Nias Island is located in the Indian Ocean West of Sumatra island. This amazing and beautiful island surrounded by roughly27 smaller islands where 11 new island whom were already inhabited including the Nias Island, Simeuleu Island, MentawaiIslands and the island of Enggano. The exact location of the Nias Island is approximately 125 km from the West coast of Sumatra.
Has an area of approximately 5000 km², the Nias Island is the largest of the Islands in the vicinity. Gunungsitoli is the capital city of Nias where facilities are available here for those of you who like to explore the splendor of nature and culture. In the city there is also a saving Nias Heritage Museum of roughly 6500 collection of cultural relics Society.
The islands along the 130 km with a width of 45 km as it alienated its existence. Only a few merchant ships anchored off the island because it is banned. The authorities will soon order the merchant ships approaching to turning the port in Padang or to the port in Bengkulu. Therefore, kabasaran Nias seemed to trace the life of the past, as if time stopped there withcultures and traditions still survive sustainably.
Residents of Nias Island scattered around 650 villages but many of the villages including difficult reachable by land due to its weight. Infrastructure development efforts in this area should be confronted with the shape of the surface soil labile. The newly built streets usually will only be short-lived because the ground is always melesak down.
Nias Island inhabited community who live independently since centuries ago. The culture of those who still maintained its authenticity of outside influences has been luring tourists who visited. In the local language, the people of Nias namedthemselves as "Ono Niha", said ono means child or offspring, while the word has the meaning humans. niha Nias Island is sometimes referred to as Tanö Niha, where Word tanö means land.
Nias is famous in the world of rock and surf culture. One of the famous cultural attractions of this stone is the stone, i.e.jump local local youths jumped over a wall stone is as tall as 2 meters. As the location of the surfing world, Nias Islandcomparable to Hawaii with alluring waves the ownership penghobinya. Nias also hosts Indonesian Open SurfingChampionship Lagundri beach is located at.
Fahombe or tradition jump rock in Nias Island was born from the habit of war antardesa society of Nias Island. Thetradition of the ancients was set aside in preparation for a war in which each village usually fortify themselves with abamboo fence as high as two meters so that the men of the village could jump the fence to be trained through exerciseskipping stones. Also at the same time as the means test of the courage and maturity of a boy on the island of Nias.
Nias is an ancient land. No one knows exactly how long the original community life here. According to local legend, lives on the island of Nias is derived from the river which became the commence descent Gomo 6 gods and human civilization.Therefore, calling themselves the Nias community ono niha or ' older people '. Distribution in the society starting from theMiddle of Nias then moved north and South by developing the language, customs and art respectively. It is estimated the people in Nias Island saudah since 30,000 years ago.
Traditionally, villages in Nias Island led by the village chief, who led the Council of elders. There are still a lot of Nias in the villages where the indigenous that stands out from the villages of custom Setup arsitekurnya it is, either the landscape orbuilding. Once each village in the lead by a King. Nias has a hierarchy of communities with the highest caste in the count, followed by regular society. Nias tribes apply system clan following the father's line (patrilineal people). Clans generallydating from the settlement of villages there. Nias tribes know the caste system (12 levels of caste) where the level of the highest caste is balugu. To achieve this level of a person should be able to do a big party by inviting thousands of peopleand slaughtering thousands of pigs in a tail for days.
Nias communities have hard and strong character inherited from the culture of war fighters. Therefore, the societies and cultures of Nias so far able to survive from the invasion of foreign cultures. Culture warriors Nias has lasted for centuries when villages here declared war on each other. First battle of antardesa or tribal take place because it provoked by a sense of revenge or the issue of slavery.
In addition to the closely linked to culture Warrior, Nias communities also at one time the farming community. They plantedmaize, sweet potato and taro to memenui needs of life. Animals other than pigs into farm animals also shows the status of the person because the more someone has pig then the higher its position in the community of the village.
Nias Island is not without historical records for this amazing island has ever entered of record merchants China, Portugueseand Arabic. Formerly the Nias Island is known as the origin of the slaves which he later supplied by the Kingdom of Aceh,Portuguese merchants, and merchants Netherlands. In fact, until the 19th century, Nias was known the outside world as the location of the slave trade.
Netherlands Indies Government controlled the island of Nias in 1825. Despite the fact that before the island had been in touch with the outside world but traditional cultures remain intact are amazing.
