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| Geography | |
|---|---|
| Location | South East Asia |
| Coordinates | 8°47′S 118°5′E / 8.783°S 118.083°E |
| Archipelago | Lesser Sunda Islands |
| Area | 15,448 km² (57th) |
| Highest point | Tambora (2,850 m) |
| Country | |
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Indonesia
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| Province | West Nusa Tenggara |
| Demographics | |
| Population | 1,219,590 (as of 2005) |
| Density | 100 /km2 (260 /sq mi) |
Sumbawa is an Indonesian island, located in the middle of the Lesser Sunda Islands chain, with Lombok to the west, Flores to the east, and Sumba further to the southeast. It is in the province of West Nusa Tenggara.
Sumbawa is 15,448 km² (three times the size of Lombok) with a population of around 1.5 million. It marks the boundary between the islands to the west, which were influenced by religion and culture spreading from India, and the region to the east that was not so influenced.
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Four principalities in western Sumbawa were dependencies of the Majapahit Empire of eastern Java. Because of Sumbawa's natural resources it was regularly invaded by outside forces - Japanese, Dutch, Makassarese. The Dutch first arrived in 1605, but did not effectively rule Sumbawa until the early 20th century. The Balinese kingdom of Gelgel ruled western Sumbawa for a short period as well. It was also home to the Sultanate of Bima.
Historical evidence indicates that people on Sumbawa island were known in the East Indies for their honey, horses[1], sappan wood for producing red dye[2], and sandalwood used for incense and medications. The area was thought to be highly productive agriculturally.
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Sumbawa is divided into 4 regencies and one kota (city). They are:
To the west is Alas Strait, Saleh Bay in the middle, the Flores Sea in the middle.
There are a number of smaller surrounding islands, most notably Moyo Island, Sangeang Island and Komodo Islands to the east.
Islam was introduced via the Makassarese of Sulawesi.
Sumbawa has historically had two major linguistic groups who spoke languages that were unintelligible to each other. One group centered in the western side of the island speaks Basa Semawa (Indonesian: Bahasa Sumbawa) which is similar to the Sasak language from Lombok; the second group in the east speaks Nggahi Mbojo (Bahasa Bima). The kingdoms located in Sumbawa Besar and Bima were the two focal points of Sumbawa. This division of the island into two parts remains today; Sumbawa Besar and Bima are the two largest towns on the island, and are the centers of distinct cultural groups that share the island. The official estimate of population as at 2005 was 1,219,590.
Sumbawa lies within the Pacific Ring of Fire. It is a volcanic island, including Mount Tambora (8°14’41”S, 117°59’35”E) which exploded in 1815, the most destructive volcanic eruption in modern history (roughly four times larger than the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa, between Java and Sumatra, in terms of volume of magma ejected). The eruption killed as many as 72,000. It also apparently destroyed a small culture of Southeast Asian affinity, known to archaeologists as the Tamboran kingdom. It launched 100 cubic kilometers of ash into the upper atmosphere, which caused 1816 to be the "year without a summer." [1]
The Western half of Sumbawa is used by Newmont Mining Corporation as a mine with high sources in gold and copper.
Sumbawa is one of the 13,000 plus islands in the Indonesian archipelago. It is a large island to the east of Bali and Lombok. Sumbawa, along with Lombok, is part of West Nusa Tenggara. There a hundreds of small islands in this area in addition to the two major islands.
Sumbawa is known to some tourists for its great waves and sandy white beaches. Due to the somewhat trying process of getting there and the scarcity of cheap tourist facilities, the island is not visited much by non-surfing tourists which is unfortunate as parts of the island are quite beautiful.
Sumbawa really belongs more to Eastern Indonesia than to to the West. The effects of Hindu and Buddhist cultures are minimal in Sumbawa; the majority of the population are Muslims.
During the dry season (April to November) a lot of dust is blown up and around. Strong winds blow in off the ocean, and the lush green hills, mountains and valleys turn a dusty brown. When the rainy season begins an amazing transformation takes place and the island becomes a lush jungle once again.
As most of the island is still developing, there is a very rural feel to just about everything, including Sumbawa Besar, the capital of the western side of the island. The mining company, Newmont, has a gold and copper mine down in the southwestern corner of the island around the villages of Sekongkang, Maluk and Benete. Their presence has speeded up the development process in this side of the island.
Bahasa Indonesia is spoken widely in Sumbawa.
Sumbawa is considered somewhat remote even by Indonesian standards, and an overland-and-sea journey from Bali takes 15 hours beginning in Singaraja, Bali, and ending up in Poto Tano, the port on the western side of Sumbawa.
Only the cities of Sumbawa Besar on the western side of the island and Bima on the eastern side of the island have regular air service. Merpati [1] and Transnusa [2] fly to both cities from Denpasar (Bali) and Mataram (Lombok) on Western-made ATR-42 turboprops about four times a week. Sekongkan also has an airport, but flights have been stopped for an indefinite period after a small airline called Tropical Air ceased operating.
To get to Sumbawa from Bali most people take the ferry from Bali to Lombok, travel overland to the eastern seaport in Lombok (Labuhan Lombok) and then take another ferry to Sumbawa, ending up in Poto Tano.
In the other directions, ferries from Labuanbajo, Flores travel to Sape. These do not leave every day and you may face a several day wait for the next one.
Transportation on Sumbawa is problematic, and it's best to book ferries and buses as combined tickets, or you may get stranded in port for an indefinite time trying to get onward.
Ikan Bakar (barbequed fish) at the sole warung located at Telok Santong on the road between Sumbawa Besar and Bima In Maluk the Ikan Bakar at Warung Cerowongan is equally good. Choose your own fish from the cool case, sit and have a drink and 15 minutes later you'll be in seventh heaven!
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Category: Outline articles
SUMBAWA (Dutch Soembawa), one of the Little Sunda islands in the Dutch East Indies, east of Lombok, from which it is separated by the narrow Alas Strait. It has an area of 4300 sq. m., or, including the neighbouring islands, 5240 sq. m. The deep bay of Sale or Sumbawa on the north divides the island into two peninsulas, and the isthmus is further reduced by the narrower Bay of Chempi on the south. The eastern peninsula is deeply indented on the north by the Bay of Bima. Four mountain chains cross the island in a west to east direction. The northern, as in Bali and Lombok, is of volcanic origin. Tambora, forming a minor peninsula east of Sumbawa Bay, is said to have lost a third of its elevation in the eruption of 1815, but is still 9055 ft. high. In the southern chain is found a limestone formation analogous to that in Bali, Lombok and Java. Between these two chains are round hills consisting of lavas or sometimes of volcanic tuffs, covered with the long silvery grass which also clothes vast prairies in Java and Sumatra. There are no navigable streams. The climate and productions are not unlike those of Java, though the rains are heavier, the drought more severe, and the fertility less. Sulphur, arsenic, asphalt and petroleum exist. The natives live solely by agriculture. But out of a total population of about 75,000 there are Ii,000 foreigners, living mostly by trade and navigation. The natives consist of Sumbawans proper, a people of Malayan stock; of Buginese and Macassar immigrants, and of wild tribes of the mountains of whom nothing is known. Mahommedanism prevails throughout the island, except among the mountain tribes.
Politically Sumbawa, with its four independent states, belongs to the confederated states of the government of Celebes and its dependencies, a situation to be explained by the fact of the old supremacy of the Macassaresi over Sumbawa, Flores and Sumba. The independent states are Sumbawa proper, Dompo, Sangar and Bima. Two other states on the northern extremity of the island were so far devastated by the Tambora eruption of 1815 that their territory, after lying for long uninhabited, was in 1866 divided between Dompo and Sangar. Sumbawa proper occupies the western peninsula. The residence of the sultan is Sumbawa on the north coast. It is surrounded with a palisade and ditches. The inhabitants of this state employ sometimes the Malay and sometimes the Macassar character in writing. A considerable trade is carried on in the export of horses, buffaloes, goats, dinding (dried flesh), skins, birds' nests, wax, rice, katyang, sappanwood, &c. Sumbawa entered into treaty relations with the Dutch East India Company in 1674. Dompo is the western half of the eastern peninsula. The capital of the state, Dompo, lies in the heart of the country, on a stream that falls into Chempi Bay. Bada, the sultan's residence, is farther west. Sangar occupies the north-western promontory of the island, and Bima the extreme east. Bima or Bodjo, the chief town of the latter state, lies on the east side of the Bay of Bima; it has a stone-walled palace and a mosque, as well as a Dutch fort.
See Zollinger, "Soembawa," in Verhandelingen van het Batay. Genootschap, xxiii.; Ligtvoet, "Anteekeningen betreffende den economischen Toestand en de Ethnographie van Soembawa," in Tijdschr. Bat. Gen. xxiii.
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Categories: STU-SUN | Southeast Asia
Sumbawa is an Indonesian island, located in the middle of the Lesser Sunda Islands chain, with Lombok to the west, Flores to the east, and Sumba farther to the southeast. It is in the province of West Nusa Tenggara.
Sumbawa is 15,448 km² (three times the size of Lombok) with a population of around 1.5 million. It marks the boundary between the islands to the west, which were influenced by religion and culture spreading from India, and the region to the east that was not so influenced.
Sumbawa lies within the Pacific Ring of Fire. It is a volcanic island, including Mount Tambora (8°14’41”S, 117°59’35”E) which exploded in 1815, the most destructive volcanic eruption in modern history (roughly four times larger than the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa, between Java and Sumatra, in terms of volume of magma ejected). The eruption killed as many as 92,000. It also apparently destroyed a small culture of Southeast Asian affinity, known to archaeologists as the Tamboran kingdom. It launched 100 cubic kilometers of ash into the upper atmosphere, which caused 1816 to be the "year without a summer." [1]
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