Editing Maluku Islands (section)

==Demographics==
{{Main|Moluccans}}
[[File:US Navy 100720-N-4044H-209 Capt. Lisa M. Franchetti, commander of Pacific Partnership 2010, embarked aboard the Military Sealift Command hospital ship USNS Mercy (T-AH 19).jpg|thumb|People of [[Tidore]] during visit by hospital ship [[USNS Mercy (T-AH-19)|USNS ''Mercy'' (T-AH-19)]]]]

===Religion===
{{Pie chart
|thumb = right
|radius = 75
|caption = Religion in Maluku Islands (December 2023)<ref name="RELIGION">{{cite web|url=https://satudata.kemenag.go.id/dataset/detail/jumlah-penduduk-menurut-agama|title=Jumlah Penduduk Menurut Agama|publisher=[[Ministry of Religious Affairs (Indonesia)|Ministry of Religious Affairs]]|date=31 August 2022|access-date=29 October 2023|language=id|quote=Muslim 241 Million (87), Christianity 29.1 Million (10.5), Hindu 4.69 million (1.7), Buddhist 2.02 million (0.7), Folk, Confucianism, and others 192.311 (0.1), Total 277.749.673 Million}}</ref>
|label1 = [[Islam]]
|value1 = 61.87
|color1 = DarkGreen
|label2 = [[Protestantism]]
|value2 = 33.40
|color2 = DarkBlue
|label3 = [[Roman Catholic]]
|value3 = 4.23
|color3 = Purple
|label5 = [[Hinduism]]
|value5 = 0.23
|color5 = DarkOrange
|label4 = [[Folk religion]]
|value4 = 0.26
|color4 = Black
|label6 = [[Buddhism]]
|value6 = 0.02
|color6 = Yellow
|label7 = [[Confucianism]]
|value7 = 0.005
|color7 = Red
}}

===Population===
The population of Maluku Province in 2020 was 1,848,923 and that of North Maluku Province was 1,282,937.<ref name="BPS SP2020"/> Hence the total population of the Maluku Islands as a region in 2020 was 3,131,860.

===Ethnic groups===
A long history of trade and seafaring has resulted in a high degree of mixed ancestry in Malukans.<ref name=LP818-819/> [[Austronesian peoples]] added to the native [[Melanesians|Melanesian population]] around 2000&nbsp;BCE.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Taylor |first=Jean Gelman |title=Indonesia: Peoples and Histories |url=https://archive.org/details/indonesiapeoples00tayl |url-access=limited |publisher=Yale University Press |year=2003 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/indonesiapeoples00tayl/page/n27 5]–7 |location=New Haven and London |isbn=0-300-10518-5}}</ref> Melanesian features are strongest in the islands of [[Kei Islands|Kei]] and [[Aru Islands Regency|Aru]] and amongst the interior people of the islands [[Seram]] and [[Buru]]. Later added to this Austronesian-Melanesian mix were some Indian and Arab strain. More recent arrivals include [[Bugis]] trader settlers from Sulawesi and [[Javanese people|Javanese]] [[Transmigration program|transmigrants]].<ref name=LP818-819/>

===Languages===
Over 130 languages were once spoken across the islands; however, many have now switched to the [[Creole language|creoles]] of Ternate and [[Ambonese Malay|Ambonese]], the [[lingua franca]] of northern and southern Maluku, respectively.<ref name=LP818-819/>