Talaud Islands is a group of island

Island

An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...

s located north of Sulawesi

Sulawesi

Sulawesi is one of the four larger Sunda Islands of Indonesia and is situated between Borneo and the Maluku Islands. In Indonesia, only Sumatra, Borneo, and Papua are larger in territory, and only Java and Sumatra have larger Indonesian populations.- Etymology :The Portuguese were the first to...

 island in Indonesia

Indonesia

Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

, northeast of the Sangihe Islands

Sangihe Islands

The Sangihe Islands – – are a group of islands constitute 2 regencies in northern Indonesia, the Sangihe Islands Regency & Sitaro Islands Regency...

. The Talaud Islands are also the northernmost region of Eastern Indonesia, bordering Davao del Sur

Davao del Sur

Davao del Sur is a province of the Philippines located in the Davao Region in Mindanao. Its capital is Digos City. The province is bordered by Davao City to the north, and Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, South Cotabato, and Sarangani to the west. To the east lies the Davao Gulf...

 region of the Philippines

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

.

Description

The islands were declared a regency

Talaud Islands Regency

Talaud Islands Regency is a regency of North Sulawesi, Indonesia. The principal town lies at Melonguane....

 of North Sulawesi

North Sulawesi

North Sulawesi is a province of Indonesia. It is on the island of Sulawesi, and borders the province of Gorontalo to the west . The islands of Sangihe and Talaud form the northern part of the province, which border Davao del Sur in the Philippines.The capital and largest city in North Sulawesi is...

 in 2000, Kabupaten Kepulauan Talaud.

The largest islands of the Talaud group are Karakelang Island, Salibabu Island, Kabaruan, Karatung, Nanusa and Miangas islands. Population was 83,441 according to the 2010 census.

Grouping Talaud together with Sangihe, there are 77 islands in the Talaud-Sangihe archipelagoes, of which 56 are inhabited. The total population of the Talaud and Singihe islands was 209,574 in 2010.

Most of the population are involved in agriculture

Agriculture

Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...

, which includes coconut

Coconut

The coconut palm, Cocos nucifera, is a member of the family Arecaceae . It is the only accepted species in the genus Cocos. The term coconut can refer to the entire coconut palm, the seed, or the fruit, which is not a botanical nut. The spelling cocoanut is an old-fashioned form of the word...

s, vanilla

Vanilla

Vanilla is a flavoring derived from orchids of the genus Vanilla, primarily from the Mexican species, Flat-leaved Vanilla . The word vanilla derives from the Spanish word "", little pod...

, nutmeg

Nutmeg

The nutmeg tree is any of several species of trees in genus Myristica. The most important commercial species is Myristica fragrans, an evergreen tree indigenous to the Banda Islands in the Moluccas of Indonesia...

, and clove

Clove

Cloves are the aromatic dried flower buds of a tree in the family Myrtaceae. Cloves are native to the Maluku islands in Indonesia and used as a spice in cuisines all over the world...

s. Numerous volcano

Volcano

2. Bedrock3. Conduit 4. Base5. Sill6. Dike7. Layers of ash emitted by the volcano8. Flank| 9. Layers of lava emitted by the volcano10. Throat11. Parasitic cone12. Lava flow13. Vent14. Crater15...

es produce very fertile volcanic soil on many of the islands.

Talaud's capital is Melonguane.

Both Sangihe and Talaud have small airstrips serviced by Merpati Nusantara Airlines

Merpati Nusantara Airlines

Merpati Nusantara Airlines is a commuter airline based in Central Jakarta, Jakarta, Indonesia. It is a major domestic airline operating scheduled services to more than 25 destinations in Indonesia, as well as scheduled international services to East Timor and Malaysia. Its main base is...

 once a week.

The region is regularly rocked by large earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, as the Molucca Sea Plate

Molucca Sea Plate

-Earlier theory:The Molucca Sea Plate was theorised to be a small tectonic plate carrying northern Sulawesi, the Molucca Sea and a portion of the Banda Sea in a region littered with numerous small plates. The theory suggested a subduction zone lies along its northern border with the Sunda Plate...

 is being consumed in both directions.

As the regency is economically poor, the central government has agreed to construct a road of 91 km long with a budget of 14 billion Rupiah.