Aru is part, together with much of western New Guinea, of the Vogelkop-Aru lowland rain forests terrestrial ecoregion.

The traditional society was not pronounced hierarchical, being based on lineage-based clans where the members shared duties of hospitality and cooperation.

These island communities were divided into two ritual bonds called Ursia and Urlima, a socio-political system found in many parts of Maluku.

[7] The Spanish navigator Álvaro de Saavedra sighted the islands on 12 June 1528, when trying to return from Tidore to New Spain.

[9] Aru was monitored by the VOC establishment in the Banda Islands, and yielded a variety of products including trepang, birds-of-paradise, parrots, pearls, sago, turtle-shell, and slaves.

His visit later made him realize that the Aru Islands must have been connected by a land bridge to mainland New Guinea during the ice age.

[12] In the nineteenth century, Dobo, Aru's largest town, temporarily became an important regional trading center, serving as a meeting point for Dutch, Makasarese, Chinese, and other traders.

[citation needed] Throughout its history, the Aru Islands exported luxury natural products like birds-of-paradise, turtle shells, and pearls to Asia and later Europe.

While the islands were positioned within the global trade network, local Aru society was able to preserve its independence and egalitarianism.

[14] Other export products include sago, coconuts, tobacco, mother of pearl, trepang (an edible sea cucumber, which is dried and cured), tortoiseshell, and bird-of-paradise plumes.

[citation needed] In November 2011, the Government of Indonesia awarded two oil-and-gas production-sharing contracts (PSC) about two hundred km (124 mi) west of the Aru Islands to BP.

The two adjacent offshore exploration PSCs, West Aru I and II, cover an area of about 16,400 km2 (6,300 sq mi) with water depths ranging from 200 to 2,500 m (660 to 8,200 ft).

[18] In 2010 census, religion population consists Protestant (59.84%), Catholic (9.32%), Muslim (29.97%), Hinduism (0.05%), Buddhist (0.03%), Confucianism (0.02%), Other (0.01%), and not asked (0.75%).