Upon Europeans' arrival at the beginning of the 16th century, North Maluku became the site of competition between the Portuguese, Spanish and the Dutch to control trade.

The island city of Ternate served as its de facto capital until 2010, when the provincial government moved to Sofifi on the mainland of Halmahera.

The regional economy in North Maluku largely relies on the agricultural sector, fisheries and other types of marine products.

The main commodities that support the economic pulse in North Maluku include copra, nutmeg, cloves, fisheries, gold and nickel.

Bacan further to the south, and Jailolo on Halmahera, were also commonly included in Maluku Proper, the four kingdoms forming a ritual quadripartition with connotations to local cosmology.

[12] In 1257, according to traditional chronology, Momole Cico, Sampalu's leader was elected and appointed as the first kolano (king) with the title Baab Mashur Malamo (1257-1277).

Under the leadership of several generations of rulers, Ternate developed from a kingdom on a small island, to becoming the largest and most influential country in eastern Indonesia, especially in the Moluccas.

[14] Starting in the mid-15th century, Islam was adopted by the leading families in the kingdom, due to the influence of Muslim merchants from Java, India and the Malay World.

Simultaneously, Al-Mansur of Tidore received the remnants of the Magellan expedition in 1521 and tried to secure the Spanish as allies, though the presence of Spain in Maluku were very limited up to 1582.

But when the Ternatans began to show hostility to Christianized regions in Halmahera, Tabariji was exiled to the Portuguese colony of Goa, India in 1535.

In response, the Portuguese captain, Diogo Lopes de Mesquita invited Hairun for negotiations but murdered the sultan who entered the fort without his bodyguards.

However, the Portuguese held out in Ambon and established a fortress in Tidore in 1578, since the Tidorese Sultan Gapi Baguna began to fear Baabullah's ambitions.

With Spain strengthening its position in the Philippines, Ternate formed an alliance with local Muslim lords in Mindanao to drive off the Spanish, but failed.

Sultan Saidi Berkat defeated several invasion attempts, but was eventually captured by the Spaniards in 1606 and exiled to Manila.

Among them were Hidayat, a young Ambonese kimelaha (governor) who was also a former regent of Ternate and led the opposition against both Mudafar Syah and the Dutch.

The last Japanese holdout from the war, Private Teruo Nakamura (Amis: Attun Palalin), was discovered by the Indonesian Air Force on Morotai, and surrendered to a search patrol on December 18, 1974.

[38] Thereafter the rebellion was largely confined to the Minahassa Peninsula of Sulawesi, where Permesta remnants waged a guerilla campaign until the last unit surrendered in January 1962.

[39] During the administration of President B. J. Habibie, the idea emerged to accelerate development in several potential regions by forming new provinces.

[41][42] A team of leaders was tasked with securing peace by the regional government, however no modifications were made to the redistricting decision and tension remained.

[44] The Sultan's guard had both established secure perimeters around areas of the city, including the mostly Chinese-owned business district, and physically stood between the mobs and possible victims in some cases and were later commended for preventing a potential massacre.

At least 4 people died, however, and the Indonesian Navy later evacuated the several thousand Christian residents of both islands to Bitung and Manado in North Sulawesi.

The islands of North Maluku are mostly of volcanic origin, with the volcanoes of Dukono on Halmahera and Gamalama on Ternate still active and the whole of Tidore consisting of a large stratovolcano.

The North Maluku Islands are formed by the movement of three tectonic plates, namely Eurasia, the Pacific and Indo-Australia which have occurred over geological ages.

The endemic mammals found here include the Obi mosaic-tailed rat (Melomys obiensis), masked flying fox (Pteropus personatus), and four arboreal marsupials, the ornate (Phalanger ornatus), Rothschild's (P. rothschildi), blue-eyed (P. matabiru) and Gebe (P. alexandrae) cuscuses.

The North Maluku Electoral District consists of all of the 8 regencies and 2 cities in the province, and elects 3 members to the People's Representative Council.

Governor Abdul Ghani Kasuba designated South Halmahera as a tourism region for the province,[49] inaugurating the Widi International Fishing Tournament for that purpose.

[50] Kasuba also successfully negotiated with the China-based Jinchun Group to build a nine-trillion rupiah nickel smelter in the Obi Islands.

[51] The population of North Maluku at the 2020 Census was 1,282,937 people[5] spread across eight regencies and two cities, but by mid 2023 this was officially estimated to have reached 1,328,594.

North and West Halmahera are dominated by Papuan-speaking ethnic groups, i.e. Galela, Tobelo, Loloda, Tobaru, Modole, Togutil, Pagu, Waioli, Ibu, Sahu, Ternate and Tidore.

[53] Maritime tourism in North Maluku is based on the area's islands and beaches with marine parks and various types of ornamental fish.