East Nusa Tenggara

East Nusa Tenggara is a province of Indonesia. It is located in the eastern part of the Lesser Sunda Islands and includes West Timor. It has a total area of 48,718.1 km2, and the population at the 2010 Census was 4,683,827; the latest official estimate in January 2014 was 5,070,746. The provincial capital is Kupang on West Timor.

The province consists of more than 500 islands, the three largest being Flores, Sumba, and the western half of Timor (West Timor). The eastern part of Timor is the independent country of East Timor. East Nusa Tenggara is the only province in Indonesia where Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion. Nusa Tenggara Timur, in Indonesian, means "eastern southeastern islands"; compare to Nusa Tenggara Barat, which means "western southeastern islands" where Lombok and Sumbawa are located.

History

After the declaration of Indonesian independence in 1945, the eastern part of Indonesia declared the State of East Indonesia. The state was further included in the United States of Indonesia as part of the agreement with the Dutch contained in the transfer its sovereignty to Indonesia in 1949.

In 1950, United States of Indonesia dissolved itself into a unitary state and began to divide its component area into provinces. In 1958, by Indonesian law (Undang-Undang) No. 64/1958, three provinces were established in the Lesser Sunda Islands, namely Bali, West Nusa Tenggara and East Nusa Tenggara. The area of East Nusa Tenggara province included the western part of Timor island, Flores, Sumba and other several small islands in the region. The province was sub-divided into twelve regencies and the City of Kupang, which had regency-level status.

Following the fall of the Suharto regime in 1998 and the passage of a new regional autonomy law, there was a dramatic proliferation (known as pemekaran) of regional governments across Indonesia (at both provincial and regency level). Several new regencies were created in East Nusa Tenggara by the division of existing regencies:

• In 1999, the new Lembata Regency was formed after the division of the East Flores Regency.
• In 2002, Rote and Ndao Islands were split off from Kupang Regency, to form a new Rote Ndao Regency.
• In 2003, Manggarai Regency was split into two and a new West Manggarai Regency was established.
• In 2007, the administration of East Nusa Tenggara province was expanded by the establishment of four new regencies - Central Sumba and Southwest Sumba (both cut out of West Sumba Regency), Nagekeo (cut out of Ngada Regency) and East Manggarai (cut out of Manggarai Regency).
• In October 2008 a further regency - Sabu Raijua (comprising the Savu Islands group) - was formed from part of the remaining Kupang Regency.
• In December 2012 yet another regency - Malaka - was created out of the southern half of Belu Regency.

Therefore, as of early 2013, there were twenty-one regencies plus the one autonomous city (Kupang) in the province.

Geography

Located in the east of Lesser Sunda Islands, East Nusa Tenggara faces the Indian Ocean in the south and Flores Sea in the north. The province is bordered by other provinces, West Nusa Tenggara in the west. In the east, the province is bordered by East Timor and southern part of Maluku.

The province consists of about 566 islands, the largest and most dominant are Flores, Sumba, and the western part of Timor. The other is smaller islands include Adonara, Alor, Komodo, Lembata (formerly called Lomblen), Menipo, Raijua, Rincah, Rote Island (the southernmost island in Indonesia), Savu, Semau, and Solor. The highest point in the province is Mount Mutis in the South Central Timor Regency, 2,427 meters above sea level.

Provincial Government

Below is a list of Governors who have held office in the East Nusa Tenggara.

• J. Lala Mentik (1960–1965)
• El Tari (1966–1978)
• Ben Mboi (1978–1988)
• Hendrik Fernandez (1988–1993)
• Herman Musakabe (1993–1998)
• Piet Alexander Tallo (1998–2008)
• Frans Lebu Raya (2008–present)

Tourism

Komodo dragon a large species of lizard lived in this province One of the crater lakes of Kelimutu Traditional Sumbanese house in West Sumba

In 2016 East Nusatenggara got 6 medals from 10 categories of Anugerah Pesona Indonesia 2016. Gold medal of Most Popular Surfing Spot of Nemberala Beach, Rote Ndao Regency; Gold medal of Most Popular Cleanliness of Nihiwatu Beach, West Sumba Regency; Gold medal of Most Popular of Historical Site of Ende Bung Karno (Proclamator and the first Indonesia President) Site; Gold medal of Most Popular Diving Site of Alor Island, Alor Regency; Silver medal of Most Popular Attraction of Pasola, Southwest Sumba Regency; Bronze medal of Most Popular Highland of different color of three lakes/calderas of Mount Kelimutu, Ende.

The provincial government aims to promote tourism. There are various interesting locations in the province. The basic infrastructure to support the tourist sector (such as transport facilities, accommodation, and adequate and reliable information) needs to be strengthened but several main features of the tourist sector in the province include:

• Komodo Island with the well-known Komodo dragon
• Kelimutu volcano on Flores which contains 3 striking crater lakes of varying colors
• Mount Mutis to the east of Kupang, the highest point in the province and an area known for hiking & bird-watching
• Semana Santa in Larantuka
• Traditional housing and pasola in Sumba Island
• Alor Dive in Alor Island
• Nemberalla Beach in Rote Ndao
• Pink Beach in Padar island
• Taman 17 in Riung Island

Various local community groups in the province work to promote the local tourist industry although, as yet, many of these activities are still somewhat underdeveloped and need strengthening.

Well-known figures

Well-known figures from the province include the following:

• Izaak Huru Doko, an independence fighter who organised resistance against the Dutch NICA (Netherlands-Indies Civil Administration) in the 1940s
• Wilhelmus Zakaria Johannes, regarded as the first Indonesian radiologist in Indonesia. The W.Z Johannes hospital in Kupang is named after him.
• Frans Seda, a politician and finance minister (1966–1968) of Indonesia
• Adrianus Mooy, an economist who was governor of Bank Indonesia (1988–1993) and Executive Director of ESCAP
• Ben Mboi, former East Nusa Tenggara governor
• Herman Johannes, scientist, government minister, and Rector of Gadjah Mada University (1961–1966)