MOLUCCAS

MOLUCCAS or SPICE ISLANDS, an archipelago of mountainous islands in Indonesia, mostly volcanic, between Celebes and New Guinea, is in two main groups; in the N. the largest island is Jilolo, but the most important Tidor and Ternate, which export spices, tortoise-shell, and bees-wax; in the S. Buru and Ceram are largest, most important, Amboyna, from which come cloves; the people are civilised Malays; the islands are equatorial, but tempered by sea-breezes, and healthy; discovered by the Portuguese in 1521, they have been in Dutch possession from 1607 to 1810. It was held by Britain from 1810 to 1814. It again came under Dutch possession in 1814. With the declaration of a single republic of Indonesia in 1950, it became part of Indonesia.