This page is a short summary containing more general information about the province of East Nusa Tenggara. Extensive information on East Nusa Tenggara can be found in the directory 'Nusa Tenggara' on this website.

Location map of East Nusa Tenggara.

East Nusa Tenggara (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. The province is divided administratively into fourteen regencies (kabupaten) such as Alor, Belu, Ende, East Flores, Kupang, Lembata, Manggarai, West Manggarai, Ngada, Rote Ndao, Sikka, West Sumba, East Sumba, Southern Central Timor, and Northern Central Timor, and one municipality (kotamadya), Kupang.

Population

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). Clean drinking water, sanitation and lack of health facilities mean that child malnutrition (32%) and child mortality (71 per 1000) are higher than in most of the rest of Indonesia.