Southwest Maluku Regency (; ) is a regency of Maluku Province, Indonesia. Geographically it forms the most eastern portion of the Lesser Sunda Islands, although it has never been administratively included with them, and politically has always comprised a part of the Maluku Province. It comprises a number of islands and island groups in the south of the province, including (running from west to east) Lirang Island, Wetar Island (with almost half of the total land area of the regency), Kisar Island, Romang Island, the Letti Islands, the Damer Islands, the Sermata Islands (formerly called Mdona Hyera) and the Babar Islands. The total land area is 4,581.06 km2, and the population was 70,714 at the 2010 CensusBiro Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2011. and 81,928 at the 2020 Census;Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2021. the official estimate as at mid 2025 was 98,067 (comprising 49,905 males and 48,162 females),Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 27 February 2026, Kabupaten Maluku Barat Daya Dalam Angka 2026 (Katalog-BPS 1102001.8108) and is projected to reach 100,000 during 2026.
The administrative centre lies at Tiakur on Moa Island (in the Letti Islands), but the largest town is Wonreli (on Kisar Island). These islands were originally part of Maluku Tenggara Regency within Maluku, and then from 4 October 1999 part of Maluku Tenggara Barat Regency when that was created, but from 24 June 2008 became a separate regency within Maluku.
Administrative districts
As at 2010 the Southwest Maluku Regency was administratively composed of eight districts (kecamatan). But by 2015 the number of districts had increased to seventeen by the splitting of existing districts, although by 2023 the names of several of these districts had been altered; Pulau Pulau Wetar (the Wetar Islands) has been divided into four districts - Wetar (now Wetar Selatan or South Wetar), Wetar Barat (West Wetar), Wetar Timur (East Wetar) and Wetar Utara (North Wetar); the other six newly created districts are Dawelor Dawera and Pulau Masela (Masela Island) formed from parts of Babar Timur District, Kepulauan Roma (Romang Islands) and Kisar Utara (North Kisar) formed from parts of Pulau Pulau Terselatan District (itself now renamed Kisar Selatan), Pulau Lakor (Lakor Island) formed from part of Moa Lakor District (itself now renamed Moa District), and Pulau Wetang (Wetang Island) formed from part of Pulau Pulau Babar District (itself now renamed Babar Barat or West Babar District).
The districts are formally grouped into three archipelagoes - the Terselatan Group (including Wetar, as well as Kisar and Romang Islands), the Lemola Group (Letti, Moa and Lakor) and the Babar Group (including Damer Island and the Sermata Islands). The areas (in km2)Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 28 February 2024, Kabupaten Maluku Barat Daya Dalam Angka 2024 (Katalog-BPS 1102001.8108) and the populations at the 2010 censusBiro Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2011. and 2020 census,Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2021. together with the official estimates as at mid 2025,Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 27 February 2026, Kabupaten Maluku Barat Daya Dalam Angka 2026 (Katalog-BPS 1102001.8108) are listed below. The table also includes the locations of the district administrative centres, the number of administrative villages in each district (totaling 117 rural desa and 1 urban kelurahan - the latter being Tiakur on Moa Island), and its post code.
KodeWilayah Name ofdistrict(kecamatan) comprising Area in km2 Pop'ncensus2010 Pop'ncensus2020 Pop'nestimatemid 2025AdmincentreNo. ofVillagesPostCode 81.08.06 Wetar Selatan southern part of Wetar Island 1,157.60Ilwaki697446 81.08.14 Wetar Barat western part of Wetar Island, plus Lirang Island, and other islands west of Wetar 345.70(a) Ustutun597447 81.08.13 Wetar Utara northern part of Wetar Island, plus Reong Island 677.60(a)Lurang697449 81.08.15 Wetar Timur eastern part of Wetar Island470.90(a)Arwala697448 81.08.07 Kisar Selatan southern part of Kisar Island65.40Wonreli697445 81.08.17 Kisar Utara northern part of Kisar Island 18.59(b)Putihair Timur397441 81.08.16 Kepulauan Roma Romang Islands 194.30(b)Rumkuda397440 Totals for Terselatan Group 2,930.09 35 81.08.08 Letti Leti Island 90.10Serwaru797444 81.08.01 Moa Moa Island 361.60Weet897442 81.08.12 Lakor Lakor Island 112.60(c)Wewawan597443 Totals for Lemola Group 564.30 20 81.08.02 Damer Damer Island, plus uninhabited Nus Leur, Terbang Utara and Terbang Selatan 201.80 Wulur797652 (d) 81.08.03 Luang Sermata Sermata Islands 125.50Lelang1197652 81.08.04 Babar Barat Babar Island (western half), plus Dai Island 359.70Tepa997451 81.08.05 Babar Timur Babar Island (eastern half) 281.30Letwurung1197654 81.08.09 Pulau Masela Masela Island 46.71(e)Latalola Besar1197653 81.08.10 Dawelor Dawera Dawelor Island and Dawera Island 27.06(e)Watuwey697651 81.08.11 Pulau Wetang Wetang Island 44.60(f)Rumah Lewang Besar897652 Totals for Babar Group 1,086.67 63
Notes: (a) the 2010 populations for the four districts which comprised Pulau Pulau Wetar District are listed under Wetar Selatan District. (b) the 2010 populations of Kisar Utara and Kepulauan Roma Districts are included under the figure for Kisar Selatan District (formerly called Pulau Pulau Terselatan District), from which they were split off. (c) the 2010 population of Lakor District is included in the figure for Moa District, from which it was split off. (d) except for Batumerah desa (in the west of the island), which has a postcode of 97128. (e) the 2010 populations of Pulau Masela and Daweloor Dawera Districts are included under the figure for Babar Timur District, from which they were split off. (f) the 2010 population of Pulau Wetang District is included in the figure for Babar Barat District (formerly called Pulau Pulau Babar District), from which it was split off.
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