On the east side of the popular island of Java, owned by the state of Indonesia, an archipelago with hundreds of islands has spread. Ten of them are the largest, the rest are smaller, many are not inhabited.
Most areas are decorated with cone-shaped mountain ranges. Their slopes are covered with a carpet of bright green jungle, and impassable thickets conceal the secrets of local flora and fauna, because this is where the world's largest flower grows - unique rafflesia.
Geography of the archipelago
The Small Sunda Islands in Indonesia are called Nusa Tenggara, which means "islands in the southeast." In total, this archipelago includes 570 islands, 320 are so small that they do not have their own name. Just imagine, inhabited totals only 42.
Most often, the island complex implies the following largest territories: Timor Island, the island of Bali, popular among surfers, the islands of Flores, Lombok, Sumba and Sumbawa. Together with the islands of Borneo, Java and Sumart, belonging to the Great Sunda archipelago, they form the Malay archipelago, which is part of Indonesia. By the way, this country is the only one consisting of so many islands.
From the northern part of the Lesser Sunda Islands there are waters of the Banda and Flores seas, and from the southern part you can find the Timor Sea and other shallow seas included in the Indian Ocean. In addition to Indonesia, among the above islands hid another independent state - East Timor.
History
The story of the appearance of the Lesser Sunda Islands dates back to the Paleocene, which is 65.5 million years ago. Some islands at that time appeared due to volcanic eruptions inside the earth's crust right at the junction of two plates - the Pacific and Australian. The remaining islands of the archipelago are coral.
Spilled magma from underwater volcanoes moved pieces of new land to the Eurasian Plate, its southern zone. And from that moment on, the forces of three plates began to act on the islands, reducing or increasing their size. However, some scientists believe that, for example, Flores was once part of the Australian Plate and broke away from it, and not self-formed due to volcanic activity.
Island Theories
According to the second theory, Australia is also the "mother" of the islands of Sumba, Timor and Babar. According to another option, the islands descended from the Eurasian plate. In any case, not a single geological assumption has yet become official, except for those islands on which volcanic traces of land formation are clearly visible. Today, all islands are part of the Sunda Arc, surrounded by very deep oceanic depressions.
General information on the region
Small Sunda Islands are a separate administrative region of the republic. Geographically, they are divided into the province of Bali, Western Islands and Eastern. Largest cities: on the island of Lombok - Mataram, on Timor - the city of Kupang and, of course, Denpasar in Bali.
Of the languages, the official is Indonesian or Bahasa Indonesia. It was approved in 1945, but in fact it is just one of the dialects of the Malay archipelago. In addition, sixty-seven languages are spoken on the Lesser Sunda Islands. All of them belong to two language families - Malay-Polynesian and Austronesian, with the exception of Creole, which is spoken by two hundred thousand people living in Kupang.
The most famous of the Lesser Sonde Islands is Bali, since most travelers arrive at its main airport - Ngurah Ray in Denpasar. Kupang and Praia also have their own runways with small airports.
Archipelago population
The total area of the Lesser Sunda Islands is 87,000 square kilometers. The population density with such a spread is approximately 137 people per square kilometer, which is very good, given our overpopulated world. The total population of the Lesser Sunda Islands does not exceed twelve million inhabitants.
If we analyze the population of the archipelago by ethnic composition, then the largest group is the Balinese - there are about four million of them, the next in line are the Sasaki from Lombok, as well as the Sumbawans from Sumbawa. Among the visitors, the majority are Chinese with Indians, many Pakistanis and Arabs, and, of course, Polynesians and Japanese. Europeans and Australians in number occupy the last lines.
Among religious beliefs, Sunni Islam prevails. The second most important religion is Hinduism with a noticeable influence of Buddhism on it, such a kind of mixture. Hinduism flourishes mainly in Bali, although it is also found among the Sasaks in Lambok. Catholics preach their faith on the island of Flores, and Protestants live in Timor. In addition to all of these religions, there are representatives of Taoism, animism and Confucianism.
Climatic conditions
The climate on the Lesser Sunda Islands in the Pacific Ocean is surprisingly dry with subequatorial monsoons. When the monsoon season comes from the desert side of the Australian island, the sky sheds billions of raindrops, which, however, quickly evaporate. Rainy days filled with moisture last on the islands from October all winter and end only in April.
The temperature regime on the entire coast during the year is kept at around +27 degrees Celsius, but reaches +33 degrees. During the Australian monsoon, humidity is minimized at around 30 percent, but during the rainy season it reaches 90 percent.
Major Attractions
It is easiest to sort out all the interesting places in a given region by examining each island separately. So, on the most famous and popular island in the Malay archipelago of Bali, there are more than enough sights:
- The complex of the temple and monastery of Pura Besakih (the shrine of the Mother). You can find it on the slope of the very sacred mountain called Agung.
- The temple, whose name translates as "the mouth of a demon", is Goa Gaja.
- The main temple in the kingdom of Mengwi is Taman Ayun.
- The temple, the building of which stands on Lake Bratan - Pura Oolong Danu.
- The monastery and the ashram in one person - Brahma Vshara, which is a Buddhist shrine.
- The Botanical Garden, located in the crater of the volcano Batur.
- Klungkung House, royal lodging.
- Another Kavi volcano.
- Amazingly beautiful Git Git waterfall.
- Balinese Museum and Art Center Building.
Attractions on the island of Lombok:
- In the city of Chakranegara is located the temple of Pura Meru, in which Hinduism is preached.
- In the same city there is a temple uniting religions - Hinduism, Islam and Buddhism. It is called Pura Lingsar.
- In the city of Ampenan you should see the Maritime Museum, the real royal garden of Narmada and the park area of Mayur.
- Be sure to get to the highest point - the volcano Rinjani. Its height is 3726 meters.
Attractions on the island of Flores:
- The old port, left from the Portuguese in the city of Larantuca, however, will need to sail to the nearest island of Salor.
- Three volcanic lakes that occurred after the last eruption of Kelimutu volcano.
Attractions on the island of Timor:
- Taman Visata Kamplong Conservation Area.
- Architectural features of the city of Kumpang. Almost all houses have remained since colonial times.
Sumbawa Island Attractions:
- In the city of Subava Besar is a real royal palace, erected on stilts.
- In the same city you can find the picturesque Mayo National Park.
- In the city of Bima, there is the Sultan's Palace with an interesting exhibition, which includes a rich collection of crowns and edged weapons, decorated with a variety of precious stones.
Sights of Komodo Island:
- It is customary to go on exciting excursions to the area where colonies of the Komodo monitor lizard live. Usually adults grow up to three meters in length.
Sumba Island Attractions:
- Monuments from the time of the megalith, located near the villages of Targung, Sadan, Pasung and near the town of Waikabubak.
Interesting Facts
Legends say that the three volcanic lakes on Flores have different colors because of their special functions: the red lake devours dark witchcraft souls, the light red lake receives sinful souls, and the waters of the azure lake take the souls of babies and virgins. Due to the fact that souls tend to worry, the colors of the lakes are constantly changing.
At the beginning of the 21st century, the remains of a hominid were discovered on the territory of the same Flores island. Its skeleton was a meter in length, and according to scientists, the brain during life reached a size of 400 cubic centimeters, which is several times smaller than the brain of a modern person. Historians believe that this type of ancient man appeared 95 thousand years ago. Complete extinction occurred 12 thousand years ago due to the eruption of the Floresian volcano.
On the island of Bali, 230 holidays are celebrated annually, in each of which a ceremonial procession is organized to please the gods. Balinese people believe that if they forget about worshiping the gods, they will find on their lands failures and misfortunes. Such processions are accompanied by colorful parades.
Legendary rafflesia - a phenomenon of the flora of the archipelago
Perhaps the main attraction and feature of the archipelago is an amazing plant - the flower of Rafflesia Arnoldi. This is the largest flower in the world, which can reach ten kilograms in weight and one meter in diameter.
In fact, this natural giant lives a parasitic life - it does not have its roots or stems. It grows on the stems of vines due to their vital juices. In order for rafflesia to sprout, its seed (not exceeding the size of poppy seeds) must fall into the tree crack of the plant, which will be the breadwinner of this beautiful parasite. The flower grows rapidly in size, and before it opens its petals, it forms a huge head - this is its bud.
After opening the bud, five blood-red or crimson petals appear. They are initially covered with white growths and are similar to human warts. But the main feature of the flower is its smell - rafflesia exudes a disgusting smell of rotten meat, which attracts flies from all around. They cling to the open bud, like a piece of rotting carrion, thereby pollinating it.
Unfortunately, the fragrant giant "rose" will fade after four days. After withering in place of the flower for seven months, the same huge fruit ripens, filled inside with the seeds of the plant. In order for the seeds to spread successfully over long distances, rafflesia prefers to settle on trails in the jungle that cross elephants. This is because this land ship of the animal world often, without noticing, treads on the fruits, thereby spreading seeds for kilometers ahead.
Rafflesia was discovered in 1818 by two scientists - Joseph Arnoldi and Thomas Raffles. The latter was a British official and leader of the expedition sent to the island of Sumatra, and Arnoldi was a botanist and a participant in this campaign. Unfortunately, the botanist did not survive - he died of a fever two weeks after a wonderful find. Ruffles delivered the plant seeds to London, after which the flower was given a name in honor of both researchers.