Natuna Regency is an islands regency located in the northernmost part of the Province of Riau Islands, Indonesia. It contains at least 154 islands, of which 127 of them are reported as uninhabited. This archipelago, with a land area of 1,978.49 km2 out of a total area of 264,198.37 km2 area,[6] contains 17 administrative districts (kecamatan).
With 69,003 inhabitants at the 2010 Census[11] and 81,495 at the 2020 Census,[12] most of the population are Malays with 11% of Javanese migrants, Chinese, Minang, Batak, Banjar people, Dayak people, Buginese people, Sundanese people, and tiny percentage of migrants who come from Sulawesi, Bali, and other provinces across Indonesia.[13] The official estimate as at mid 2023 was 84,560, comprising 43,480 males and 41,080 females.[8]
Some 80% of its inhabitants are of Malay origin, numerous being descended from Terengganuan, Johorean, and Pattanian descent as results of contact established since 1597. The consequence of this is the usage of Terengganuan Malay beside the Indonesian language as the official language and the Malay language as a lingua franca across the Province of Riau Islands.[14]
Indonesia's exclusive economic zone (EEZ) off the coast of Natuna is slightly overlapped by China's widely disputed South China Sea claim.[15]
The Natuna Islands were discovered by I-Tsing in 671 A.D. and mentioned throughout his notes in A Record of Buddhist Practices Sent Home from the Southern Sea. The most notable history of Natuna Islands followed upon the decision of Alauddin Riayat Shah III of Johor and Green Queen of Pattani Kingdom to claim Natuna Islands as part of their condominium.[5][16][17] However, before the Sultan of Johor and the Pattani Monarch declared Natuna Islands as their condominium in 1597, its previous King, Alauddin Riayat II, created Datuk Kayas'/Dukes' titles as follows:
Throughout most of its history since the reigns of Sultanate of Riau-Lingga, the Natuna Islands were part of the Archipelago of Seven Islands/Pulau-pulau Tudjuh/Tujuh which were consisted of the Anambas Islands (currently a separated regency in the province), the Badas Islands (part of Island District of Tambelan in Bintan Regency), Great Natuna/Bunguran Islands, Sejang, Serasan Islands, Subi Islands, and Tambelan Archipelago (part of Bintan Regency).[18] Although government of Kawedanan of Tudjuh Archipelago was dissolved in 1964, its island districts/kecamatan who formed Tudjuh Archipelago still existed until its dissolution in 1999, the sunrise of devolution era government in Indonesia. Along the second half of the 20th centuries, there were at least two historical events that made Natuna: the first was oil discoveries in 1969 and second was the Islands use as a destination for South Vietnamese refugees in 1976.[19]
The Natuna Islands are a 272-island archipelago of Indonesia, located in the Natuna Sea[20]