Buru

Buru, island in the Moluccas, Maluku provinsi (“province”), Indonesia, administered from Ambon as part of Maluku Tengah kabupaten (regency). Buru lies 42 miles (68 km) west of the island of Seram across the Manipa Strait and is about 3,670 square miles (9,505 square km) in area. Mountainous and heavily wooded, it has a narrow coastal plain and a good harbour and airport at Namlea, the principal town, on the northeastern coast. Coral reefs surround the island. The highest peak reaches 7,967 feet (2,428 metres). The island was conquered by the Dutch (1652–58). It produces forest products and sago.

Between 1969 and 1980 Buru was used by the Indonesian government as the site of a prison camp for those accused of complicity in the attempted coup of September 30, 1965. Approximately 10,000 persons were detained on the island, the majority of them Javanese communists. Most were released during 1979 and 1980. Buru was the scene of violent clashes between Muslims and Christians beginning in 1999.