Maluku (province)

Maluku (province)

Maluku is a province of Indonesia, comprising, broadly, the central and southern parts of the Maluku Islands (also known as the Moluccas, Molucca Islands or Moluccan Islands), which are culturally and geographically associated with Melanesia.

The main city and capital of Maluku province is Ambon on the small Ambon Island. The province has a population of 1,531,402 (2010).

All the Maluku Islands formed a single province of Indonesia from 1950 until 1999. In 1999 the northern part of Maluku (then comprising the Maluku Utara Regency, the Halmahera Tengah Regency and the City of Ternate) were split off to form a separate province of North Maluku.