The population was 262,357 at the 2010 Census; the latest official estimate is 271,868. The population is centred in several small towns; the largest are Tanjung Pandan in the west and Manggar in the east, which are the respective capitals of the two Regencies into which the island is administratively divided. While ethnic Bangka Malays people make up the largest percentage along with Chinese people, Belitung has significant populations of Bugis, Sundanese, and Javanese people who formerly worked for the Dutch, mining tin. There is also a small population of Madurese who were settled there in the Suharto era transmigration.
Religion
Before the arrival of Dutch missionaries, the island's inhabitants and most of the Indonesian archipelago had already converted from Hinduism, Buddhism, and Animism to Islam due to the work of Chinese Muslim traders. As a result, Christian churches were unable to gain considerable numbers of followers. Today, Belitung is a religiously diverse island. Sunni Islam is the most widely practised religion, with sizeable minorities of Buddhists, Christians and Confucianists.
Transportation
In Belitung island, the only Airport is in Belitung Regency; that is, the H. As Hanandjoedin International Airport serving plane to Pangkal Pinang Airport and plane to Soekarno-Hatta International airport and International flight to Changi International airport using Garuda Indonesia. Flag carrier Garuda Indonesia has four direct flights from Singapore. The Singapore - Tanjung Pandan direct flight operates 4 times weekly - leaving at 5:20 pm on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and 5:30 pm on Sundays. Belitung island has four ports, three in Belitung Regency and one in East Belitung Regency, serving cargo ships and ferry ships. Online taxi services such as Go-Jek and Grab are available, as well as regular taxicab such as the Taxi Bandara and Street Taxi.
Belitung is a source of tin, clay, iron ore and silica sands. The Dutch mining company NV Billiton Maatschappij derives its name from the island's name. Billiton merged with BHP in 2001 to form the largest diversified resources company, BHP Billiton. The island is also a producer of fishery products, pepper, coconut, and palm oil. People work as farmers, fishermen and miners. The island is easily accessible with eight daily 1-hour flights from Jakarta and 2 daily flights, with duration of 30 minutes and 50 minutes each, from Pangkal Pinang. The white sand beaches and offshore islands are helping tourism to become a larger part of the economy.
Tourist destinations
The main tourist destinations are beaches and offshore islands/islets. The beaches are Tanjung Tinggi Beach and Tanjung Kelayang Beach, both of which have clear blue water, sand, and rocky beaches. The islands/islets are Batu Berlayar Island, which is mostly granite, Pasir Island, which is a tidal island made of sand, Bird Islet (Pulau Burong, which one can access from Tanjung Binga beach by walking at low tide, Lengkuas Island, which is the home of a 129-year-old lighthouse and a good place for snorkeling, and Babi Island and Kelayang Islet.
