Enggano Island

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Enggano ( indonesian Pulau Enggano ) is located about 100 km off the western coast of Sumatra Indonesian island located in the Indian Ocean.

Geography

Enggano is 35 km long, 16 km wide and 397 km ²; it reaches the Koho ​​Buwabuwa a height of 281 m.

The island relatively isolated residential part of the province of Bengkulu. The three largest settlements are Barhau, Kabuwe and Kayaapu. Before the southern coast are the small islands Satu, Marbau, Bangkai and Dua.

Further north, also off the west coast of Sumatra, the island and the Mega Mentawai Islands lie.

Ships go to the port city of Bengkulu on Sumatra.

Population

The about 1600 inhabitants speak their own language, which is also called Enggano (ISO 639-3: eno ). It belongs to the Austronesian languages, but contains very unusual items.

History

Ago 70 million years ago, Indian and Asian continental plates pushed together, the Himalayas stood out as the Barisangebirge on Sumatra. Here, a deep ditch in the sea and in consequence was off the coast of Sumatra island Enggano.

The island was first mentioned in 1596 by the Dutch navigators Cornelis de Houtman, but not landed. 1771 succeeded Charles Miller the first landing of a European. The Italian researcher Elio Modigliani visited Enggano in 1891 and described the inhabitants and their culture.

Presence

On 6 March 2008, the island was hit by an earthquake that destroyed several houses.

The island now enjoys a certain reputation among sport divers. It has long, white beaches and picturesque coral reefs. Reachable with ships from the coastal town Bintuhan.