BACAN

also spelled Bachan, or Batjan, island, Maluku Utara kabupaten (North Molucca regency), Maluku propinsi (province), Indonesia, one of the northern Moluccas in the Molucca Sea. The islands of Kasiruta to the northwest, Mandioli to the west, and about 80 other islets compose the Kepulauan Bacan group. With an area of about 700 sq mi (1,800 sq km), Bacan is mountainous in the south, rising to 6,926 ft (2,111 m), relatively level and lower in the centre, and volcanic in the north, with some sulfurous springs. Products include spices, copra, timber, and mother-of-pearl, with tobacco and rice raised for local consumption. Labuha, the principal city and port, has the only airport. Bacan has fine trees, a great variety of soils, and a number of small navigable streams. Its rich animal life includes the crested Celebes black ape, an eastern opossum, a pigmy flying phalanger, the great Indian civet, a bird of paradise, and several bats. Other birds are a red lory, little lorikeet, green parrot with red bill and head, golden-capped sunbird, racquet-tailed kingfisher, a rare goatsucker, and a large and handsome fruit pigeon with metallic-green and rust plumage. The Bacanese are believed to have come originally from Halmahera. Other inhabitants include the Serani (Christian with some Portuguese blood), Makasarese, and Malays. A small fort was built by the Portuguese and captured (1609) and renamed Barneveld by the Dutch, who put the island's sultan under the suzerainty of the sultan of Ternate. The Bacan sultanate continued to exist until the end of the 19th century. The Japanese occupied Bacan during World War II. Pop. (1971) 29,137.