Banda Islandsisland group, Maluku provinsi propinsi (province), Indonesia. They The islands lie in the Banda Sea, southeast of Ambon Island and south of Ceram. The largest of the nine islands, which have a total land area of 17 square miles (44 square km), is Great Banda Besar, or Great Banda (Banda Besar) Island. An inland sea, formed by three of the group, provides an outstanding harbour; the coral gardens beneath the sea are virtually unrivaled. Great Banda Besar has coral rock to a height of 400 feet (120 metres), with lava and basalt up to 1,758 feet (536 metres). Mount Api, one of the island group, is an active volcano 2,200 feet (670 metres) in elevation; it caused extensive destruction in 1820 and 1852.


The Banda Islands were annexed by the Portuguese in 1512, but early in the 17th century the Dutch expelled the Portuguese. England and The Netherlands then vied for the islands, which changed hands several times before 1814, when they were restored to the Dutch by the Treaty of Paris. Pop. (latest est.) 13,638.