Welcome to Ternate!
Ternate is a city in the Indonesian province of North Maluku and an island in the Maluku Islands. It was de facto provincial capital of North Maluku before Sofifi on the nearby coast of Halmahera became the capital in 2010. It is off the west coast of the much larger island of Halmahera. It is composed of eight islands, Ternate, the biggest and main island of the city, as well as seven smaller islands of Moti, Hiri, Tifure, Mayau, Makka, Mano, and Gurida. In total, the city has a land area of 162.17 square kilometers and had a total population of 185,705 according to the 2010 census, and 205,001 according to the 2020 census, with a density of 1,264 per square kilometer. The biggest and most densely populated city in the province, it is the economic, cultural, and education center of North Maluku as well as a hub to neighbouring regions. Historically the capital of the powerful Sultanate of Ternate in the 15th and 16th centuries, it fought a bitter rivalry with the Tidore Sultanate over control of the spice trade in the Moluccas and became a main interest of the competing European powers.