Natuna Regency, Island regency in Riau Islands, Indonesia.
Natuna Regency is a district spread across 272 islands in the South China Sea, part of the Indonesian province of Riau Islands. Most of these islands are tiny and uninhabited, while only a handful support settlements with villages and small towns.
Chinese seafarers mentioned these islands as early as the seventh century, and they later appeared on maps of Malay sultanates. The area officially became part of Indonesia only in the 20th century.
The population of 83,668 residents includes 80 percent Malay people, with additional communities of Javanese, Chinese, and other Indonesian ethnic groups practicing local traditions.
Ranai on the main island serves as the administrative center with a small airport offering regular connections to mainland Indonesia. Boats run between inhabited islands, but schedules can shift depending on weather and sea conditions.
Beneath the seabed around the islands lie enormous natural gas deposits, among the largest reserves in the world. This resource remains largely untapped because its extraction is technically demanding due to the high carbon dioxide content.
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