Weh Island

Woe, Indonesian Pulau Weh or Pulo Weh Sabang and locals, is a volcanic island in the Andaman Sea in the Indian Ocean.

The 156.3 km ² and up to 617 m high island located northwest of Sumatra in the Indonesian province of Aceh.

Economy and infrastructure

The island's capital is the city of Sabang in the far north. Many Indonesians call the island after the capital also Sabang.

The approximately 25,000 inhabitants live mainly from agriculture and fisheries. Industry can be found on the island as well as not. Woe has a port in Sabang, which was built under the Dutch colonial power and was up to the Second World War as a major in the region. From 1965 to 1985 Weh was a free trade zone. Since 1 September 2000, the port of Sabang is a free port again. Due to the good location Pulau woe to the Strait of Malacca a declaration of compliance was signed on 5 November 2006 between the Indonesian province of Aceh administration and the Dublin Port Company. The Dublin Port Company intends to expand the Free Port of Sabang to one of the largest container ports in Asia.

Tsunami 2004

The island was hit hard during the Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004 hit. After the disaster were many international organizations, including the DRC busy rebuilding. After three years of reconstruction is completed. The German Red Cross has built on the island several schools, health care facilities and homes in three villages.

From Sabang to Merauke

The Indonesian saying Dari Sabang sampai Merauke ( German: Sabang Merauke up ) is used as an expression for the description of the entire Indonesian territory, which with the Sabang Weh island, the westernmost point of Indonesia, is meant.