Lombok island- Lombok Indonesia

Lombok island

  Lombok Island (population in 2001: 2,722,123 inhabitants) [1] is an island in the Lesser Sunda islands or Nusa Tenggara which is separated by the Lombok Strait from Bali in the west and the Alas Strait to the east of Sumbawa. The island is more or less round in shape with a kind of "tail" on the southwest side that is approximately 70 km long. The area of the island reaches 5,435 km² placing it at 108th place from the list of islands based on its size in the world. The main city on this island is the city of Mataram.

Administrative division

Lombok is a province of West Nusa Tenggara and the island itself is divided into 4 Regencies and 1 City:

•      The city of Mataram
•      West Lombok Regency
•      Central Lombok Regency
•      East Lombok Regency
•      North Lombok Regency

Geography

The Lombok Strait marks the boundary of Asian flora and fauna. Starting from the island of Lombok to the east, flora and fauna show more similarities to the flora and fauna found in Australia than in Asia [2]. The scientist who first stated this was Alfred Russel Wallace, an Englishman in the 19th century. In his honor, this limit is called the Wallace Line.

The island's topography is dominated by the Rinjani volcano, which reaches 3,726 meters above sea level and makes it the third highest in Indonesia. This mountain last erupted in June-July 1994. In 1997 the mountain area and Segara Anak lake in the middle were declared protected by the government. The southern part of the island consists mainly of arable land which is used for agriculture, commodities that are usually planted in this area include corn, rice, coffee, tobacco and cotton.

Demographics

About 80% of the island's population is the Sasak tribe, a tribe that is still close to the Balinese ethnic group, but most of them embrace Islam. The rest of the population are Balinese, Javanese, Chinese and Arabs.

Language

Besides Indonesian as a national language, the inhabitants of the island of Lombok (especially the Sasak tribe), use the Sasak language as the main language in everyday conversation. Throughout Lombok itself the Sasak language can be found in four different types of dialects namely the dialect of Lombok north, center, northeast and southeast. In addition to the large number of Balinese tribes who reside in Lombok (mostly from ex Karangasem Kingdom), in some places especially in West Lombok and Mataram Municipality can be found villages that use Balinese as the language of everyday conversation.

Religion

Most of the inhabitants of the island of Lombok, especially the Sasak people, adhere to Islam. The second largest religion embraced on this island is Hinduism, which is embraced by residents of Balinese descent which account for around 15% of the population there. Christians, Buddhists and other religions can also be found, and are mainly embraced by migrants from various ethnic and ethnic groups who live on the island. The largest religious organization in Lombok is Nahdlatul Wathan (NW), this organization also established many Islamic education institutions with various levels from the lowest level to tertiary institutions.

In North Lombok Regency, precisely in the Bayan area, especially among those who are elderly, there can be found followers of the Wetu Telu Islam (three times). Unlike most adherents of Islamic teachings who perform prayers five times a day, adherents of this teaching practice compulsory prayer only in three times. [Citation needed]

In Cakranegara (formerly called the kingdom of Cakranegara) The city of Mataram now, was once discovered the Ancient Lontar Manuscript by the Dutch expedition (KNIL) and then taken to the Netherlands, the lontar manuscript was actually in the Selaparang Kingdom (now around Pringgabaya, East Lombok), during the war between Bali and Lombok, the Selaparang kingdom had been defeated because it was attacked suddenly, and finally all the property belonging to the Selaparang kingdom was seized by Balinese troops, the remains which were not carried away were then burned. These include the Raja Selaparang (Pemban Selaparang) gold crown and the lontar of Kertagama State which are being studied by the Selaparang royal sons and officers. [Citation needed].

History

According to the contents of the Babad Lombok, the oldest kingdom ever ruled on this island was the kingdom of Laeq (in the sasak laeq language means the past), but another source, Babad Suwung, stated that the oldest kingdom in Lombok was the Suwung Kingdom built and led by the King Betara Indera. The Suwung Kingdom then receded and was replaced by the Kingdom of Lombok. In the 9th century until the 11th century stood the Sasak Kingdom which was later defeated by one of the kingdoms from Bali at that time. Several other kingdoms that once stood on the island of Lombok include Pejanggik, Langko, Bayan, Sokong Samarkaton and Selaparang.

The Selaparang kingdom itself emerged in two periods, namely in the 13th century and the 16th century. The first Selaparang Kingdom was the Hindu kingdom and its power ended with the arrival of the Majapahit Kingdom expedition in 1357. The second Selaparang Kingdom was the Islamic kingdom and its power ended in 1744 after being conquered by a combination of the Karangasem Kingdom troops from Bali and Arya Banjar Getas who were royal families who betrayed Selaparang because of problems with Raja Selaparang. [3] This occupation of Bali gave rise to strong Balinese cultural influences on the western side of Lombok, such as in dances and heritage buildings (eg Cakranegara Palace in Ampenan). It was only in 1894 that Lombok was freed from the influence of Karangasem due to the intervention of Batavia (the Dutch East Indies) which entered because of the rebellion of the Sasak people inviting them to come. However, Lombok then came under the direct control of the Dutch East Indies. [Citation needed]

The entry of Japan (1942) made Lombok automatically under the control of the eastern Japanese occupation government. After World War II Lombok had been under the State of East Indonesia, before then in 1950 joined the Republic of Indonesia.

Tourism

Lombok is in many ways similar to Bali, and in the 1990s it began to be recognized by foreign tourists. But with the advent of the monetary crisis that hit Indonesia at the end of 1997 and other accompanying crises, tourism potential was somewhat neglected. Then in the early 2000s there were inter-ethnic and inter-religious riots throughout Lombok resulting in massive displacement of minorities. They mainly fled to the island of Bali. But after a while the situation had become conducive and they were back. In 2007 the tourism sector was the only sector in Lombok that developed.

 

Tourism object destinations
 

Natural tourism

•     Senggigi Beach
•     Cakranegara
•     Gili Air
•     Gili Meno
•     Gili Trawangan
•     Mount Rinjani
•     Kuta Beach, Lombok
•     Sembalun
•     Tetebatu
•     Sendang Gile Waterfall
•     Gili Nanggu
•     Gili Sundak
•     Gili Tangkong
•     Pusuk Monkey Forest
•     Sentanu
•     Pink Beach (East Lombok Region)
•     Dewi Shawl Waterfall
•     Bilok Petung Village

Culture tour

•     Browse
•     Sade Village
•     Sukarara
•     Bayan Beleq Mosque
•     Pura Suranadi
•     Lingsar Temple
•     Narmada Park
•     Mayura Park
•     Ancient Mosque of Bilok Petung
•     Banyumulek Village 

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