The Batu Islands are an archipelago of Indonesia located in the Indian Ocean, off the westcoast of Sumatra, between Nias and Siberut. The three primary islands, of approximately equalsize, are Pini, Tanahmasa, and Tanahbala. There are forty-eight smaller islands, of which the largest are Sipika, Simuk, Bodjo, Telo and Sigata; less than half are inhabited. The total land area of the seven administrative districts is 1,201.1 km2. The islands are governed as a part of South Niasregency within North Sumatra province. In Indonesian and Malay, batu means rock or stone. The equator passes through the archipelago, north of Tanahmasa and south of Pini. Administratively, Pini forms the Pulau Pulau Batu Timur District of South Nias Regency. The rest of the archipelago at the 2010 Census comprised the Pulau-pulau Batu and Hibala Districts of the same regency. However, both have been subsequently divided to form new Districts - Tanahmasa District has been formed from part of Hibala District, and three new districts have been formed from parts of Pulau Pulau Batu District - namely Pulau Pulau Batu Barat, Pulau Pulau Batu Utara and Simuk Districts. The original districts remain with reduced areas and population, and thus the islands now form seven separate districts.
Notes: The 2010 population of Tanah Masa District is included in the 2010 population of Hibala District. The 2010 populations of Simuk District, Pulau Pulau Batu Barat District and Pulau Pulau Batu Utara District are included in the 2010 population of Pulau Pulau Batu District. The four new districts in the Batu Islands are Pulau Pulau Batu Barat, Pulau Pulau Batu Utara, Simuk and Tanah Masa.
People
The people of the Batu Islands have had substantial interaction with the populations of Nias, to the north, whose language they share. The islands have occasionally been a destination for slaves who escaped from Nias, and in the past decade have become a destination for surfing boat charters from Padang, on the Sumatran mainland. The population at the 2010 Census was 28,468. The islands were visited by Simon Reeve during Equator, a 2006 BBC TV Series.
