Riau Islands

The Riau Islands are an Indonesian province comprising islands and coastal waters south of Singapore and east of Sumatra, including the Riau Archipelago, Anambas, and Natuna.

Riau Archipelago: An island group in Indonesia between Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula, including Batam, Bintan, and Karimun. This central island group contains the province’s main population centers and borders Singapore.
Free trade zones: Designated areas where customs duties and some trade restrictions are reduced or removed. Batam, Bintan, and Karimun use special trade arrangements to attract investment and manufacturing.
Riau-Lingga Sultanate: A Malay sultanate that governed parts of the Riau Islands and the Malay world from the nineteenth century until 1911. It was a major political predecessor to the modern province.
South China Sea disputes: Overlapping territorial and maritime claims among countries bordering the South China Sea. Claims near Natuna have made the province central to Indonesia’s maritime security concerns.
Natuna Islands: An Indonesian island group in the South China Sea, northeast of the Riau Archipelago. Natuna forms the province’s distant northeastern reaches and faces contested maritime claims.
Batamindo Industrial Park: An industrial estate in Batam established to host export-oriented manufacturing. It exemplifies the manufacturing model built around Batam’s proximity to Singapore.
Johor Sultanate: A Malay sultanate founded in the sixteenth century after the fall of the Malacca Sultanate. Its history connects the islands to a wider Malay polity spanning both sides of today’s borders.
Exclusive economic zone: A maritime zone where a coastal state holds specified rights over natural resources, extending up to 200 nautical miles under international law. Indonesia’s zone around Natuna gives the islands strategic significance beyond their land area.
Anambas Islands: An Indonesian island group in the South China Sea between the Riau Archipelago and Natuna. Anambas is one of the province’s outlying island groups.
Tanjungpinang: A city on Bintan Island and the capital of Indonesia’s Riau Islands province. It is the province’s administrative center and a historic Malay port.

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