Ambon City - stock photo

An aerial photo of Ambon city as a passenger flight travels from Jayapura to Jakarta, Indonesia. Ambon is the main city and seaport of Ambon Island, and is the capital of Maluku province of Indonesia. Ambon was shocked by social unrest motivated by racial intolerance between 1996-2002. However, nowadays Ambon City has been improving itself to becoming one of the most advance cities in eastern Indonesia. Ambon was colonized by Portugal in 1526, before the Portuguese were driven out by the Dutch in 1609. Except for brief periods of British rule, the island remained under Dutch control until Indonesia's independence in 1945.