To justify their sovereignty over Miangas, the Dutch argued that the island had been under the domination of the princes of Sangir.

[4] In October 1526, Garcia Jofre de Loaísa, Spanish sailor and researcher, was the first European to visit the island.

[10] In 1895, E. J. Jellesma, Oud-resident of Manado, visited Miangas to praise the residents and kapiten laut for rejecting the Spanish flag.

On 21 January 1906, General Leonard Wood, Governor of Moro Province, officially visited the island for the first time.

The United States government referred the matter to the Netherlands through their embassy in The Hague on 31 March.

On 17 October the Netherlands Foreign Ministry responded with reasons why the island was included in the Dutch East Indies.

[13][16] On 4 April 1928 Huber decided that the island "forms in its entirety a part of Netherlands territory".

[20] On 4 July 1956, Indonesia, represented by Ambassador Soehardjo Wirjopranoto, and the Philippines, represented by Ambassador Jose T. Fuentebella, signed the Agreement on Immigration Between the Republic of the Philippines and the Republic of Indonesia, that allowed border residents in Sangihe, Talaud, Nunukan, Balut, and Sarangani, who had a laissez-passer, to cross the border to trade, visit family, worship, and travel.

On 16 September 1965, Jusuf Ronodipuro of Indonesia and Leon T. Garcia of the Philippines signed a Directives and Guidelines on the Implementation of the Immigration Agreement on Repatriation and Border Crossing Arrangement Between Republic of Indonesia and the Republic of the Philippines, to clarify the first agreement, making Marore, Miangas, Mabila, and Balut the checkpoints.

About 200 people, dressed in black, demonstrated to express their outrage at the senseless death and the island's neglect by the Indonesian state.

The highest point, called Gunung Batu, is 111 metres high, located in the northeast part of the island.