Nusa Tenggara is divided into two provinces – East Nusa Tenggara and West Nusa Tenggara. Most people in West Nusa Tenggara are Muslim, while the majority of those who live in East Nusa Tenggara are either Christian or Animistic.
West Nusa Tenggara is made up of Lombok and Sumbawa, with a few other small islands. Lombok is known as a popular tourist destination that is similar to Bali, but is much less crowded and more peaceful. Sumbawa is much more remote. The Sasak kingdom dominated until the Balinese took over and ruled the region. The Dutch came in the 19th century, but it was a self-regulated area. It became a region under the Indonesian government in 1958. In 1969, an area of Sumbawa was established as a transmigration site. As a result, there are many Javanese and others from Java. This has caused many misunderstandings, causing a great divide between transmigrants and original inhabitants.
East Nusa Tenggara has around 566 islands, with the largest being Flores, Sumba, and the western half of Timor (West Timor). Komodo Island, with the famous Komodo Dragon, is also in this region. East Nusa Tenggara is the only province in Indonesia where Roman Catholicism is the main religion. Similar to West Nusa Tenggara, it was originally autonomous, then came under Indonesian government rule in 1958. The people of East Nusa Tenggara are much poorer than other areas of Indonesia. There is only a 39% enrollment rate in secondary school in this area, while the overall Indonesian average is 80%. This province also has a much higher rate of child mortality and child malnutrition because of a lack of clean water, sanitation, and health facilities. Malaria is also a problem in this area.
Nusa Tenggara is made up of lots of little islands, sometimes with deep ocean trenches between them. Forests dominate the islands, with most of them being dry forests, rather than the rain forests found throughout the rest of Indonesia. Unfortunately, more than half of the original vegetation that was on the islands has been cleared to plant crops. In addition to the Komodo Dragon are many other unique species that are found on specific islands. The Komodo Rat also lives on Komodo Island, Lombok has the Lombok Flying Fox, and the Sunda Long-eared Bat is on Lembata Island.
The ethnic groups in West Nusa Tenggara are unreached and Muslim. These groups include the Sumbawa, the Kangean, and the Mbojo, along with others. There are Christian workers on Sumbawa Island, where the Mbojo and the Sumbawa live, but the Kangean are 100% Muslim, and unengaged as well as unreached. Although East Nusa Tenggara has a large Catholic population, there is also a large population of Animistic people, including many who mix Catholicism with Animism.
Some content for this article came from Wikipedia and Joshua Project.
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