Sunda Archipelago. Map of the Western Lesser Sunda Islands with cities

Where are the Greater Sunda Islands? They belong to the Malay Archipelago. The islands are located in the region between two oceans - the Pacific and Indian. In the north they border with

a brief description of

The area of ​​the islands is just over 1.5 million square meters. km. They consist of 4 large islands, as well as a large number of small ones, such as Java, Sumatra, Sulawesi, etc. The Greater Sunda Islands are the largest island group on the planet. The islands are home to about 180 million people.

Let's take a closer look at some of the islands from this group.

Kalimantan

The largest of the Greater Sunda Islands is Kalimantan (another name is Borneo). Its area is 743 thousand square meters. km. It is one of the three largest islands on the planet. Another feature of the island is that its territory is divided between several countries: Brunei, Malaysia and Indonesia. Kalimantan is washed by 4 seas and 2 straits. If we compare all the Greater Sunda Islands, then only Kalimantan is dominated by flat terrain. However, mountainous terrain is also present on this landmass. The most high peak islands - the city of Kinabalu (more than 4 thousand m). Also on the territory of Borneo is the active Bombalay volcano. The river system is also relatively densely represented. The largest river is Kapuas. It has a length of more than one thousand kilometers. Other large rivers- Barito, Mahakam, Rajang.

Sumatra

Located to the west of Kalimantan. In such a system as the Greater Sunda Islands, it ranks second in size, and in the world ranking - sixth. Its area is more than 470 thousand square meters. km. Territorially belongs to the state of Indonesia. The border of the equator runs through the central part of the island, dividing this area of ​​land into two identical parts located in different hemispheres. Sumatra has an elongated shape. The southwestern part of the island is dominated by mountainous terrain, where there is a large number of active volcanoes. Sumatra is a seismically active region of the planet. Earthquakes are a common occurrence here. The highest point is the Kerinchi volcano (3,800 m). The rest of the island is flat. There are many rivers in Sumatra.

Sulawesi

The third largest island is Sulawesi, with an area of ​​174 thousand square meters. km. Located east of Kalimantan. It is washed by two seas - Banda and Sulawesi, and the very shape of this island is unique and interesting. It consists of four distinct, elongated peninsulas that connect in the western part. These so-called branches are mainly of the plain type. The population lives in these territories. The central part is mountainous, and therefore the connection between the peninsulas is quite complex.

Java

When describing the Greater Sunda Islands, one cannot help but talk about Java. This is the smallest of all that are included in this system. Java has an area of ​​about 130 thousand square meters. km. The island is very elongated from east to west. Its length is more than one thousand kilometers. This piece of land belongs to the state and is located on this island. Its central territory is occupied by mountains, the rest is jungle. The population lives mainly on the coast of the island, since at a distance from it there are simply no conditions for a normal life for people.

Conclusion

The Greater Sunda Islands belong to the equatorial climate zone and also have rich flora and fauna. This territory is not deprived of mineral resources. There are large reserves of tin and oil here. The population is engaged in tropical agriculture, actively exporting spices, rubber, rice, tea and coconut palm products.

In front of you detailed map Western Lesser Sunda Islands with names of cities and settlements in Russian. Move the map while holding it with the left mouse button. You can move around the map by clicking on one of the four arrows in the upper left corner. You can change the scale using the scale on the right side of the map or turning the mouse wheel.

What country is the Western Lesser Sunda Islands in?

The Western Lesser Sunda Islands are located in Indonesia. This is wonderful a nice place, with its own history and traditions. Coordinates of the Western Lesser Sunda Islands: north latitude and east longitude (show on large map).

Virtual walk

The “little man” figurine above the scale will help you make virtual walk on the cities of the Western Lesser Sunda Islands. By clicking and holding the left mouse button, drag it to any place on the map and you will go for a walk, while inscriptions with the approximate address of the area will appear in the upper left corner. Select the direction of movement by clicking on the arrows in the center of the screen. The “Satellite” option at the top left allows you to see a relief image of the surface. In the "Map" mode you will have the opportunity to familiarize yourself in detail with highways Western Lesser Sunda Islands and main attractions.

Archipelago on the southernmost border South-East Asia. Together with the Greater Sunda Islands, it is part of the Malay Archipelago, which belongs to Indonesia. There are only about 570 Lesser Sunda Islands. They are mainly represented by the six largest ones - Timor, Bali, Lombok, Sumbawa, Flores, Sumba. The inhabitants of the island speak 68 dialects, follow the commandments of different religions, but are convinced that ultimately everything in the world depends on the will of the spirits.

COMING FROM THE OCEAN

The Lesser Sunda Islands are one of the most geologically complex and seismically active areas of our planet.

The Lesser Sunda Islands (Nusa Tenggara, meaning "southeastern islands" in Indonesian) archipelago consists of almost 570 islands. 320 of them are so small that they remain nameless. 42 islands are inhabited. The archipelago is usually represented by six of them, the largest being Timor, Bali, Lombok, Sumbawa, Flores, Sumba. Together with the Greater Sunda Islands (Sumatra, Java, Borneo) they make up the Malay Archipelago, which in turn is part of Indonesia, the largest in the world island state. From the north the island is washed by the Flores Sea and the Banda Sea, from the south by the Timor Sea and other, smaller seas. Indian Ocean. Eastern part himself big island The Lesser Sunda Islands - Timor is occupied by the independent state of East Timor (we wrote about it in No. 104 of the Atlas), which also includes several small islands off the coast.

Scientists date the beginning of the geological history of the Lesser Sunda octpodod to the Paleocene (about 65.5 million years ago), when some of them appeared on the surface of the ocean as a result of volcanic processes in the earth’s crust at the junction of the Australian and Pacific plates. The other part of the archipelago islands is of coral origin. Magma flows that “warmed up” the islands created by underwater volcanoes moved them to the close southern tip of the Eurasian plate. From the interaction of three plates, the islands received new geological metamorphoses, decreased or, on the contrary, grew in size, but finally decided on their location. This can be said about most of the islands of the archipelago, but not about all. The island of Flores, according to some geologists, was once part of the Australian Plate, although others believe that it is of volcanic origin, because there is a volcano, although inactive, on it.

This volcano, Kelimutu (1639 m), has three crater lakes, periodically changing color, which is extremely beautiful, but this phenomenon has not yet found a clear scientific explanation. The islands of Sumba, Timor and Babar are also considered splinters of Australia. You just need to keep in mind that not a single geological theory of the origin of the Lesser Sunda Islands, with the exception of islands with a visible volcanic history, can be called generally accepted in the scientific world. Most of these theories arose quite recently - at the end of the 20th century. - and still need verification. There is also such a theory: part of the islands of the archipelago are fragments of the Eurasian plate. One way or another, today the islands stand at the junction of the Eurasian and Australian plates and are part of the Sunda mountain arc, which has an external and internal contour and is surrounded by deep oceanic depressions. This arc is considered part of the Himalayan fold system. Between the islands of Bali and Lombok runs the Wallace Line (named after the British geographer and biologist A.R. Wallace, who explored the islands of Indonesia in 1854-1862) - a biogeographic division between the natural systems of South Asia on the one hand and Australia and New Guinea on the other .

The Lesser Sunda Islands are part of an area of ​​tectonic activity called the Pacific Belt (Ring) of Fire. In 1815, Mount Tambora erupted on the island of Sumbawa, which is still considered the most powerful eruption in the world. Its consequences were felt even a year later - 1816 remained in the history of Europe and North America as “a year without summer”: clouds of Tambora volcanic dust that reached these continents were still in charge. At the time of the eruption, Tambora reached a height of 4300 m. Now this figure is 2821 m, but the volcano is active. And the most powerful active volcano in the Lesser Sunda Islands is Rinjani on the island of Lombok. In addition to Lombok and Sumbawa, of the large islands of the archipelago, its most famous island, Bali, has significant volcanoes, it has two active volcano: Agung (3142 m) and Batur (1717 m).

The border between Southeast Asia and Australia is marked by the Burma-Javan, or Sunda, mountain arc. It also includes the Lesser Sunda Islands. The northern ridge of the arc includes islands of volcanic origin - Lombok, Sumbawa, Komodo, Flores, Dembata. Southern ridge - Sumba, Kabi, Rota, Timor; traces of volcanic activity are also found on these islands, but very ancient. The small islands of the archipelago are of coral origin. The topography of the large islands is defined by wide, hilly plateaus, cut by fast small rivers with deep valleys.

CALL OF THE ISLANDS

The Lesser Sunda Islands are one of those places on Earth where the merging of different cultures occurred in a particularly whimsical, although to some extent predictable way.

It is believed that Homo erectus (homo erectus) entered Bali about 1 million years ago, through Sandaland (the Malacca Peninsula, the islands of Kalimantan, Java and Sumatra with adjacent islands). Now these parts of land are located on the continental shelf of Asia, and in glacial period they were the southern tip of the mainland and the sea level between Java and Bali was much lower, if it existed at all. In addition, there is evidence of development of this species ancient man other islands of Indonesia.

And the most reliable ancient evidence of the development of homo sapiens, homo sapiens, of the Lesser Sunda Islands - silicon tools, which are about 130 thousand years old, found by archaeologists in East Timor, others, from the bones of extinct elephants here, they are at least 100 thousand years old - on the island of Flores. About 40 thousand years ago, migration to the Indonesian islands from Southeast Asia began. Linguists, based on linguistic analysis of 68 languages ​​of the archipelago, believe that the main wave of migration of tribes of the Austronesian group from New Guinea and Australia occurred about 5,000 years ago.

At the same time, domestic animals appeared on the islands - goats, pigs, dogs, and later - buffalos. About 2000 years ago, Timor was first reached by merchant seafarers from China and India. They were primarily interested in white sandalwood, a local endemic, and, of course, spices. They also delivered these goods to the countries of the Middle East and Egypt. Drums made of bronze (Dongzhong culture) from the Indochina Peninsula, 1st century. BC e. - 1st century, were discovered on the islands of Sumbawa and Roti. In Bali, the first state formations (kingdoms) appeared in the 10th century. In the 13th century. Islam comes here, most likely with Arab merchants. In the XII-XIV centuries. The Islamic kingdoms of Java and Sumatra made their claims to the islands more than once, but, as a rule, these claims remained unfounded: the rulers did not have enough strength for conquest. The ancient communal way of life on the islands with rituals of worshiping the spirits of the mountains and underground forces has survived to this day, and Islam is not at all an obstacle to this, nor are Catholicism, Protestantism, brought by Europeans in the 16th-17th centuries, and other religions.

In 1522, Magellan's ships landed in Timor (Magellan himself was killed a year earlier on the Philippine island of Mactan), and in 1610 the Dutch (Dutch East India Company) appeared there. They failed to build a real colony, and they acted on the principle of “divide and conquer,” supporting first one or another local king, and their main interests lay in commerce, for primacy in which they competed with each other. In 1816, Indonesia became part of the Dutch colonies under the name of the Netherlands East Indies. During World War II, in 1942, Japan occupied Indonesia. On August 17, 1945, one of the founders of the Indonesian National Party, Sukarno, proclaimed the independence of Indonesia and himself as its president. After this, wars began between Sukarno's army, first with the British and then with the Dutch troops. The Indonesians won. In 1949, the UN recognized Indonesia's independence.

The main product produced on the islands is rice (primarily in Bali and Lombok). By the middle of the 20th century. the soils of the rice plantations began to deplete, and in agriculture Coffee came to the fore, and plantations of vanilla, cloves, citrus fruits and exotic flowers expanded. Further development The Lesser Sunda Islands are primarily associated with tourism, which has become an economic priority since the 1970s. Bali is the leading tourist destination. But something interesting can be found on all the islands of the archipelago. And no one misses the Komodo Islands, where you can watch huge monitor lizard- "Komodo dragon". Lizards of this species also live on other islands - Flores, Rincha, Gili Motang.

FUN FACTS

■ In 2003 on the island. Flores discovered the skeletal remains of a miniature hominid species, about 1 m tall and with a brain volume of about 400 cm3, which is three times smaller than the brain modern man. This species was called Homo flores, although wits immediately attached the nickname “Hobbit” to it. It is assumed that this species appeared about 95 thousand years ago, and became extinct about 12 thousand years ago due to a volcanic eruption.

■ There are about 230 holidays in Bali, and on almost every one of them there are ceremonial processions symbolizing respect for the gods of the invisible world: if you forget about them, misfortunes will begin in the visible world. The processions are always very colorful, thanks also to the colored umbrellas that are extremely popular in Bali. Women carry baskets with gifts to the gods on their heads. And since they have been doing this since early youth, they all have excellent posture.

■ According to the legends of the island of Flores, the three colored lakes of the Kalimutu volcano are colored for a reason: one lake, dark red, absorbs the dark souls of sorcerers, the second, also red, but lighter, absorbs the souls of sinners; in the waters of the third, most beautiful color - azure, rest the souls of the innocent - babies and virgins. Souls are constantly worried, which is why lakes change the shades of their colors.

ATTRACTIONS

■ Timor Island: Kupang (colonial architecture), Taman Wisata Kamplong Nature Reserve.
■ O. Bali: temple complex Pura Besakih (Mother Temple) on the slope sacred mountain Agung, Taman Ayun - the main temple of the Mengwi kingdom, the Pura Ulun Danu temple on Lake Bratan, the Tanah Loh temple, the Uluwatu temple, where the kecak dance performance takes place, Goa Gadzha - the temple “in the mouth of the demon”, Buddhist monastery Brahma Vshara Ashram, Botanical Garden in the caldera of Batur volcano, Royal House Klungkung, Git-Git waterfall, Kawi volcano, Bali Museum, Arts Center.
■ O. Lombok: Chakranegara - Hindu temple Pura Meru, temple of three religions (Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam) Pura Lingsar, Ampenan - Maritime Museum, Mayura Park. Narmada Royal Garden, Rinjani Volcano, Otokokok Falls.
■ O. Sumbawa: Bima - Sultan's Palace (collection of crowns and daggers decorated precious stones), Subava-Besar - Royal Palace on stilts, Tambora volcano, National Park Mauo.
■ O. Flores: three lakes of the cooled Kelimutu volcano, Larantuka - a Portuguese port on the nearby island of Salor.
■ Komodo Island - excursions to the habitats of the Komodo dragon, which grows up to 3 m in length,
■ Sumba Island: megalithic monuments near the villages of Tarung, Pasunga, Sodan and in the vicinity of the city of Waikabubak.

Atlas. The whole world in your hands No. 155

Sunda Islands indon. Kepulauan Sunda, Sund. Kapuloan Sunda
File:Indonesia 2002 CIA map.jpg
2°00′ S w. 110°00′ E. d. /  2.000° S. w. 110.000° E. d. / -2.000; 110.000 Coordinates:
Water area	Indian Ocean
Number of islands	more than 3000 islands
Largest island	Kalimantan
total area	1,700,000 km²
Highest point	4095 m
Countries	Indonesia 22x20px Indonesia Malaysia 22x20px Malaysia Brunei 22x20px Brunei East Timor 22x20px East Timor
Population (2010)	244,900,000 people
Population density	144,059 people/km²
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Geography

Coordinates of the extreme points: western - o. Broech, 95 gr. E.D., 5.5 gr. northern latitude, eastern - about. Vaigeo, 131 gr. E.D., 0 gr. latitude, northern - about. Bungay, 177.5 gr. E.D., 7 gr. northern latitude, southern - o. Roti, Cape Bois, 123 g. E, 11 degrees S

The total area of ​​the archipelago is more than 1.7 million km².

The Sunda Islands are divided into two groups:

• Greater Sunda Islands: Sumatra, Java, Kalimantan, Sulawesi.
• Lesser Sunda Islands: Bali, Lombok, Sumbawa, Sumba, Timor, Barat Daya, Flores, Savu and others.

The Greater Sunda Islands have an area of ​​1.5 million km², the Lesser Sunda Islands - 128 thousand km², the Maluku Islands - 83.7 thousand km². The largest island is Kalimantan (Borneo) - area 734 thousand km². In total, the archipelago includes more than 3,000 islands.

All of the Greater and most of the Lesser Sunda Islands are surrounded by many very small islands. The Mentawai archipelago (of which the largest is Siberut) occupies a special place near Sumatra. In the east, the Selatan-Timur group includes the Tanimbar Islands, Kai Islands, and Aru Islands. The Moluccas include the islands of Halmahera, Seram, Morotai, Misool, the islands of Obi, Buru, etc. Some experts consider the Moluccas to be a separate archipelago, which is essentially a pure convention. Together with the neighboring Philippine archipelago, Sunda makes up a larger entity - the Malay Archipelago.

The Sunda Islands are predominantly mountainous, but there are two large lowlands in Kalimantan and one in Sumatra. Highest points of the islands: Kinabalu, 4100 m (Kalimantan), Kerinchi, 3805 m (Sumatra), Semeru, 3676 m (Java), Rantokombola, 3455 m (Sulawesi), Segara-Rinjani on the island. Lombok, 3676 m (Lesser Sunda), on the island. Seram, 3018 m. There are more than 130 volcanoes on the archipelago; this is a zone of increased seismic activity.

From the outside the archipelago is washed South China Sea and Arafursky. There are numerous inland seas within the archipelago (see list below): The rivers are mostly mountainous, short and stormy. The largest rivers are in Kalimantan: Kapuas, Barrito, Kayan, Rajang; in Sumatra - Hari, originates on the Kerinci volcano.

The Sunda Islands share the following interisland seas:

The climate of the Sunda archipelago is equatorial and subequatorial (in the southern part of the archipelago). The forests are humid evergreen, with shrouds found in some places. The temperature in January is 24 °C above zero, in July it reaches 32 °C above zero. There is a lot of precipitation. In Kalimantan and west coast Sumatra - 3000 mm/year. In other areas - 2000 or more. The flora and fauna are very rich.

Story

Population

The archipelago is inhabited by numerous peoples of different cultural levels, related in language, speaking languages ​​of the Indonesian language branch, part of the larger Austronesian language family.

Economy

Minerals: petroleum, tin, bauxite, nickel, copper, manganese, zinc, chromium, lead. 60% of the territory is occupied by forests with valuable tropical tree species. In the Lesser Sunda Islands, the land is predominantly occupied by agricultural land, rice, corn and industrial crops. In agricultural and industrial terms, the most developed island is Java.

see also

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Literature

• Geographical Encyclopedic Dictionary, ed. V. M. Kotlyakova, M.-2003.
• V. A. Aprodov. Volcanoes, M.-1982.
• Educational atlas of the world, GUGK, M.-1968.
• Reference map "Indonesia", GUGK, M.-1974.
• A. Kondrashov, Directory of necessary knowledge, M.-2001.

Excerpt characterizing the Sunda Islands

- Hello! – she said, smiling cheerfully. - I'm Stella. How do you like my world?..
- Hello Stella! – I answered carefully. – It’s really very beautiful here. Why do you call him yours?
- But because I created it! – the girl chirped even more cheerfully.
I opened my mouth in shock, but I couldn’t say anything... I felt that she was telling the truth, but I couldn’t even imagine how such a thing could be created, especially speaking about it so carelessly and easily...
- Grandma likes it too. – The girl said enough.
And I realized that she was calling “grandmother” the same unusual old woman with whom I had just had such a nice conversation and who, like her no less unusual granddaughter, put me in real shock...
-Are you completely alone here? – I asked.
“When?” the girl became sad.
- Why don’t you invite your friends?
“I don’t have them...” the little girl whispered quite sadly.
I didn’t know what to say, afraid to upset this strange, lonely and such a sweet creature even more.
– Do you want to watch something else? – as if waking up from sad thoughts, she asked.
I just nodded in response, deciding to leave the conversation to her, since I didn’t know what else could upset her and didn’t want to try that at all.
“Look, it was yesterday,” Stella said more cheerfully.
And the world turned upside down... The Crystal City disappeared, and in its place some “southern” landscape blazed with bright colors... My throat caught in surprise.
“And this is you too?” I asked carefully.
She nodded her curly red head proudly. It was very funny to watch her, as the girl was truly and seriously proud of what she managed to create. And who wouldn’t be proud?!. She was a perfect baby who, laughing, in between times, created new incredible worlds, and the boring ones were immediately replaced with others, like gloves... To be honest, there was something to be shocked about. I tried to understand what was going on here?.. Stella was clearly dead, and her essence was communicating with me all this time. But where we were and how she created these “worlds” of hers was still a complete mystery to me.
– Is there something you don’t understand? – the girl was surprised.
– To be honest, yes! – I exclaimed frankly.
– But you can do much more? – the little girl was even more surprised.
“More?..” I asked, dumbfounded.
She nodded, tilting her red head comically to the side.
-Who showed you all this? – I asked carefully, afraid of accidentally offending her.
- Well, of course, grandma. – As if she said something for granted. – At the beginning I was very sad and lonely, and my grandmother felt very sorry for me. So she showed me how it's done.
And then I finally realized that this was truly her world, created only by the power of her thoughts. This girl didn't even realize what a treasure she was! But my grandmother, I think, understood this very well...
As it turned out, Stella died in a car accident several months ago, in which her entire family also died. All that was left was grandma, for whom there was simply no room in the car that time... And who almost went crazy when she learned about her terrible, irreparable misfortune. But, what was most strange, Stella did not end up, as everyone usually did, on the same levels in which her family was. Her body possessed a high essence, which after death went to the highest levels of the Earth. And thus the girl was left completely alone, since her mother, father and older brother were apparently the most ordinary, ordinary people who were not distinguished by any special talents.
– Why don’t you find someone here, where you live now? – I asked again carefully.
– I found... But they are all kind of old and serious... not like you and me. – The girl whispered thoughtfully.
Suddenly she suddenly smiled cheerfully and her sweet little face immediately began to shine like a bright sun.
- Do you want me to show you how to do it?
I just nodded in agreement, very afraid that she would change her mind. But the girl was clearly not going to “change her mind”, on the contrary - she was very happy to have found someone who was almost her same age, and now, if I understood something, she was not going to let me go so easily... This “ perspective" completely suited me, and I prepared to listen carefully about its incredible wonders...
“Everything here is much easier than on Earth,” Stella chirped, very pleased with the attention she received, “you just have to forget about the “level” on which you still live (!) and focus on what you want to see . Try to imagine it very accurately and it will come.
I tried to disconnect from all extraneous thoughts, but it didn’t work. For some reason this has always been difficult for me.
Then, finally, everything disappeared somewhere, and I was left hanging in complete emptiness... A feeling of Complete Peace appeared, so rich in its completeness that it was impossible to experience on Earth... Then the emptiness began to be filled with a fog sparkling with all the colors of the rainbow, which became more and more and became more dense, becoming like a brilliant and very dense ball of stars... Smoothly and slowly this “ball” began to unravel and grow until it looked like a gigantic sparkling spiral, stunning in its beauty, the end of which was “sprayed” by thousands of stars and went wherever - into an invisible distance... I looked dumbfounded at this fabulous unearthly beauty, trying to understand how and where it came from?.. It couldn’t even occur to me that it was really me who created this in my imagination... And also, I I couldn’t get rid of the very strange feeling that THIS was my real home...

Sumba. Together with the Greater Sunda Islands (Sumatra, Java, Borneo), they form the Malay Archipelago, which in turn is part of Indonesia, the world's largest island state. From the north, the island is washed by the Flores Sea and the Banda Sea, from the south by the Timor Sea and other, smaller seas of the Indian Ocean. The eastern part of the largest island of the Lesser Sunda Islands, Timor, is occupied by the independent state of East Timor, which also includes several small islands off the coast.

Story

Scientists date the beginning of the geological history of the Lesser Sunda Islands to the Paleocene (about 65.5 million years ago), when some of them appeared on the surface of the ocean as a result of volcanic processes in the earth’s crust at the junction of the Australian and Pacific plates. The other part of the archipelago islands is of coral origin. Magma flows that “warmed up” the islands created by underwater volcanoes moved them to the close southern tip of the Eurasian plate. From the interaction of three plates, the islands received new geological metamorphoses, decreased or, on the contrary, grew in size, but finally decided on their location. This can be said about most of the islands of the archipelago, but not about all. The island of Flores, according to some geologists, was once part of the Australian Plate, although others believe that it is of volcanic origin, because it has a volcano, although inactive.

This volcano, Kelimutu (1639 m), has three crater lakes that periodically change color, which is extremely beautiful, but this phenomenon has not yet found a clear scientific explanation. The islands of Sumba, Timor and Babar are also considered splinters of Australia. You just need to keep in mind that not a single geological theory of the origin of the Lesser Sunda Islands, with the exception of islands with a visible volcanic history, can be called generally accepted in the scientific world. Most of these theories arose quite recently - at the end of the 20th century. - and still need verification. There is also such a theory: part of the islands of the archipelago are fragments of the Eurasian plate. One way or another, today the islands stand at the junction of the Eurasian and Australian plates and are part of the Sunda mountain arc, which has an external and internal contour and is surrounded by deep oceanic depressions. This arc is considered part of the Himalayan fold system. Between the islands of Bali and Lombok runs the Wallace Line (named after the British geographer and biologist A.R. Wallace, who explored the islands and travels to Indonesia in 1854-1862) - a biogeographic division between the natural systems of South Asia on the one hand and Australia and New Guinea - with another.

The Lesser Sunda Islands are part of an area of ​​tectonic activity called the Pacific Belt (Ring) of Fire. In 1815, Mount Tambora erupted on the island of Sumbawa, which is still considered the most powerful eruption in the world. Its consequences were felt even a year later - 1816 remained in the history of Europe and North America as “the year without summer”: clouds of Tambora volcanic dust that reached these continents were still in control. At the time of the eruption, Tambora reached a height of 4300 m. Now this figure is 2821 m, but the volcano is active. And the most powerful active volcano in the Lesser Sunda Islands is Rinjani on the island of Lombok. In addition to Lombok and Sumbawa, of the large islands of the archipelago, its most famous island, Bali, has significant volcanoes; it has two active volcanoes: Agung (3142 m) and Batur (1717 m).

The Lesser Sunda Islands are one of those places on Earth where the merging of different cultures occurred in a particularly whimsical, although to some extent predictable way.
It is believed that Homo erectus (Homo erectus) entered Bali about 1 million years ago, through Sandaland (the Malacca Peninsula, the islands of Kalimantan, Java and Sumatra with adjacent islands). Now these parts of land are located on the continental shelf of Asia, but during the Ice Age they were the southern tip of the continent and the sea level between Java and Bali was much lower, if it existed at all. In addition, there is evidence of the development of other islands of Indonesia by this species of ancient man. And the most reliable ancient evidence of the development of homo sapiens, homo sapiens, of the Lesser Sunda Islands - silicon tools, which are about 130 thousand years old, found by archaeologists in East Timor, others, from the bones of extinct elephants here, they are at least 100 thousand years old - on the island of Flores. About 40 thousand years ago, migration to the Indonesian islands from Southeast Asia began. Linguists, based on linguistic analysis of 68 languages ​​of the archipelago, believe that the main wave of migration of tribes of the Austronesian group from New Guinea and Australia occurred about 5,000 years ago. At the same time, domestic animals appeared on the islands - goats, pigs, dogs, and later - buffalos. About 2000 years ago, Timor was first reached by merchant seafarers from China and India. They were primarily interested in white sandalwood, a local endemic, and, of course, spices. They also delivered these goods to the countries of the Middle East and Egypt. Drums made of bronze (Dongzhong culture) from the Indochina Peninsula, 1st century. BC e. - 1st century, were discovered on the islands of Sumbawa and Roti. In Bali, the first state formations (kingdoms) appeared in the 10th century. In the 13th century. Islam comes here, most likely with Arab merchants. In the XII-XIV centuries. The Islamic kingdoms of Java and Sumatra made their claims to the islands more than once, but, as a rule, these claims remained unfounded: the rulers did not have enough strength for conquest. The ancient communal way of life on the islands with rituals of worshiping the spirits of the mountains and underground forces has survived to this day, and Islam is not at all an obstacle to this, nor are Catholicism, Protestantism, brought by Europeans in the 16th-17th centuries, and other religions.
In 1522, Magellan's ships landed in Timor (Magellan himself was killed a year earlier on the Philippine island of Mactan), and in 1610 the Dutch (Dutch East India Company) appeared there. They failed to build a real colony, and they acted on the principle of “divide and conquer,” supporting first one or another local king, and their main interests lay in commerce, for primacy in which they competed with each other. In 1816, Indonesia became part of the Dutch colonies under the name of the Netherlands East Indies. During World War II, in 1942, Japan occupied Indonesia. On August 17, 1945, one of the founders of the Indonesian National Party, Sukarno, proclaimed the independence of Indonesia and himself as its president. After this, wars began between Sukarno's army, first with the British and then with the Dutch troops. The Indonesians won. In 1949, the UN recognized Indonesia's independence.
The further development of the Lesser Sunda Islands is primarily related to tourism, which has become an economic priority since the 1970s. Bali is the leading tourist destination. But something interesting can be found on all the islands of the archipelago. And no one will miss the Komodo Islands, where you can watch the huge monitor lizard - the “Komodo dragon”. Lizards of this species also live on other islands - Flores, Rincha, Gili Motang.

general information

Group of islands in the Malay Archipelago of Indonesia. Together with the Greater Sunda Islands they form the Sunda Archipelago.

The Lesser Sunda Islands constitute an administrative region of the Republic of Indonesia.

Administrative division: the provinces of Bali, Western Lesser Sunda Islands (Nusa Tenggara Barat) and Eastern Lesser Sunda Islands (Nusa Tenggara Timor).
Administrative centers and Largest cities: Mataram on the island of Lombok (Nusa Tenggara Barat province), Kupang on the island of Timor (Nusa Tenggara Timor province), Denpasar on the island of Bali.
Languages: Indonesian (Bahasa Indonesia, approved in 1945 as official, in origin - one of the Malay dialects), as well as 67 more languages ​​belonging to the Malayo-Polynesian or Austronesian language family, in addition to the Malayo-Creole language, Kupang Malay, which used by 200 thousand residents of the city of Kupang.

Ethnic composition: The most numerous ethnic groups are the Balinese (Bali island, about 4 million people), the Sasaks on the island of Lombok and the Sumbawans on the island of Sumbawa, as well as the Chinese, Indians, Pakistanis, Arabs, Japanese, and Polynesians. The number of white people from Australia and Europe is small.
Religions: Islam (Sunni), Hinduism with a strong influence of Buddhism (Hindu-Bali) on the island of Bali, it is also followed by some of the Sasaks on the island of Lombok; Christianity: Catholicism (mainly on the island of Flores), Protestantism (mainly on the island of Timor), Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, animism, combined with official confessions.

Major airports: international airports Ngurah Ray (Denpasar, Bali island), Eltari (Kupang, Timor island), Bandara (Praya, Lombok island).

Numbers

Total area: 87,000 km2.

Population: 12,000,000 people

Population density: 137.9 people/km 2 .

The most high point: Rinjani volcano on the island of Lombok (3726 m).

Climate and weather

Subequatorial monsoon, relatively dry.
During the southeast monsoon, which emanates from the deserts of Australia, the dry season begins, the rain falls, but the moisture quickly evaporates.

Precipitation falls under the influence of the northwestern monsoon, which dominates these latitudes from October to April.

Temperatures on the coast all year round:+27 - +29°С.
Daily temperature fluctuations in the lowlands:+24 - +33°С.

Average annual precipitation: 1500-2000 mm.
Air humidity: 80-90% during the rainy season, 40-60% during the dry Australian monsoon.

Attractions

■ Timor Island: Kupang (colonial architecture), Taman Wisata Kamplong Nature Reserve.
■ Bali Island: temple complex Pura Besakih (Mother Temple) on the slope of the sacred Mount Agung, Taman Ayun - the main temple of the Mengwi kingdom, Pura Ulun Danu temple on Lake Bratan, Tanah Lot temple, Uluwatu temple, where the kecak dance performance takes place, Goa Gaja - temple "in mouth of the demon", Buddhist monastery Brahma Vshara Ashram, Botanical Garden in the caldera of Batur volcano, Royal House of Klungkung, Git-Git waterfall, Kavi volcano, Bali Museum, Arts Center.
■ Lombok Island: Chakranegara city - Hindu temple Pura Meru, temple of three religions (Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam) Pura Lingsar, Ampenan city - Maritime Museum, Mayura Park, Narmada Royal Garden, Rinjani volcano, Otokokok waterfall.
■ Sumbawa Island: Bima city - Sultan's Palace (collection of crowns and daggers decorated with precious stones), Subawa Besar city - royal palace on stilts, Tambora volcano, Mauo National Park.
■ Flores Island: three lakes of the cooled Kelimutu volcano, the city of Larantuka is a Portuguese port on the nearby island of Salor.
■ Komodo Island- excursions to the habitats of the Komodo dragon, which grows up to 3 m in length.
■ Sumba Island: megalithic monuments near the villages of Tarung, Pasunga, Sodan and in the vicinity of the city of Waikabubak.

■ In 2003, the skeletal remains of a miniature hominid species were discovered on the island of Flores, about 1 m tall and with a brain volume of about 400 cm 3, which is three times smaller than the brain of a modern person. This species was called Homo flores, although wits immediately attached the nickname “Hobbit” to it. It is assumed that this species appeared about 95 thousand years ago, and became extinct about 12 thousand years ago due to a volcanic eruption.
■ There are about 230 holidays on the island of Bali, and on almost every one of them there are ceremonial processions symbolizing respect for the gods of the invisible world: if you forget about them, misfortunes will begin in the visible world. The processions are always very colorful, thanks also to the colored umbrellas that are extremely popular in Bali. Women carry baskets with gifts to the gods on their heads. And since they have been doing this since early youth, they all have excellent posture.