Lombok island
LOMBOK GENERAL INFORMATION
Lombok, though only 70 miles to the east of Bali, feels as if it’s another country in another time. Lombok’s beautiful landscapes are some of the finest in the Indonesian archipelago with only a fraction of the hustle and bustle of its neighbors, Bali and Java. Villagers commute unhurriedly via cidomo (horse drawn carts) alongside small family farms from town to town. More information on more hotels in Lombok gives you more choice and better value!
Be advised that the time in Lombok is GMT + 8 hours.
Lombok Island, an undiscovered paradise…
Lombok and Sumbawa, the two main Islands of West Nusa Tenggara and other small islands known as The Gilis invite you with its charming variety of landscapes, places of interest and activities for the tourist.
Exotic tropical islands and coastlines lined with pristine beaches, wonderful climate and natural beauty of this island combine these with fabulous waters for any underwater activities such as swimming, sunbathing, sailing, diving, surfing, fishing and much more.
Location
Lombok is situated between 115^45 and 119^10 east and to the south of the equator between 8^52 and 9^52 south and there fore this island is perfectly located within the golden triangle of the Indonesia’s Best Kept-Secret Places: East Nusa Tenggara (Komodo Island), Bali (Island of Gods), Toraja Unique Tribe Island in Sulawesi to the North.
Land
It comprises of an area of 20,153 km2. For the entire part, it is mountainous and hilly with Low and High Plains from the western part until the eastern end of Sumbawa Island.
It’s Length from west to east 80 km. Sumbawa is 300 km from west to east and of 100 km from north to south its coastline extends 2500 km and territorial waters of 29,000 km2 inclusive 137 islands of which 70 are inhabited. Sumbawa with 75 % of the land area owns only 25% of total population, even though it is opposite to Lombok which owns only 75% of the population.
Climate
Its Climate is generally similar to other areas with a tropical climate in Indonesia. The temperature ranges from 21^ to 33^ centigrade. There are two seasons namely wet and dry season. Wet Season starts from October to March and Dry Season starts from April to September. January has in general lot of rain and winds until and reaching a peak in February.
Environment
Marine Ecology has played an important role due to coral reefs with sea grasses and seaweeds vegetation where the majority of reefs are found in Nusa Tenggara Region. They could potentially endorse the development of tourism, fisheries, and pharmaceutical products in future.
With seasonal nature of the monsoon, vegetation of Nusa Tenggara is influenced by the distribution of rainfall in a year rather than by the total annual rainfall.
Flora & Fauna
Based on the fictive “Wallace Line” that Flora & Fauna in Asia separates from Australia which runs north – south between the Island of Lombok and Bali.
Forests are here found mostly in Mountain Areas. Huge parts of Lombok Mainland are coastal wetlands, irrigated fields and other wetlands while extensive dry land areas are found on the Island of Sumbawa. Especially species of plants growing have specific importance that influence the life of its people such as kesambi, bungur, sonokeling, mahogany, teak, kelicung, pala, ipil, bamboo, tutul and etc. here are also found several types animals spread over the area according to climate and natural conditions such as wild pigs, small deer, deer, iguanas, porcupines, turtles, and any kinds of snakes and birds such as pring, parrots, bering, koak-kaek, cucak rawa and etc.
Religion
Its original inhabitants formerly followed an animism belief. The Sasak, local tribe of Lombok, is belived to have come from north – west India or Burma.
Nowadays, the people of Lombok are 90% are Moslem but other adherents are found, Balinese Hindu (mostly live in the western part), Christian, and Buddhist.
Interestingly, varied forms of religious life with different worship places and practices could be seen existing alongside with mutual respect for one another.
People & Culture
Its ethnic groups have their own respective costumes and traditions which are still alive nowadays. The marriage custom ceremonies are the most dominant ones and tradition of catching sea worms (Nyale) usually takes place on the southern coast of Lombok (Seger Desa Beach, Kuta, Selong Blanak, Mawun and Kaliantan Beach)
Government
As a province, this autonomous region is governed by a Governor of the 1st Level Regional Administration elected for a term of 5 years by Regional Parliament and confirmed by The President of Republic of Indonesia. The Governor has played an important role for conducting administration, coordinating, planning, and developing and promoting all aspects of social life.
There are seven (7) regencies and two (2) municipalities based on its regions and administrations below:
1. West Lombok Regency with its capital in Gerung
2. Central Lombok Regency with its capital in Praya
3. East Lombok Regency with its capital in Selong
4. West Sumbawa Regency with its capital in Taliwang
5. Sumbawa Regency with its capital in Sumbawa Besar
6. Dompu Regency with its capital in Dompu
7. Bima Regency with its capital in Bima
Plus 2 Municipalities: Municipality of Mataram and Bima City