Since the establishment of Batavia in 1610, Pulau Kapal, later named by the Dutch as Onrust Island, has been a naval base.

After the VOC failed to obtain control of trade at Banten in 1610, the Dutch obtained permission from Prince Jayakarta to build a dock at one of the islands in Jakarta Bay as a place to repair and equip ships sailing to Asia, particularly South East Asia.

In 1615 the VOC built a shipyard and a small storage house on the island, which Jan Pieterszoon Coen hoped would eventually develop into a trade and defence base against threats from Banten and England (1618).

[5] In 1795, the position of the Dutch in Batavia became quite uncertain due to the war in Europe, and the situation became worse with the appearance in 1800 of a British naval squadron under the command of Captain Henry Lidgbird Ball of HMS Daedalus.

When the British occupied Batavia in 1810, they repaired the buildings in Onrust island until prior to their leaving Indonesia in 1816.

However, the construction of Tanjung Priok harbour in 1883 resulted in a decline in the role and significance of Onrust island.

After a coup by General Suharto, Chris Soumokil, who had proclaimed a Republic of South Moluccas with himself as president, was arrested and held at Onrust.

[7][8] In 1972 Ali Sadikin, then governor of Jakarta, declared Onrust Island a protected historical site.

On 28 February 2020, 188 Indonesian crew members from the cruise ship World Dream were quarantined for 14 days on the uninhabited Sebaru Kecil islet against COVID-19.

[11] An area of 107,489 hectares (415.02 sq mi) of land and sea was declared by the Minister of Agriculture in 1982 and designated by a Forestry Ministerial Decree in 2002 as the Taman Nasional Laut Kepulauan Seribu (Thousand Islands Marine National Park).

[13][14] The Thousand Islands Marine National Park is located 45 km (28 mi) north of Jakarta.

[15] In general, the plants that grow in the park are dominated by coastal species including coconut palm (Cocos nucifera), pandan (Pandanus sp.

), cemara laut (Casuarina equisetifolia), cangkudu (Morinda citrifolia), butun (Barringtonia asiatica), mangroves (Bruguiera sp.

Breeding activities include egg hatching in a semi-natural way and caring for the baby turtles till they are ready to be released into their natural habitat.

[14] Most coastal areas of this park are surrounded by mangrove forest, where monitor lizards, golden ring snakes and reticulated pythons can be found.

As an administrative regency, Thousand Islands does not have its own local legislatures (Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat Daerah) while the regent is directly appointed by the governor.

The administrative village of Pulau Untung Jawa contains more archaeological artifacts than the rest of the Kepulauan Seribu's islands as it is located closer to Jakarta, being a strategic location for military defenses as well as transit points for the Dutch colony.

The Kelurahan (administrative village) of Pulau Panggang (postal code 14530) makes up the southern part of the Kecamatan of Kepulauan Seribu Utara.

The Kelurahan (administrative village) of Pulau Kelapa (postal code 14540) makes up the western part of the Kecamatan of Kepulauan Seribu Utara.

The Kelurahan (administrative village) of Pulau Harapan (postal code 14540) makes up the eastern part of the Kecamatan of Kepulauan Seribu Utara.