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Morotai topography Morotai Island Regency is a regency of North Maluku province, Indonesia, located on Morotai island. It covers an area of 2,336.6 km2 including the smaller Rao Island to the west of Morotai. The population was 52,860 at the 2010 census and 74,436 at the 2020 census; the official estimate as of mid-2023 was 80,566 (comprising 41,461 males and 39,105 females). The population of the southern third of the island, as well as Rao Island, are Galela speakers, while that of the northern two-thirds are Tobalo speakers.

The island in the Halmahera group of eastern Indonesia's Maluku Islands (Moluccas); it is one of Indonesia's northernmost islands. Morotai is a rugged, forested island lying to the north of Halmahera. It has an area of some, including Rao Island which lies to the west of Morotai and forms an administrative district within the regency. It stretches north-south and no more than wide. The island's largest town is Daruba, on the island's south coast. Leo Wattimena Airport is located on the island. Almost all of Morotai's numerous villages are coastal settlements; a paved road linking those on the east coast starts from Daruba and will eventually reach Berebere, the principal town on Morotai's east coast, from Daruba. Between Halmahera and the islets and reefs of the west coast of Morotai is the Morotai Strait, which is about wide. The island is the location of the last known Japanese holdout, Teruo Nakamura, who surrendered in 1974, almost 30 years after the end of hostilities in 1945.

During the 15th and 16th centuries, Morotai was generally within the sphere of influence of the powerful sultanate on the island of Ternate. It was the core of a larger region, called Moro, that included the island and the coastline of Halmahera closest to Morotai to the south.

In the mid-16th century, the island was also the site of a Portuguese Jesuit mission. The Muslim states on Ternate and Halmahera resented the outpost for its evangelising activities, and managed to drive the mission from the island in 1571, as a part of a larger Portuguese retreat in the region. In the seventeenth century, Ternate further exerted its power over Morotai by repeatedly forcing major parts of the population to move off the island. Early in the century most of the population was moved to Dodinga, a small town in a strategic spot on Halmahera's west coast. Later, in 1627 and 1628, Sultan Hamzah of Ternate had much of the Christian population of the island moved to Malayu, on Ternate, where they could be more easily controlled. The Ternate Sultanate was a vassal of the Dutch East India Company by the end of the 17th century.

Australian forces at Morotai in 1945 Beach on Morotai, North Halmahera

Morotai Island played a significant role in World War II. The island was captured by the Japanese in early 1942 as part of its Dutch East Indies campaign. Morotai's southern plain was taken by American forces in September 1944 during the Battle of Morotai, and used as a staging point for the Allied invasion of the Philippines in early 1945, and of Borneo in May and June of that year. Japanese soldier Teruo Nakamura was discovered in the Morotai jungle in 1974, as one of the WWII Japanese soldiers who held out subsequent to the Japanese military's surrender.

Morotai is a rugged, forested island lying to the north of Halmahera. It has an area of some, including Rao Island off the west coast of Morotai. It stretches north-south and no more than wide. The regency's largest town is Daruba, on the island's south coast. Almost all of Morotai's numerous villages are coastal settlements; a paved road linking those on the east coast starts from Daruba and will eventually reach Bere-Bere, the principal town on Morotai's east coast, from Daruba.

Daruba, the main settlement and the seat of the regency has a tropical rainforest climate (Af) with moderate rainfall from August to October and heavy rainfall in the remaining months.