Biak : small island located in Cenderawasih Bay near the northern coast of Papua

Biak

Biak is a small island located in Cenderawasih Bay near the northern coast of Papua, an Indonesian province, and is just northwest of New Guinea. Biak is the largest island in its small archipelago, and has many atolls, reefs, and corals.
The largest population centre is at Kota Biak on the south coast. The rest of the island is thinly populated with small villages.

Biak is part of the Biak

Islands.

In World War II, a strategic airfield of the Imperial Japanese Army was located there, serving as a base for operations in the Pacific theatre. American forces eventually captured the island during the Battle of Biak. On May 29, 1944, the 1st tank vs. tank battle in the Pacific Theatre occurred. The captured airfield was renamed Mokmer Airfield and later transferred to the Royal Australian Air Force.

It was transferred from New Guinea, in the 1960s.

Dutch rule, along with half of -

On July 1, 1998 Biak was the scene of what is commonly known as the 'Biak Massacre' or 'Bloody Biak'. Native Papuan people and members of the Organisasi Papua Merdeka (Free Papua Movement), raised their traditional flag, 'The Morning Star', at Kota Biak water tower and camped there for the next six days.
At 5:30am on July 6, 1998 the demonstration was fired upon by the Tentara Nasional Indonesia. Many were cut down by the gunfire while attempting to flee. Survivors were rounded up and forced to the docks where they were kept for the several days while further demonstrators were caught.
The people of Biak are predominantly Melanesians and the main religion is Christianity. The official language is Indonesian and the main local language is Biak. Other languages such as Dutch and English are also used, but limited. Administratively there are 12 kecamatan, covering only the island itself, having 112,873 people in 2010 census.

Biak is serviced by which has flights from all

Frans Kaisiepo Airport, over Indonesia.

Space satellite launch services have been planned for the new Biak Spaceport. The equatorial location offers particularly efficient launches to equatorial and near-equatorial orbits; facing eastward toward the Pacific ocean reduces the downrange risks of launch.
The Biak Numfor culture revolves around their ancient animist religion, although today they are Christian as well.
Their beliefs revolve around a ritual ceremony called Wor, where they will be plagued by all kinds of bad luck and sickness. The Wor is in all aspect of their life and some of their traditional ceremonies are still being held now. They include the 1st hair cut ceremony, the growing up ceremony (Wor Famarmar) and the Wedding ceremony (Wor Yakyaker Farbakbuk). All of these ceremonies are accompanied by singing, dancing and offering to ancestral spirits.
The Biak Numfor have a friendship dance called "Yosim Pancar". It's small to mid-size dance group formations which could last all-night long. Several "Yosim Pancar" moves that are popular till this day are: Pancar Gas, Gale-Gale, Jef, Pacul Tiga, Seka, and Poco-poco adaptation.
The rhythm and song of Yosim Pancar dance are now being modernized with special effect sounds and pop dance beat. Originally the rhythm is to summon ancestal spirits and let them join the group. The traditional musical instrument of this dance is a selfmade stringbass from coconut tree and roots which is similar to the guitar or ukulele.
The rain forest-covered Biak Islands have been designated the Biak-Numfoor rain forests, especially as they have the largest number of endemic bird species of any single area in the New Guinea region.
There are numerous types of flora in the tropical rain forest of the island, including a variety of trees and other commercially important species plus the lush vegetation of mangrove swamps.

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