Belitung

Belitung (or in English, Billiton) is an island on the east coast of Sumatra, Indonesia in the Java Sea. It covers 4,800.6 km² (1,853.5 sq mi), and had a population of 271,868 in 2014. Administratively, it forms part of the province of Bangka-Belitung Islands. The island is known for its pepper and for its tin. It was in the possession of the United Kingdom from 1812 until Britain ceded control of the island to the Netherlands in the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824. Its main town is Tanjung Pandan.

Demography

The population was 262,357 at the 2010 Census; the latest official estimate (as at 2014) is 271,868. The population is centred in several small towns; the largest are Tanjung Pandan in the west and Manggar in the east, which are the respective capitals of the two Regencies (Belitung and Belitung Timur) into which the island is administratively divided. While ethnic Malays people make up the largest percentage along with Chinese people, Belitung has significant populations of Bugis, Sundanese, and Javanese people who formerly worked for the Dutch, mining tin. There is also a small population of Madurese who were settled there in the Suharto era transmigration.