Sumbawa

Sumbawa

Geography
Location	South East Asia
Coordinates	8°47′S 118°5′E / 8.783°S 118.083°E / -8.783; 118.083Coordinates: 8°47′S 118°5′E / 8.783°S 118.083°E / -8.783; 118.083
Archipelago	Lesser Sunda Islands
Area	15,214.13 km2 (5,874.21 sq mi)
Area rank	57th
Highest elevation	2,850 m (9,350 ft)
Highest point	Tambora
Administration
Indonesia
Province	West Nusa Tenggara
Demographics
Population	1,391,340 (2014)
Pop. density	91.45 /km2 (236.85 /sq mi)
Ethnic groups	Sumbawa people, Bima people

Sumbawa is an Indonesian island, 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 part of the province of West Nusa Tenggara, but there are presently steps being taken by the Indonesian government to turn the island into a separate province. Traditionally the island is known as the source of sappanwood used to make red dye, as well as honey and sandalwood. Its savanna-like climate and vast grassland is used to breed horses and cattle and to hunt deer.

Sumbawa has an area (including minor offshore islands) of 15,448 square kilometres or 5,965 square miles (three times the size of Lombok) with a current population (January 2014) of around 1.39 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 less influenced. In particular this applies to both Hinduism and Islam.

The 14th-century Nagarakretagama mentioned several principalities identified to be on Sumbawa; Dompu, Bima, Sape and Sang Hyang Api volcanic island just offcoast of northeast Sumbawa. 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 – from Javanese, Balinese, Makassarese, Dutch and Japanese. The Dutch first arrived in 1605, but did not effectively rule Sumbawa until the early 20th century.

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