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Following World War II, during which the island was occupied by the Japanese, many Ambonese resisted becoming part of Indonesia and attempted to establish an independent South Moluccan Republic (RMS = Republik Maluku Selatan), but Indonesian troops suppressed the movement. Ambon is home to the capital of Maluku province that consists of about 1,000 islands formerly known as the Moluccas, or Spice Islands. Ambon island embraces 294 square miles (764 square kilometers) of generally hilly, agricultural terrain that produces coffee, corn, copra, cloves and sugar, among others. Muslims have steadily immigrated to Ambon since the establishment of the Indonesian Republic in 1949. Christians and Muslims co-existed in relative peace for decades, although the new settlers steadily chipped away at the traditional Christian predominance. The population in 1980 stood at more than 650,000. An Ambonese Muslim became the governor of the island in the early 1990s, and the change in the power structure of the island increased tensions. A series of church burnings and attacks on mosques in Jakarta and West Timor brought the situation to critical mass. Government attempts to suppress the unrest were unsuccessful, and in January
1999 what began as a street fight between a Christian bus driver and a Muslim
passenger escalated into the worst religious fighting in Indonesia's history. More
than 1,000 people were killed and thousands more fled.
Text Source: http://www.cnn.com/ASIANOW/southeast |