Îles Kei

The Kai Islands (also Kei Islands) of Indonesia are a group of islands in the southeastern part of the Maluku Islands, located in the province of Maluku. The Moluccas have been known as the Spice Islands due to regionally specific plants such as nutmeg, mace, and cloves that originally intrigued the European nations of the 16th century. The Kai Islands consist of the two distinct second-tier administrations, both in Maluku Province. The Southeast Maluku Regency (Maluku Tenggara) is sub-divided into eleven administrative districts (kecamatan); its administrative centre is the town of Langpur. Though it is geographically in the Kai Islands, the city of Tual forms a separate regency-level administration and is not part of the Southeast Maluku Regency. It includes a number of islands in the geographical Kai Islands, and it is itself sub-divided into five districts (kecamatan). These two entities, with their administrative capitals, are listed below with their areas and their populations at the 2010 Census and the 2020 Census, together with the official estimates as at mid 2022: The Kai Islands are a part of the Wallacea, the group of Indonesian islands that are separated by deep water from both the Asian and Australian continental shelves, and were never linked to either continent. As a result, the Kai Islands have few native mammals and are a part of the Banda Sea Islands moist deciduous forests ecoregion. Kai Besar in particular is mountainous and densely forested. Kai is famous for the beauty of its beaches, notably in Pasir Panjang. The indigenous inhabitants call the islands Nuhu Evav (Evav Islands) or Tanat Evav (Evav Land), but they are known as Kai to people from neighboring islands. The islands are on the edge of the Banda Sea, south of the Bird's Head Peninsula of New Guinea, west of the Aru Islands, and northeast of the Tanimbar Islands.