Morotai, Undescovered Relics of World War II

Morotai Island (Indonesian: Pulau Morotai) is an island located in the Halmahera group of eastern Indonesia's Maluku Islands (Moluccas). It is governed as a regency of North Maluku province, called Morotai Island Regency Kabupaten Pulau Morotai , and is one of Indonesia's northernmost islands.

  

History

During the fifteenth and sixteenth 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-sixteenth century, the island was also the site of a Portuguese Jesuit mission. The Muslim states on Ternate and Halmahera resented the outpost for its proselytising 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. 

Geography

Morotai is a rugged, forested island lying to the north of Halmahera. It has an area of some 1,800 km2, stetching 80 km north-south and no more than 42 km wide. The island's largest town is Daruba, on the islands 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 Berebere, the principal town on Morotai's east coast, 68 km from Daruba.

World War II 

The island was captured by the Japanese in early 1942. Morotai's southern plain was taken by AmericanBattle 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 held out subsequent to the Japanese military's surrender. forces in September 1944 during the 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.