East Nusa Tenggara Province and Flores island

EAST NUSA TENGGARA PROVINCE

Provincial capital
Kupang (West Timor)

Population
4 million

Religion
Christianity 91%
Islam 8%
Hindu/ Buddhist 0.6%
Traditional beliefs 0.4%

FLORES
As early as 1512, Flores was sighted by the Portuguese and in 1550, the Europeans had probably landed. Christianity was a successful import and today a church is the centrepiece of almost every village.

Flores is a Portuguese name, which means ‘flower’ and ideally describes the beauty to be found here. Flores is placed between Sumbawa and Timor. This long island has many volcanoes and mountains dividing it into several distinct regions with individual languages and traditions. Predominantly Catholic and heavily influenced by the Portuguese, there are many examples of a strong European cultural heritage.

The volcanic Flores

View Keli Mutu

The island’s turbulent geological past has left V-shaped valleys, knife edged ridges, and a collection of active and extinct volcanoes. One of the finest volcanoes is the caldera of Kelimutu in central Flores, with its three coloured lakes. There are 14 active volcanoes in Flores; only Java and Sumatra have more. The island is part of one of the world’s most geologically unstable zones, and earthquakes and tremors hit every year.

The island’s 1.5 million people are divided into five main linguistic and cultural groups. From west to east, these are the Manggarai (main town Ruteng), the Ngadha (Bajawa), the closely related Ende and Lio peoples (Ende), the Sikkanese (Maumere), and the Lamaholot (Larantuka) Around 85% of the people are Catholic, but in rural areas, Christianity is dominant in their traditional beliefs. Animist rituals are still important here. Muslims in Ende make up half the population.

The six districts on Flores
West Manggarai
Manggarai
Ngada
Ende
Sikka
East Flores

Read more about the regions we visited
West Manggarai district
Ngada district
Ende district

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