Simeulue
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The island and County of Simeulue (See-meh-LOO) lies in the Indian Ocean 150 km off the west coast of the province of Aceh on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia.
With its isolated geographic location, it is not affected by the turmoil of conflicts in mainland Aceh between the Indonesian government and Free Aceh Movement. There is no activity of the Free Aceh Movement on these islands.
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[edit] Administration
Simeulue was once a part of Aceh Barat County but broke away in 2000 with the hope that the region's development would improve. The capital of Simeulue County is Sinabang.
[edit] Demographics
Its people are similar to the people in the neighboring Nias Island, with a language that differs from mainland Aceh. Most of people of Simeulue are Muslim.
[edit] Flora and fauna
The county is known for its cloves. One of its signature mainstays is the Simeulue buffalo, a small animal whose meat is sweeter than the mainland buffalo. The buffalo is often sold outside Simeulue Island and has a high price for its prime quality.
[edit] Earthquake
It was close to the epicenter of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, but loss of life was surprisingly low, mainly as the people are familiar with earthquakes and tsunamis in this seismically active region and so knew to leave the coast after the earthquake. Simeulue rose at least 6 feet during the earthquake, leaving the flat top of its coral reefs above high tide level and dry and dead.
