.5 million
Regions with significant populations
Indonesia: 2,203,415 (2010 census)[1] (Maluku, North Maluku, Jakarta, East Java, North Sulawesi, West Papua)  Netherlands: ~70,000 (2018 census)[2]
Languages
Central–Eastern Malayo-Polynesian languages, North Halmahera languages, North Moluccan Malay, Ambonese Malay, Indonesian, Dutch
Religion
Majority Sunni Islam Minority Christianity (Protestantism (Moluccan Evangelical Church and Protestant Church of Maluku) and Roman Catholicism), Hinduism, Animism[3]
Related ethnic groups
Other Austronesians, Melanesians, Papuan people, Malagasy peoples

Moluccans are the Austronesian-speaking and Papuan-speaking ethnic groups indigenous to the Maluku Islands (also called the Moluccas), Eastern Indonesia. The region was historically known as the Spice Islands,^[4] and today consists of two Indonesian provinces of Maluku and North Maluku. As such, "Moluccans" is used as a blanket term for the various ethnic and linguistic groups native to the islands.

Islam and Christianity are major religions of most Moluccans. Despite religious differences, all groups share strong cultural bonds and a sense of common identity, such as through Adat.^[5] Music is also a binding factor, playing an important role in the cultural identity, and the Moluccan capital city of Ambon was awarded the official status of City of Music by UNESCO in 2019.^[6]

A small population of Moluccans (~50.000+^[7]) live in the Netherlands. This group mainly consists of the descendants of soldiers in the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army (KNIL), who were originally brought to the Netherlands temporarily, and would have been sent back to their own independent republic, had the Dutch government not given up control of Indonesia. They and others in the world make up the Moluccan diaspora. The remainder consists of Moluccans serving in the Dutch navy and their descendants, as well as some who came to the Netherlands from western New Guinea after it too was handed over to Indonesia.^[7]

However, the vast majority of Moluccans still live in the Moluccas and the other surrounding regions, such as Papua, East and West Timor, North Sulawesi and further west.^{[citation needed]}