Morotai Island is the name of an island as well as a definitive new district located on the Halmahera islands, Maluku Islands, Indonesia. As part of North Maluku Province, it is one of the northernmost islands in Indonesia

During the 15th and 16th centuries, Morotai was under the influence of the ruling Ternate Sultanate. It is the core of a large area called Moro which includes the island and the coast of Halmahera which is close to Morotai to the south.

In the mid-16th century, this island became the site of the Portuguese Jesuit mission. The Muslim sultanates of Ternate and Halmahera were offended by the pioneers of the spread of religion and tried to prevent the mission from the island in 1571, as a result the Portuguese left the area. In the 17th century, Ternate used its power over Morotai by repeatedly ordering its inhabitants to move from the island. At the beginning of the century the residents moved to Dodinga, a small town at the strategic point of the western coast of Halmahera. Then in 1627 and 1628, Sultan Hamzah of Ternate ordered the transfer of Christian residents to Malayu, Ternate, to be more easily controlled.

This island became an airport for Japan during World War II. The island was taken over by the United States forces in September 1944 and was used as the foundation of the Allied attack on the Philippines in early 1945 and to eastern Borneo in May and June of that year. It was the basis for the attack on Java in October 1945 which was postponed after the surrender of Japan in August