Kisah

Kabupaten Kepulauan Aru adalah salah satu kabupaten di provinsi Maluku, Indonesia. Ibukota kabupaten ini terletak di Dobo, kecamatan Pulau-pulau Aru. Penduduk Kepulauan Aru pada akhir tahun 2024 berjumlah 112.531 jiwa dengan kepadatan 18 jiwa/km², dan penduduk asli daerah ini adalah Suku Aru.

upright=1.2|1837 Map of Islands close to Arafuru Sea upright=1.2|1922 Map of Islands close to Arafuru Sea The Aru Islands have a long history as a part of extensive trading networks throughout what is now eastern Indonesia. Precolonial links were especially strong to the Banda Islands, and Bugis and Makasarese traders also visited regularly. The traditional society was not pronounced hierarchical, being based on lineage-based clans where the members shared duties of hospitality and cooperation. These island communities were divided into two ritual bonds called Ursia and Urlima, a socio-political system found in many parts of Maluku. Such alliances were connected to pre-European trade networks.

The islands were sighted and also possibly visited by some Portuguese navigators, such as Martim Afonso de Melo, in 1522–24, who sighted the islands and wintered on a nearby island or of the Aru archipelago itself, and possibly by Gomes de Sequeira, in 1526, as is pointed out in the cartography of the time. The Spanish navigator Álvaro de Saavedra sighted the islands on 12 June 1528, when trying to return from Tidore to New Spain.

The islands were colonized by the Dutch, beginning with a contract with the west coast villages in 1623, though initially the Dutch East India Company (VOC) was one of several trading groups in the area, with limited influence over the islands' internal affairs. Aru was monitored by the VOC establishment in the Banda Islands, and yielded a variety of products including trepang, birds-of-paradise, parrots, pearls, sago, turtle-shell, and slaves. A Dutch post was established on Wokam Island in 1659, and a small fort was subsequently constructed there. Islam as well as Reformed Protestantism began to make small numbers of converts in the 1650s. Discontent with the commercial monopolies imposed by the VOC came to a boiling point in the late 18th century. The anti-Dutch rebellion of the Tidore prince Nuku (d. 1805), which engulfed much of Maluku, also affected Aru. The Muslim population of Ujir Island accepted Nuku's brother Jou Mangofa as their king, exterminated the Dutch garrison in 1787, and were able to dominate large parts of the islands. After several failed attempts, the Dutch of Banda managed to suppress the rebels in 1791. However, they soon ran into new trouble with the coastal populations in the east, and their control of Aru affairs was disrupted by British intervention in the East Indies after 1795.

After being left to its own devices for many years, Aru was again visited in 1824 by the Dutch naval officer A.J. Bik, who concluded a number of agreements with local chiefs. In 1857 the famous naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace visited the islands. His visit later made him realize that the Aru Islands must have been connected by a land bridge to mainland New Guinea during the ice age.

In the nineteenth century, Dobo, Aru's largest town, temporarily became an important regional trading center, serving as a meeting point for Dutch, Makasarese, Chinese, and other traders. The period from the 1880s to 1917 saw a backlash against this outside influence by a spiritually-based movement among local residents to rid the islands of outsiders.

Peta geologi Kepulauan Aru|ki|250px Secara geografis, Kabupaten Kepulauan Aru terletak antara 5°-8° Lintang Selatan dan 133°5’-136°5’ Bujur Timur. Topografi daerah ini pada umumnya datar dan berawa-rawa. Kabupaten Kepulauan Aru memiliki 187 pulau dengan hanya 89 pulau yang berpenghuni. Lima pulau terbesar di antaranya Kola, Wokam, Kobror, Maekor, dan Trangan. Luas total daratan adalah 6.426 km2 dengan luas lautan 7,6 kali luas daratan.

Secara geografis, Kabupaten Kepulauan Aru berbatasan dengan:

Secara topografi, seluruh wilayah Kabupaten Kepulauan Aru berupa hamparan dataran rendah berawa dan berada pada ketinggian 0 mdpl hingga 17 mdpl. Secara keseluruhan, wilayah Kabupaten Kepulauan Aru memiliki tingkat kemiringan lahan 25% dan tidak memiliki gunung ataupun area perbukitan.

Berdasarkan klasifikasi iklim, sebagian besar wilayah Kabupaten Kepulauan Aru beriklim tropis muson (Am). Terdapat dua musim di wilayah ini, yaitu musim kemarau pada umumnya berlangsung bulan April hingga September, dan musim hujan berlangsung bulan Oktober hingga Maret. Curah hujan tertinggi terjadi pada bulan Januari, sebaliknya curah hujan terendah terjadi antara bulan Agustus dan September.