BANKA (BANGKA), island of the Dutch East Indies, off E. coast of Sumatra, across Banka Strait, at narrowest point 9m. wide. On the east, Gaspar Strait, wider, and island-studded, sepa rates Banka from Billiton. Banka with its dependencies forms a residency of Sumatra. It is 138m. in length, 62 wide, and its area, with a few adjacent islands (Lepau, I28sq.m.), is 4,46osq.m. The soil is somewhat dry and stony, but the greater part of the surface is covered with tropical vegetation, though the virgin forest has almost disappeared, owing to mining and agricultural operations. The hills, of which Maras, in the north, is the highest (2,76oft.), are covered with vegetation to their summits. Banka resembles the Malay peninsula geologically, with formations of granite, Silurian and Devonian slate, fre quently covered with sandstone, laterite (of small fertility), and alluvium. The granite runs from W.N.W. to S.S.E., in short, irregular hill-chains. These are generally near the east coast; hence the rivers of the west coast are the longer. There are no volcanoes, the coast is difficult, and the number of anchorages small. The rivers run in deep valleys and in their upper courses, and some in their lower courses, form extensive marshes. Never theless many are navigable for nearly 2om., owing to the fact that they were once inlets of the sea, and are tidal for some dis tance. They are used for transport of tin. The Sungei Selan and the Jarin are the largest. Banka is one of the chief tin-producing centres of the world. Tin-mining is a Government monopoly. The ore is found in many river-alluvial deposits, and in the alluvial strata on the slopes of small hills, and is worked exclu sively in open cuts. Some deposits, however, extend into the sea, and workings are continued beyond the coast. The labour is supplied by contract Chinese coolies, who work under Govern ment supervision, and electrical power is used very largely. In 1925-26, the production of tin was 336,75o piculs (I picul = 136.23lb.), valued at 60,732,542 florins (I florin = is. 8d.) and showing a net profit of 43,206,002 florins, the highest recorded since the opening of the mines. The climate is hot, especially from May to August (S.E. monsoon), but at night, in the hills, it is quite cool. The average mean annual rainfall is 118in., and the average number of rainy days 159. The wet, and cooler, season is from November to February (N.W. monsoon). Pop., 205,363, including 96,608 foreign Asiatics, mostly Chinese. The natives (Mohammedans), are composed, mainly, of immigrant Malayan peoples, the aborigines being represented by a few rude hill-tribes, probably of mixed Malay origin, and akin to the Bataks of Sumatra: they live by hunting, fishing, and the collec tion of forest products : there are also ()rang lent. Rice, pepper, (grown by Chinese), gambier, coffee, and coconut palms are cultivated. There are over I,000m. of roads fit for wheeled traffic, but no railways. The island has cable connection with Sumatra and very frequent and regular steamship communica tion with Java and Sumatra, and with Singapore and Penang. The chief town is Pangkal Pinang (pop. I I,97o), on the east coast, and the chief port is Muntok, at the north end of Banka Strait. The sultan of Palembang, in Sumatra, ceded Banka to the British in 181 o, but in 1814 it was exchanged for Cochin in India, and since that time it has remained Dutch.
See H. Zondervan, Banka en Zijne Bewoners (1895) ; Handbook of the Dutch East Indies, Buitenzorg 1924. (E. E. L.)