The Kai Islands (also Kei Islands) of Indonesia are in the south-eastern part of the Maluku Islands, in Maluku province. The Maluku Islands (also known as the Moluccas, Moluccan Islands or simply Maluku) are an archipelago in Indonesia, and part of the larger Malay Archipelago. ... This page is about the geography and history of the island group in Indonesia — for the political entities encompassing the islands, see Maluku (Indonesian province) and North Maluku. ... Map of the provinces of Indonesia The number of provinces of Indonesia has tended to increase as new provinces have been split from existing territories. ...

Geography

Inhabitants called the islands Nuhu Evav (Evav Islands) or Tanat Evav (Evav Land), but known as Kei or Kai for people from neighbourhood islands. The islands are south of the Bird's Head Peninsula of Papua, west of the Aru Islands, and northeast of the Tanimbar Islands. The Kai islands are made up of numerous islands, including Kai Besar or Nuhu Yuut or Nusteen (Great Kai), Kai Kecil or Nuhu Roa or Nusyanat (Little Kai), Tanimbar Kei or Tnebar Evav, Kai Dulah or Du, Dulah Laut or Du Roa, and the Kuur, Taam and Tayandu or Tahayad island groups. The Kai Islands' total land area is 1438 km² (555 sq mi). Kai Besar is mountainous and densely forested. Papua is: Another name for New Guinea Papua (Australian territory): A former Australian territory comprising the southeastern quarter of the island of New Guinea, now the southern part of Papua New Guinea Papua (Indonesian province): An Indonesian province comprising the western half of the island of New Guinea Related Words... The Aru Islands (also Aroe Islands or Kepulauan Aru) are a group of about 95 low-lying islands in the Maluku province of Indonesia. ... The Tanimbar Islands, also called Timor Laut, are a group of about 30 islands in the Maluku province of Indonesia. ...

The Kai islands are part of 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. Wallacea is a biogeographical designation for a group of Indonesian islands separated by deep water from the Asian and Australian continental shelves. ... World map showing the location of Asia. ...  Sediment  Rock  Mantle The continental shelf is the extended perimeter of each continent, which is covered during interglacial periods such as the current epoch by relatively shallow seas (known as shelf seas) andbbccvcnccccccccccccccccccccccccvvvvvvvvvvvvvvcggggggggggggggggyutu7ti8yukiyuiyutuiyuiytui gulfs. ...

History

Local history holds that ancestors of contemporary Kai islanders came from Bali, part of the expanding Majapahit kingdom from the western archipelago. The village of Letvuan on Kei Kecil or Nuhuroa island was the first place that the Balinese royal family and the army arrived, where they stayed with the local residents. As a result, Letvuan became a seat of government, where the local law (Larvul Ngabal) - Red Blood and Balinese Spear - is developed by the initiative of the royal princess Dit Sakmas. Evidence of these ties on Kei Kecil and especially in Letvuan include an inheritance and a harbour named Bal Sorbay (Bali Surabaya) that is the place where the royals arrived. It is recognized by kai islanders that some of their ancestors also came from another places such as Sumbawa island (Sumbau), Buton (Vutun)in Sulawesi, Seram (Seran) and (Ngoran) Gorom island in Central Moluccas, and Sultanate of Jailolo (Dalo) and Ternate (Ternat) as well. Bali is an Indonesian island located at , , one of the Lesser Sunda Islands. ... The Majapahit Empire was based in eastern Java and ruled much of the southern Malay Peninsula, Borneo, Sumatra, and Bali from about 1293 to around 1500. ...

Languages

Three Austronesian languages are spoken on the Kai Islands; Kei is the most widely spoken, in 207 villages on Kei Kecil, Kei Besar, and surrounding islands. Kuur is spoken on Kuur Island and nearby islands, where Kei is used as a lingua franca. Banda is spoken in the villages of Banda-Eli (Wadan El)and Banda-Elat (Wadan Elat) on the west and northeastern side of Kei Besar. Banda speakers originally came from the Banda Islands, but the language is no longer spoken there.There is no native writing system for Kei Language. Dutch catholic missionaries write the language using a variety of the Roman alphabet. The Austronesian languages are a language family widely dispersed throughout the islands of Southeast Asia and the Pacific, with a few members spoken on continental Asia. ... Banda Besar island seen from Fort Belgica The Banda Islands (Kepulauan Banda in Bahasa Indonesia) are a group of ten small volcanic islands in the Banda Sea, about 140km south of Seram island and about 2000km east of Java, and are part of the Indonesian province of Maluku. ...

Greetings

• Fel be / Fel be he : hello, how are you?
• Bok át / Bok bok wat: I'm fine

Musical Instruments

Kei musical instruments were:-

1) Savarngil (Flute): A small native flute from 4 to 8 in. long, open at both ends and having six fingerholes placed along the pipe made of bamboo and are keyless.

2) Tiva (Drum):Single headed drums, consist of a calf skin membrane which is stretched over an enclosed space or over one of the ends of a hollow vessel.

3) Dada (Gong):a medium-size gong 12" to 15" in size, with a crashing sound, have a raised boss or nipple in the centre. A gong is any one of a wide variety of metal percussion instruments. ...

See also

• Islands of Indonesia