Southwest Maluku Regency
regency in Maluku Province, Indonesia
Southwest Maluku Regency (Indonesian: Kabupaten Maluku Barat Daya; Indonesian pronunciation: [kabuˌpat̪ɛn maˌluku ˌbarat̪̚ ˈdaja]) is a regency of Maluku Province, Indonesia. Geographically it forms the most eastern portion of the Lesser Sunda Islands, although it has never been administratively included with them, and politically has always comprised a part of the Maluku Province. It comprises a number of islands and island groups in the south of the province, including (running from west to east) Lirang Island, Wetar Island (with almost half of the total land area of the regency), Kisar Island, Romang Island, the Letti Islands, the Damer Islands, the Sermata Islands (formerly called Mdona Hyera) and the Babar Islands. The total land area is 4,581.06 km2, and the population was 70,714 at the 2010 Census and 81,928 at the 2020 Census; the official estimate as at mid 2025 was 98,067 (comprising 49,905 males and 48,162 females), and is projected to reach 100,000 during 2026.
The administrative centre lies at Tiakur on Moa Island (in the Letti Islands), but the largest town is Wonreli (on Kisar Island). These islands were originally part of Maluku Tenggara Regency within Maluku, and then from 4 October 1999 part of Maluku Tenggara Barat Regency when that was created, but from 24 June 2008 became a separate regency within Maluku.
Administrative districts
As at 2010 the Southwest Maluku Regency was administratively composed of eight districts (kecamatan). But by 2015 the number of districts had increased to seventeen by the splitting of existing districts, although by 2023 the names of several of these districts had been altered; Pulau Pulau Wetar (the Wetar Islands) has been divided into four districts - Wetar (now Wetar Selatan or South Wetar), Wetar Barat (West Wetar), Wetar Timur (East Wetar) and Wetar Utara (North Wetar); the other six newly created districts are Dawelor Dawera and Pulau Masela (Masela Island) formed from parts of Babar Timur District, Kepulauan Roma (Romang Islands) and Kisar Utara (North Kisar) formed from parts of Pulau Pulau Terselatan District (itself now renamed Kisar Selatan), Pulau Lakor (Lakor Island) formed from part of Moa Lakor District (itself now renamed Moa District), and Pulau Wetang (Wetang Island) formed from part of Pulau Pulau Babar District (itself now renamed Babar Barat or West Babar District).
The districts are formally grouped into three archipelagoes - the Terselatan Group (including Wetar, as well as Kisar and Romang Islands), the Lemola Group (Letti, Moa and Lakor) and the Babar Group (including Damer Island and the Sermata Islands). The areas (in km2) and the populations at the 2010 census and 2020 census, together with the official estimates as at mid 2025, are listed below.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Southwest Maluku Regency” is regency in Maluku Province, Indonesia. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Southwest, Maluku and Regency, not as a finished interpretation.
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