Tuesday, January 08, 2008

The real Dobbo island

Not entirely sure why it's taken me so long to research, but Dobbo Island actually exists!!!


It's one of those places (like the Federated States of Micronesia) which you may have assumed was made up by Aaron Sorkin for a West Wing sub-plot....

But Dobbo (sometimes Dobo) is the main port of the Aru Islands, on the island of Wamma. The islands, part of Indonesia since 1949, can be found in the Arafuru Sea in the Dutch East Indies, south-west of New Guinea:


They're renowned for wildlife, and there are references to naturalists (including one Mr C. R. Darwin) visiting.

A few facts about the Aru Islands (taken from various encyclopedias & online articles).
- Indonesian name: Kepulauan Aru
- Dutch name: Aroe Eilanden
- Comprises c. 90 islands
- Six main islands: Warilau, Kola, Wokam, Kobroor, Maikoor and Trangan.
- Total land area: c. 3,300 square miles (110m N-S, 50 m E-W at the widest points)
- Surface: predominantly forest (pines & palms). Coral reefs off the Eastern coast
- Former trading settlement of the Bugis (from Sulawesi, a larger Indonesian island) & Chinese
- Colonised by the Dutch after 1623
- Part of Indonesia since 1949
- Total population: c. 22,200
- People: Papuan & Malay
- Language: Papuan family (up to 1,000 sub-languages & dialects, from c. 60 language families)
- Main occupations: fishermen, farmers, traders & craftspeople

NB. Taken from the Natural History Museum website, taken during the voyage of H.M.S. Challenger (1872-1876). This British Government-funded expedition, fact fans, is believed to have been the first to carry an official photographer.

It should be relatively safe in Dobbo. Apparently, the Magindano pirates haven't been seen thataway since the mid-1800's. Which was about the time these (actually from a shop window in Dobbo!) were last in fashion ...


Here's the Aru islands in more detail (Dobbo towards the top left-hand corner, parallel to where it says 'Wokam'):
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