The Banyak Islands (Pulau-pulau Banyak) are located about a hundred miles off the west coast of Sumatra, in northern Indonesia, not far from the infamous town of Banda Aceh. Quality waves everywhere. A vacation there would be nice.
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| Banyak Islands |
Geography
The Banyak Islands are part of the Aceh district and are located 160 km west of the island of Sumatra, in the eastern part of the Indian Ocean, north of Nias and southeast of Simeulue, in the country of Indonesia.
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| Banyak Islands |
It is a set of 99 tropical islands with palm trees, fine land and transparent waters formed by coral that are mostly uninhabited by humans. The set of islands are located at an average altitude of 159 meters above sea level.
Administratively, the Banyak Islands are divided into two Aceh Singkil kecamatan, within the Aceh Regency. The first kecamatan is Pulau Banyak and it is located in the eastern part of the archipelago and includes the islands of Balei and Ujung Batu Palambak. The second is Pulau Banyak Barat and is located in the western part of the islands.
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| Banyak Islands |
The largest island is Tuangku and the main city is Haloban. Second in order of size is Bangkaru. Both cities are separated from each other by a fault line. In terms of population, the island with the most inhabitants is Balai Island, a small island. Only Tuangku, Bangkaru Bago and Balai have a significant population.
Nias and Simeulue along with the Banyak Islands were the most affected by the Sumatra earthquake of March 28, 2005 of magnitude 8.7 M L on the Richter scale that devastated the west coast of Sumatra.
The archipelago is a meeting point for surfers and divers.