East Nusa Tenggara

East Nusa Tenggara (Indonesian: Nusa Tenggara Timur) is a province of Indonesia, located in the eastern portion of the Lesser Sunda Islands, including West Timor. The provincial capital is Kupang, located on West Timor. The province consists of about 550 islands, but is dominated by the three main islands of Flores, Sumba, and West Timor, the western half of the island of Timor. The eastern part of Timor is the independent country of East Timor. Other islands include Adonara, Alor, Ende, Komodo, Lembata, Menipo, Rincah, Rote Island (the southernmost island in Indonesia), Savu, Semau, and Solor.

Administration

After the declaration of Indonesia independence in 1945, the eastern part of Indonesia declared themselves as the State of East Indonesia by the statute of Staatsblad No. 143, 1946. The state was further included in the United States of Indonesia as one of the agreement of the Dutch to transfer its sovereignty to Indonesia in 1949.

In 1950, United States of Indonesia dissolved itself into a unitary state and began to divide its region into provinces. In 1958, by the Indonesian statute of law (Undang-Undang) No. 64/1958, three provinces were established in the Lesser Sunda Islands, namely Bali, West Nusa Tenggara and East Nusa Tenggara provinces.^[3] According to the law, East Nusa Tenggara province includes the western part of Timor island, Flores, Sumba and other several small islands in the region. The province was further divided into twelve regencies.^[4]

Following the fall of Suharto regime in 1998, several regional governments expanded its administrative divisions under the new regional autonomy policy. East Nusa Tenggara province observed several expansions in its administration. In 1999, the new Lembata Regency was formed after splitting East Flores Regency.^[5] In 2002, Rote Island was split from Kupang Regency, forming the new Rote Ndao Regency.^[6] The following year, Manggarai Regency is splitted into two and established the new West Manggarai Regency.^[7] In 2007, the administration of East Nusa Tenggara province was expanded more by the establishment of new four regencies. Therefore, as of 2007, there are nineteen regencies and only one city, that is Kupang, recognized in the province.

Closer look to the islands of East Nusa Tenggara

Note: * A city and also the provincial capital.

Demographics

The population of the province was estimated to be 4,073,249 in 2003 (BPS NTT). The religious mix is atypical of Indonesia, with 91% Christian (majority Catholic, large Protestant population), 8% Muslim, 0.6% Hindu or Buddhist, and 0.4% holding traditional beliefs. East Nusa Tenggara has become a refuge for Indonesian Christians fleeing from conflict in Maluku and Irian Jaya.

The secondary school enrolment rate of 39% is dramatically below the Indonesian average (80.49% in 2003/04, according to UNESCO). Lack of clean drinking water, sanitation, and health facilities mean that child malnutrition (32%) and child mortality (71 per 1000) are higher than in most of the rest of Indonesia.

Economy

By several economic indicators, the province’s enconomy is weaker than the Indonesian average, with high inflation (15%), unemployment (30%) and interest rates (22-24%).

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