Sumbawa Besar

Sumbawa Besar is a town with 56,337 inhabitants at the 2010 Census on the Indonesian island of Sumbawa. It is the administrative capital of the Sumbawa Regency within the province of West Nusa Tenggara.

The slogan of the town is BESAR which can mean big in Indonesian. However, this slogan has been used an acronym for:

Indonesian is widely spoken in Sumbawa Besar with some local languages such as Sumbawa. Few people speak Balinese.

Public transportation in Sumbawa BESAR may include bemo, dokar, and becak. There is one small airport named Bandar Udara Brangbiji that serves some small flights to and from Mataram. However, due to the limited number of passengers using these flight services, the flight schedules have been limited to once or twice a week. The harbour of Sumbawa Besar is of minor importance. Porto Tano, the most important harbour of Sumbawa, is 90 km to the west. There is no railway on Sumbawa.

Tourism in Sumbawa Besar or on Sumbawa has not been promoted by the government up to now although Sumbawa Besar has various sights to offer.

The former palace Dalam Loka was built in 1885 on 99 columns without a single nail. Jalaludin III, a famous sultan, reigned here from 1883-1893. The palace was renovated in the 1980s and is used for various cultural events today. The largest mosque of Sumbawa Besar was built beside the palace.

In 1932 the Dutch built Balai Kuning, a tall administration building in a European half-timbered style which is well-preserved. The foundation stone dating from 11 February 1932 with an inscription in Dutch is still visible in the northern wall. In the building various weapons and clothes used by the sultan can be seen. Balai Kuning is surrounded by a well-kept park with cages for deer and horses. In the park a tree-lined avenue leads from the former gate which was built under a tower to the representative entrance. Two canons dating from colonial times can be seen as well. Taman Krato is a well-kept park with avenues of palms and hibiscus in Jalan Merdeka street opposite Balai Kuning.

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Wikipedia