[5] The name Misool is from Ma'ya language which meant port or harbour relating to when the first king from Waigeo arrived on the island.

[6] Misool is part of the Vogelkop–Aru lowland rain forests ecoregion, which includes the other Raja Ampat Islands and the Bird's Head Peninsula on mainland New Guinea.

[8][9] A section of Raja Ampat Marine Recreation Park covers the coastal waters southeast of the island.

[10] Islam first arrived in the Raja Ampat archipelago in the 15th century due to political and economic contacts with the Bacan Sultanate.

[12] Misool was a part of the Dutch colonial empire under the Netherlands East Indies administration.