BANC A, Banka, or Bangka, an island off the east coast of Sumatra, and separated from it by the Strait of Banca, lies between lat. 1° 30' and 3° 7' S., and long. 105° 9' and 106° 54' E. It varies from 8 to 20 miles in breadth, and has an area of 5000 English square miles. Its mines of tin, which were discovered in 1710, are remarkably productive, and in 1872 yielded no less than 68,148 piculs, the average yield during the previous ten years being 73,961 piculs. The washing is almost wholly carried on by Chinese, and a large part of the metal finds its way to their country. Iron, copper, lead, silver, and arsenic, are also found in the island. The soil is generally dry and stony, and the greater part of the surface is covered with forests, in which the logwood tree especially abounds. Its mountains, which scarcely exceed 2000 feet in height, are covered with vegetation to their summits. They are of granitic formation, containing felspar, quartz, mica, and tourmaline. Population, 54,339, including 17,070 Chinese, 37,070 natives, 116 Europeans, and 56 Arabs. Muntak, the capital, has upwards of 3000 inhabitants. “The houses, which mostly belong to Chinamen, are neatly built and well painted; the streets are kept in good repair, and the whole place has an air of enterprise and thrift” (vide Bickmore’s Bast Indian Archip., 1868). There are several other forts on the island. It belongs to the Dutch, who derive from it upwards of 3,000,000 guilders, or £250,000, of annual income, after the expenses of the administration are paid.