Buru

Buru [bo͞o′ro͞o]

island of Indonesia, in the Molucca group: 3,670 sq mi (9,505 sq km)

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Bu·ru (bo͝orʹo͞o)

An island of eastern Indonesia in the Moluccas west of Ceram.

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Dutch Boeroe

Island, Indonesia.

Located west of Ceram in the western Moluccas, it measures 90 mi (145 km) long by 50 mi (81 km) wide. Namlea, the chief town, lies on the narrow coastal plain. It was taken by the Dutch in the mid-17th century. It became part of Indonesia after World War II. Indonesia used Buru for a prison camp following the 1965 attempted coup; most of the prisoners had been freed by 1981.

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▪ island, Indonesia

also spelled  Boeroe  

      island in the Moluccas, Maluku provinsi (“province”), Indonesia, administered from Ambon as part of Maluku Tengah kabupaten (regency). Buru lies 42 miles (68 km) west of the island of Seram across the Manipa Strait and is about 3,670 square miles (9,505 square km) in area. Mountainous and heavily wooded, it has a narrow coastal plain and a good harbour and airport at Namlea, the principal town, on the northeastern coast. Coral reefs surround the island. The highest peak reaches 7,967 feet (2,428 metres). The island was conquered by the Dutch (1652–58). It produces forest products and sago.

      Between 1969 and 1980 Buru was used by the Indonesian government as the site of a prison camp for those accused of complicity in the attempted coup of September 30, 1965. Approximately 10,000 persons were detained on the island, the majority of them Javanese communists. Most were released during 1979 and 1980. Buru was the scene of violent clashes between Muslims and Christians beginning in 1999.

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