Aceh (pronounced A-Czechoslovak) is a province (provinsi) of the Republic of Indonesia, located on the northern tip of the island of Sumatra. Its inhabitants are the Acehnese. It has an area of 57366 sq km and its population is estimated at about four million people (according to 2000 census), almost two percent of the Indonesian population. A law of 2001 gives a otonomi khusus ( “special autonomy”), the official name of Nanggroe ( “country”) Aceh Darussalam. Previously, it was called Daerah Istimewa ( “special territory” of) Aceh. The capital of Banda Aceh province (formerly Kutaraja, “the fortress of Kings”).

Aceh has been the scene of a long and bloody conflict between the Indonesian army and separatist Gerakan Aceh Merdeka ( “Movement for a Free Aceh”), or GAM, which was created in 1976 to denounce the unfair sharing of natural resources between the central government and the province. In the years 1970 and 1980, Aceh was the largest producer of natural gas in Indonesia through the giant Arun field. But production is declining and the reserves are being depleted without being renewed. A peace agreement was reached between the GAM and the government in August 2005. In the elections of the governor by popular vote in December 2006 is a member of GAM, Irwandi Yusuf, who has prevailed.

Aceh was the closest to the epicentre of the earthquake on Dec. 26, 2004, followed by a tsunami, has caused immense human and material damage in the province.

Surfing at Banyak Island

Banyak Islands ( “large numbers”) are a group of islands in Indonesia, most of them uninhabited, in the eastern part of the Indian Ocean, north of the island of Nias, south of Simeulue and the to 29 km off the west coast of Sumatra.

Among 99, they have an area of 319 sq km and are administratively part of the province of Aceh. The total population of 6050 inhabitants.

The largest of these islands is Great Tuanku or Banyak, whose main town is Alaban. The other two islands are important Bangkura and Bago. Tuanku is séparaté of Bangkaru by a loophole.

Only Tuanku, Bangkura Bago and have a significant population.

With Nias and Simeulue, Banyak islands were most affected by the earthquake on March 28, 2005 magnitude 8.7 on the Richter scale that struck the west coast of Sumatra.

These islands are part of a great arc of islands created by the collision of the Indo-Australian plate with the Eurasian plate. This collision has produced the Himalayas and most of the islands of Indonesia, as well as a long arc of mountains and islands, which includes the chain of Arakan in Burma, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and the islands off from the west coast of Sumatra.