Raja Ampat

Raja Ampat is an archipelago of more than 1,500 small islands, cays and shoals off the Bird's Head Peninsula of Southwest Papua, Indonesia, centered on the four main islands of Misool, Salawati, Batanta and Waigeo and covering about 8,034 square kilometers of land. Sitting at the heart of the Coral Triangle, its waters hold the world's richest known marine biodiversity, with more than 600 hard coral species, roughly three quarters of all species known worldwide, about 1,700 reef fish species and 699 mollusk species. Its rainforested islands shelter endemic birds of paradise, and in 2025 the archipelago was designated a UNESCO biosphere reserve in recognition of its status as the global center of tropical marine biodiversity.