Komodo is one of the 17,508 Indonesian islands. Komodo Island is home to over 2,000 people who are mostly descendants of former convicts, once exiled here, and who have mixed with Bugis from Sulawesi. The island which has a surface of 390km² is part of Komodo National Park. The park, established in 1980, was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1991 and later a Man and Biosphere Reserve.
The island is especially known for its native Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis). These giant reptiles, largest living species of lizard, often exceed 9 feet in length and can weigh more than 70 kilograms (150 lb).
Komodo dragons are carnivore; they hunt and ambush prey including invertebrates, birds, and mammals. Their diet mainly consists of deer and wild pigs that inhabit the island, but they also eat considerable amounts of carrion. They are good swimmers, and quite agile and their group behavior in hunting is exceptional in the reptile world.
Their populations, approximately 4,000 to 5,000 Komodo dragons, are restricted to the islands of Gili Motang (100), Gili Dasami (100), Rinca (1,300), Komodo (1,700), and Flores (around 2,000).
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Bali is a tropical island and one of over 13,000 islands in the Indonesian archipelago, the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands (or Nusa Tenggara; Kepulauan Nusa Tenggara), lying between Java (Jawa) to the west and Lombok to the east. The island home of approximately 4 million people is approximately 144 kilometers from east to west and 80 kilometers north to south with a surface area of 5,632 km². The highest point is Mount Agung (Gunung Agung) at 3,142 m (10,308 feet) high, an active volcano that last erupted in March 1963. Mount Batur (Gunung Batur, 1,717 m) is also still active.
Bali is one of the country's 33 provinces with the provincial capital at Denpasar towards the south of the island. The island is home to the vast majority of Indonesia's small Hindu (Devanagari: हिन्दु) minority. Balinese people are proud of having preserved their unique Hindu culture against the advance of Islam, the dominant religion throughout Indonesia. It is also the largest tourist destination in the country and the perfect holiday destination for all ages and is renowned for its highly developed arts, including dance, sculpture, painting, leather, metalworking and music. Bali has lush rice terraces, volcanoes soaring up through the clouds, dense tropical jungle, sandy beaches, warm blue water, crashing surf and friendly people who don't just have a culture but actually live it.
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Lombok island is located in West Nusa Tenggara province, Indonesia. You can reach the island flying to Mataram, capital and largest city of West Nusa Tenggara province, and served by the Selaparang Airport.
Lombok is a part of group of islands called Nusa Tenggara or Lesser Sunda Islands. With the Greater Sunda Islands to the west they make up the Sunda Islands. Adonara, Alor archipelago, Bali, Flores, Komodo, Lombok, Palu'e, Pantar, Rote, Solor, Sangeang, Savu, Sumba, Sumbawa, Timor, Barat Daya Islands, Tanimbar Islands are part of the Lesser Sunda Islands; Borneo, Java, Sumatra, Sulawesi are part of the Greater Sunda Islands.
Location Bali, Indonesia
Coordinates S8 15 33 E115 24 10
Property 19,520 ha
Date of Inscription 2012
Brief Description (http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1194 )
The cultural landscape of Bali consists of five rice terraces and their water temples that cover 19,500 ha. The temples are the focus of a cooperative water management system of canals and weirs, known as subak, that dates back to the 9th century. Included in the landscape is the 18th-century Royal Water Temple of Pura Taman Ayun, the largest and most impressive architectural edifice of its type on the island. The subak reflects the philosophical concept of Tri Hita Karana, which brings together the realms of the spirit, the human world and nature. This philosophy was born of the cultural exchange between Bali and India over the past 2,000 years and has shaped the landscape of Bali. The subak system of democratic and egalitarian farming practices has enabled the Balinese to become the most prolific rice growers in the archipelago despite the challenge of supporting a dense population.
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Location Provinces of Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, Sumatra Utara (North Sumatra), Jambi, Sumatra Barat (West Sumatra), Sumatra Selatan (South Sumatra), Bengkulu, and Lampung on the Island of Sumatra, Indonesia
Coordinates S2 30 0 E101 30 0
Property 2,595,124 ha
Date of Inscription 2004
Brief Description (http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1167 )
The 2.5 million hectare Tropical Rainforest Heritage of Sumatra site comprises three national parks: Gunung Leuser National Park, Kerinci Seblat National Park and Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park. The site holds the greatest potential for long-term conservation of the distinctive and diverse biota of Sumatra, including many endangered species. The protected area is home to an estimated 10,000 plant species, including 17 endemic genera; more than 200 mammal species; and some 580 bird species of which 465 are resident and 21 are endemic. Of the mammal species, 22 are Asian, not found elsewhere in the archipelago and 15 are confined to the Indonesian region, including the endemic Sumatran orang-utan. The site also provides biogeographic evidence of the evolution of the island.
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Location Province of Papua (formerly Irian Jaya), Indonesia
Coordinates S4 45 0 E137 49 59.988
Property 2,350,000 ha
Date of Inscription 1999
Brief Description (http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/955 )
Lorentz National Park (2.35 million ha) is the largest protected area in South-East Asia. It is the only protected area in the world to incorporate a continuous, intact transect from snowcap to tropical marine environment, including extensive lowland wetlands. Located at the meeting-point of two colliding continental plates, the area has a complex geology with ongoing mountain formation as well as major sculpting by glaciation. The area also contains fossil sites which provide evidence of the evolution of life on New Guinea, a high level of endemism and the highest level of biodiversity in the region.
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Location Province of Central Java, Indonesia
Coordinates S7 24 0 E110 49 0
Property 5,600 ha
Date of Inscription 1996
Brief Description (http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/593 )
Excavations here from 1936 to 1941 led to the discovery of the first hominid fossil at this site. Later, 50 fossils of Meganthropus palaeo and Pithecanthropus erectus/Homo erectus were found – half of all the world's known hominid fossils. Inhabited for the past one and a half million years, Sangiran is one of the key sites for the understanding of human evolution.
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Location Provinces of Banten (formerly West Java) and Lampung, Indonesia
Coordinates S6 45 0 E105 19 60
Property 78,525 ha
Date of Inscription 1991
Brief Description (http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/608 )
This national park, located in the extreme south-western tip of Java on the Sunda shelf, includes the Ujung Kulon peninsula and several offshore islands and encompasses the natural reserve of Krakatoa. In addition to its natural beauty and geological interest – particularly for the study of inland volcanoes – it contains the largest remaining area of lowland rainforests in the Java plain. Several species of endangered plants and animals can be found there, the Javan rhinoceros being the most seriously under threat.
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Location Province of Central Java, Indonesia
Coordinates S7 45 7.992 E110 29 30.012
Date of Inscription 1991
Brief Description (http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/642 )
Built in the 10th century, this is the largest temple compound dedicated to Shiva in Indonesia. Rising above the centre of the last of these concentric squares are three temples decorated with reliefs illustrating the epic of the Ramayana, dedicated to the three great Hindu divinities (Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma) and three temples dedicated to the animals who serve them.
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Location East Nusa Tenggara Province, Indonesia
Coordinates S8 32 35.988 E119 29 21.984
Type Natural
Property 219,322 ha
Date of Inscription 1991
Brief Description (http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/609 )
These volcanic islands are inhabited by a population of around 5,700 giant lizards, whose appearance and aggressive behaviour have led to them being called 'Komodo dragons'. They exist nowhere else in the world and are of great interest to scientists studying the theory of evolution. The rugged hillsides of dry savannah and pockets of thorny green vegetation contrast starkly with the brilliant white sandy beaches and the blue waters surging over coral.
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Location near Magelang, Regency of Magelang, Province of Central Java, Indonesia
Coordinates S7 36 28.008 E110 12 12.996
Architect Gunadharma
Architectural style stupa and candi
Property 26 ha
Date of Inscription 1991
Brief Description (http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/592 )
This famous Buddhist temple, dating from the 8th and 9th centuries, is located in central Java. It was built in three tiers: a pyramidal base with five concentric square terraces, the trunk of a cone with three circular platforms and, at the top, a monumental stupa. The walls and balustrades are decorated with fine low reliefs, covering a total surface area of 2,500 m2. Around the circular platforms are 72 openwork stupas, each containing a statue of the Buddha. The monument was restored with UNESCO's help in the 1970s.
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