The province, once colorfully known as the Spice Islands, is now home to large numbers of both Christians and Muslims.

CNN: COMMUNAL FACE-OFF

In the past 18 months, over 2, 500 people have been killed in the area, once known as the Spice Islands.

ECONOMIST: Indonesia��s unholy war

" And a history lesson, too: "By leading the way to the Spice Islands, it more or less changed the world.

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Their massive, India-built carracks, riding monsoon winds from the Spice Islands, would unload upriver at Canton and take on Chinese silks and porcelain.

CNN: ASIANOW - TIME Asia | Visions of China: Macau

They came to cruise the remote spice islands in Indonesia, the dragon-dotted shores of Komodo, the scuba fantasyland of Raja Ampat, or simply to escape to Thailand and Burma.

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