Moluccas
or SPICE ISLANDS, a name which was originally confined to the five small islands of Ternate, Tidore, Motir, Makian, and Batshian, but now applied to the widely scattered group lying between Celebes and Papua; area, 43,864 square miles; pop. (1917) Amboyna, MOLYBDENITE 360,934; Ternate, 200,135. The S. portion being governed directly by the Dutch, and the N. indirectly through native sultans.
The islands (several hundreds in number) are nearly all mountainous, mostly volcanic, and earthquakes are by no means uncommon. Cloves, nutmegs, mace, and sago are exported to Europe; and birds'-nests, trepang, etc., to China.
The Moluccas have been for centuries alternately in the possession of the Spaniards, Portuguese, and Dutch. They were twice taken by the British and given up to Holland, in whose possession they still remain. The natives belong to Malay and Polynesian races, and the general language on the coast is the Malay.