Sumba (Indonesian: Pulau Sumba) is an island in eastern Indonesia, is one of the Lesser Sunda Islands, and is in the province of East Nusa Tenggara. Sumba has an area of 11,153 km², and the population was 656,259 at the 2010 Census. To the northwest of Sumba is Sumbawa, to the northeast, across the Sumba Strait (Selat Sumba), is Flores, to the east, across the Savu Sea, is Timor, and to the south, across part of the Indian Ocean, is Australia.
History
Historically, this island exported sandalwood and was known as Sandalwood Island.
Before colonization, Sumba was inhabited by several small ethnolinguistic groups, some of which may have had tributary relations to the Majapahit Empire. In 1522 the first ships from Europe arrived, and by 1866 Sumba belonged to the Dutch East Indies, although the island did not come under real Dutch administration until the twentieth century.
Despite contact with western cultures, Sumba is one of the few places in the world in which megalithic burials, are used as a 'living tradition' to inter prominent individuals when they die. Burial in megaliths is a practice that was used in many parts of the world during the Neolithic and Bronze Ages, but has survived to this day in Sumba.[citation needed] Another long-lasting tradition is the sometimes lethal game of pasola, in which teams of horse-riders fight with spears.
On August 19, 1977, an earthquake measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale occurred, killing 316 people, including islands off the West coast.
Social Structure
Sumba has a highly stratified society based on castes. This is especially true of East Sumba, whereas West Sumba is more ethnically and linguistically diverse.
Textiles
Sumba is famous for the ikat textiles, particularly very detailed hand-woven ikat, which is prepared on the island. The process of dying and weaving ikat is labor-intensive and one piece can take months to prepare.
Geography
The Sumbanese people speak a variety of closely related Austronesian languages, and have a mixture of Austronesian and Melanesian ancestry. The largest language group is the Kambera language, spoken by a quarter of a million people in the eastern half of Sumba. Twenty-five to thirty percent of the population practises the animist Marapu religion. The remainder are Christian, a majority being Dutch Calvinist, but a substantial minority being Roman Catholic. A small number of Sunni Muslims can be found along the coastal areas. The largest town on the island is the main port of Waingapu, with a population of about 52,755. The landscape is low, limestone hills, rather than the steep volcanoes of many Indonesian islands. There is a dry season from May to November and a rainy season from December to April. The western side of the island is more fertile and more heavily populated than the east.
Ecology
Due to its distinctive flora and fauna Sumba has been categorised by the World Wildlife Fund as the Sumba deciduous forests ecoregion. Originally part of the Gondwana southern hemisphere supercontinent Sumba is within the Wallacea ecozone, having a mixture of plants and animals of Asian and Australasian origin. Most of the island was originally covered in deciduous monsoon forest while the south-facing slopes, which remain moist during the dry season, were evergreen rainforest.
Fauna
There are a number of mammals but the island is particularly rich in birdlife with nearly 200 birds, of which seven endemic species and a number of others are found only here and on some nearby islands. The endemic birds include four vulnerable species: the secretive Sumba Boobook owl, Sumba Buttonquail, Red-naped Fruit-dove and Sumba Hornbill as well as three more common species: the Sumba Green Pigeon, Sumba Flycatcher, and Apricot-breasted Sunbird.
Sumba Hornbill or Julang Sumba (Rhyticeros undulatus) is under increasing threat of extinction. Indiscriminate deforestation is increasingly threatening their ability to survive. The population is estimated at less than 4,000 with an average density of six individuals per square kilometer. A hornbill can fly to and fro over an area of up to 100 square kilometers.
Threats and preservation
Most of the original forest has been cleared for the planting of maize, cassava and other crops so only small isolated patches remain. Furthermore this clearance is ongoing due to the growing population of the island and this represents a threat to the birdlife.
In 1998 two national parks have been designated on the island for the protection of endangered species: the Laiwangi Wanggameti National Park and Manupeu Tanah Daru National Park.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumba
