It is also the name of the new Indonesian province which was created in 2004 which was carved out of Riau province. The province includes all the islands off the Sumatra coast which were previously part of the province, namely Karimun, Riau, Singkep-Lingga, Anambas and Natuna in the South China Sea.
The remainder of Riau province on the Sumatra mainland retains the name Riau province with its capital at Pekanbaru.
An archipelago of over 3,000 islands, the province has benefited greatly from its location - just 40 minutes from Singapore. Its two main islands Batam and Bintan are some of the most developed and affluent parts of Indonesia.
While Bintan and Batam get many visitors from Singapore and Malaysia via Johor Bahru, the rest of the islands in the province are very much off the beaten track, offering endless exciting trips to the adventurous.
The islands have also become a favourite destination for cycling enthusiasts from Singapore.
Bahasa Indonesia is modeled on the version of Malay which originates from the Riau Islands. In fact, Riau Malay is regarded as the purest form of the Malay language and visitors from Malaysia will find the Malay spoken here very similar to Bahasa Malaysia, which is the version of Malay spoken back home.
Many of the islands, especially Bintan, Karimun and Kundur, have huge Chinese populations who speak Hokkien and Teochew (Chaozhou) as well as Mandarin.
The Riau Islands are a major gateway into Indonesia because of good ferry links to nearby Singapore and Malaysia. For detailed visa information, please see the Indonesia page. Many of the seaports in the Riau Islands and the main airport on Batam are visa-free and visa-on-arrival points of entry. Please see the pages for the individual islands or cities on the visa status for a particular port.
Batam's '''Hang Nadim Airport (BTH)''' is the main airport in the province and fields flights from various Indonesian cities. [http://www.riau-airlines.com Riau Airlines] provides connections with cities in the Sumatra "mainland" such as Pekanbaru, Palembang, Jambi and Pangkal Pinang (in Bangka-Belitung province), while other airlines like Merpati, Kartika Airlines, AirAsia Indonesia, and Mandala Airlines fly to other cities like Medan, Jakarta, Surabaya, Makassar and Banjarmasin. See the Batam and individual city pages for details on connections.
As for international connections, '''[http://www.riau-airlines.com Riau Airlines]''' operates flights every Friday and Sunday between Batam and Johor Bahru in Malaysia. Check the Batam and Johor Baru pages for more details.
Bintan has a smaller airport at Kijang with flights from Pekanbaru.
Ferries are the main way to get to the Riau Islands. Check the individual island or city pages for details.
'''From Singapore:''' Frequent ferries connect Singapore with Batam and Bintan. See pages of the two islands for details of ports served by the ferries. Ferries also link Singapore with Tanjung Balai on Karimun Island and Tanjung Batu on Kundur Island. Note that Tanjung Batu is not listed as a visa-free or visa-on-arrival point of entry, although visa-free nationalities seem to not have any problems entering via this port.
'''From Malaysia:''' Frequent ferries link Johor Bahru with Batam and Bintan. Ferries also run between Kukup in the south western part of Johor state, and Tanjung Balai on Karimun Island. As of mid 2007, a ferry service has been planned for Batu Pahat in Johor and Tanjung Balai on Karimun but has not taken off yet.
'''From other parts of Indonesia:''' Numerous ferries link Sumatra mainland cities such as Pekanbaru, Dumai, Palembang, Kuala Tungkal in Jambi and other smaller ports with Batam, Bintan, Karimun and other islands. Ships belonging to Indonesia's passenger shipping company Pelni call at Bintan's Kijang port, Batam's Sekupang domestic ferry terminal and the Natuna Islands, linking them with Jakarta, Medan, Pontianak and other major ports.
Bear in mind that the economic boom has made accommodation in the Riau Islands more expensive than in other parts of Indonesia.