The Aru islands are a group of about ninety-five low-lying islands in the Maluku province of eastern Indonesia. The islands are the easternmost in Maluku province, and are located in the Arafura Sea southwest of New Guinea and north of Australia. The largest island is Tanahbesar (also called Wokam); Dobo, the chief port of the islands, is on Wamar, just off Tanahbesar. Other main islands are Kola, Kobroor, Maikoor, and Trangan.

No group of islands exemplifies this extreme isolation than the unusual Arus. Located in the middle of the Banda Sea, the islands are composed of low-lying limestone formations, the islands share a similar topography to the neighboring Kais. Most of the Aru’s 21 islands are flat and swampy, their extensive marshes broken by narrow marine channels and low hills. Lying about 640 kilometers southeast of Ambon and only 240 kilometers from the western coast of New Guinea, the Arus probably once formed part of that giant island.

Bauabu Village