Riau
Riau is a
province of
Indonesia, located in the center of
Sumatra island along the
Strait of Malacca. The provincial capital and largest city is
Pekanbaru. Other major cities includes
Dumai and
Bengkalis.
Riau is one of the richest provinces in Indonesia. This province is rich with natural resources, particularly
petroleum and
natural gas,
rubber, and
palm oil. The majority of the province are heavily forested lowlands;
logging is a major industry in the province.
Being a shallow province, the coastal regions are rapidly losing land to the ocean.
The
Riau Islands were part of Riau until
2004, when they were made into a separate province.
