Sebatik Island
Template: Infobox Island / Maintenance / image missing
Pulau Sebatik [note 1] is an island off the east coast of Borneo in the Celebes Sea. A part of the 452 km ² island is part of Indonesia, another to Malaysia, Pulau Sebatik is thus a divided island. In older sources it is sometimes also called Sebittik. The exact course of the beginning at the eastern tip Sebatiks maritime boundary between Indonesia and Malaysia is not finally resolved until today and has repeatedly led to disputes between the two states, as in the border area large deposits of oil and natural gas are suspected.
Geography
Pulau Sebatik is the largest island in the Bay of Sebuku. [Note 2] From the neighboring island Nunukan it is separated by a narrow strait. The highest elevation is 468 m.
Along the latitude of 4 ° 11 ' N Pulau Sebatik is divided. The northern part (153 km ²) is part of the Malaysian state of Sabah, the south (299 km ²) to the Indonesian province of Kalimantan Utara.
Flora and Fauna
The island is mostly covered by mangrove swamps and lush rainforest, the numerous gibbons and macaques serves as a habitat. The waters around Sebatik are known for their Haivorkommen.
Population and Economy
Information to the population are contradictory and vary 15000-27000. A large part of the population lives on the Indonesian side of the island of fishing in the villages and Sungai Sungai Nyamuk Pancang. Increasingly provides the timber industry and trade across the border to Malaysia (especially in the nearby coastal town of Tawau ) employment. Malaysia has begun in a claimed by Indonesia sea area off the east coast Sebatiks 2005 with the oil exploration.
History
Although Holland had already installed a trading post shortly after the founding of the East India Company in Borneo, no significant activities of the Dutch on the east coast were initially recorded. That changed in 1846, when Holland had a treaty with the Sultan of Bolongan castle, who assured the Dutch control in this area. At the instigation of the Dutch married the Sultan in 1867 his son with the daughter of the Sultan of Tarakan, which the Dutch sphere of influence finally reached the region to Tawau. The north of the Dutch area but on average now with an area that claimed the Sultan of Sulu in itself. A conflict with the British was therefore inevitable, as in 1878 the Sultan of Sulu put the southern boundary of his land sold to the Baron von Overbeck on the Sibuku River. In order to settle the border dispute, the North Borneo Chartered Company negotiated in the 1880s with the Dutch a delimitation of the boundary between their conferred by the Sultan of Sulu area and the area that claimed the Dutch on the basis of the contract with the Sultan of Bolongan. On January 20, 1891 we finally agreed on a line along 4 ° 10 ' north latitude - what a central division of the island corresponded Sebatik [Note. 3]
After the independence of Indonesia (1945 ) and the establishment of Malaysia (1963 ), it came up to the present repeatedly to diplomatic and military clashes between the two countries on the exact boundary line in the area.
As part of the so-called Konfrontasi exceeded Indonesian troops on 28 June 1965, the limit on Pulau Sebatik and delivered battles with Malaysian units. About the affiliation of the south of the line 4 ° 11 ' N lying, just a few square kilometers of islands Pulau Sipadan Pulau Ligitan and off the east coast Sebatiks decided on 17 December 2002, the International Court of Justice in favor of Malaysia. Nevertheless, it came in May 2005 for military threats in Indonesia, as a joint venture between Shell and Malaysia's Petronas began to look in this area for oil deposits.
After the attacks in Bali in October 2002, the Indonesian terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah moved its centers in remote areas of Indonesia, even after Sebatik. In addition to a mosque and a Quranic school their followers are said to have set up in poorly accessible areas Sebatiks also a base and several weapons caches.