Raja Ampat has widely spread counting 1500+ small Islands and Four Main islands including them. Raja Ampat is also called “Four Kings” due to its four main diving Islands Misool, Salawati, Batanta, and Waigeo.
Misool
Misool includes one of four major Islands of Indonesia which is 2,034 km2. The highest point is 561 m. and the main towns are Waigama, located on the island’s northern coast, and Lilinta.
People who live in Misool speak Indonesian Language as well as Biga and Matbat as their native languages.
Waigeo
Raja Ampat has four major islands, including Waigeo. There are about 65 kilometers (40 miles) between Halmahera and the northwest coast of New Guinea. Batanta is separated from it by the Dampier Strait and the Kawe Islands by the Bougainville Strait. There is a bay known as Mayalibit Bay, also known as the Majoli Gulf, that almost cuts the island in half.
It covers a total area of 3,155 square kilometers (1,218 square miles); the highest points are Buffalo Horn (Gunung Nok), which is 958 meters high (3,143 feet), and Serodjil, which is 939 meters high (3,081 feet). There are 110 kilometers (10 miles) of west-to-east distance on the island, and 50 kilometers (31 miles) of north-to-south distance.
Raja Ampat Regency is based in Waisai, the southernmost town of the island.
Batanta
Batanta is also one of four major Islands of Indonesia. The area of the island is 453 km2 and its highest point is 1184 meters. It is separated from Salawati by the Pitt Strait, and from Waigeo by the Dampier Strait.
A span of water known as Dampier Strait was named after the English explorer William Dampier. During his voyage in the East Indiaman Pitt in 1759, Captain William Wilson named the channel between Batanta and Salawati Pitt Strait after his ship.
Salawati
Salawati is also one of four major Islands of Indonesia. Its area is 1,623 km2. Salawati is separated from New Guinea to the southeast by the Sele Strait (a.k.a. Galowa Strait, Revenges Strait), and from Batanta to the north by the Pitt Strait (a.k.a. Sagewin Strait).
History of Raja Ampat
Islam first arrived in the Raja Ampat archipelago in the 15th century due to political and economic contacts with the Bacan Sultanate. During the 16th and 17th centuries, the Sultanate of Tidore had close economic ties with the island. During this period, Islam became firmly established and local chiefs had begun adopting Islam.