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MOLUCCAS, or SPICE ISLANDS

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Originally appearing in Volume V18, Page 681 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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MOLUCCAS, or SPICE ISLANDS , a name which in its wider sense includes all the islands of the See also:Malay See also:Archipelago between See also:Celebes on the W., New See also:Guinea on the E., See also:Timor on the S., and the open Pacific Ocean on the N. They are thus distributed over an See also:area between 20 43' N. and 8° 23' S. and 124 22' and 135° E., and include: (I) the Moluccas proper or See also:Ternate See also:group, of which See also:Halmahera is the largest and Ternate the See also:capital; (2) the See also:Bachian, Obi, and Xulla See also:groups; (3) the See also:Amboyna group, of which See also:Ceram (Serang) and See also:Buru are the largest; (4) the See also:Banda Islands (the spice or See also:nutmeg islands See also:par excellence); (5) the See also:south-eastern islands, comprising Timor-See also:Laut or Tenimber, Larat, &c.; (6) the Kei Islands and the Aru Islands, of which the former are sometimes attached to the south-eastern group; and (7) the south-western islands or the Babar, Sermata, Leti, Damar, See also:Roma and Wetar groups. At the See also:close of the 16th See also:century this See also:part of the archipelago was divided among four rulers settled at Ternate, See also:Tidore, Halmahera and Bachian. The See also:northern portion belongs to the Dutch residency of Ternate, the See also:southern portion to that of Amboyna. The name Moluccas is said to be derived from the Arabic for " See also:king." See also:Argensola (1609) uses the forms islas Malucas, Maluco, and el Maluco; Coronel (1623), isles del Moluco; and See also:Camoens, Maluco. Since 1867, when the See also:political unity, under a See also:governor, was dissolved, the Moluccas are often named by the Dutch the " See also:Great See also:East " (Groote Oost). Most of the islands are mountainous, with still active volcanoes. As they See also:lie near or under the See also:equator, the monsoons blowing over them are less See also:regular, and the rainfall, of large See also:volume throughout the .See also:year, is dependent on the height and direction of the chains. The vegetation of the small and narrow islands, all encompassed by the See also:sea, is very luxuriant, and the products, principally nutmegs, See also:mace, and other spices, include also See also:rice and See also:sago. The inhabitants are of mixed descent. In some islands are See also:people of obvious Papuan See also:blood, while in others are Polynesian or Malayan tribes. With these three See also:main races have crossed traders and colonists, Macassars, Buginese, Javanese and Europeans.

The See also:

geology of the Moluccas is very imperfectly known. The great See also:chain of volcanoes which runs through See also:Sumatra and See also:Java is continued eastwards into the Moluccas, and terminates in a See also:hook-like See also:curve which passes through the Damar Islands to the Banda group. Outside this hook lies a concentric arc of. non-volcanic islands, including Tenimber, the Lesser Kei Islands, Ceram and Buru; and beyond is still a third concentric arc extending from Taliabu to the Greater Kei Islands. The islands of these See also:outer arcs consist chiefly of crystalline See also:schists and limestones, overlaid by See also:Jurassic, Cretaceous and See also:Tertiary deposits. On the whole it appears that the older rocks are found more particularly towards the interior of the curve, and the newer rocks towards the exterior. Eruptive rocks of supposed Cretaceous See also:age are met with in these outer islands, but Tertiary and See also:recent volcanic lavas are confined to the innermost arc. Halmahera lies outside these arcs. It appears to consist chiefly of See also:gabbro, See also:peridotite, See also:serpentine and other very basic eruptive rocks, which are believed to be of Cretaceous age. Nummulitic See also:limestone occurs in the south-east. Upon the See also:floor of older See also:rock rise a number of volcanoes, some of which are now See also:extinct while others are still active. Most of them lie near the See also:west See also:coast or on the islands off this coast; and they are arranged in lines which run approximately from See also:north to south, with, generally, a slight .convexity towards the west. See further MALAY ARCHIPELAGO, and See also:separate articles on the See also:principal islands and groups.

End of Article: MOLUCCAS, or SPICE ISLANDS

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